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The Ray Solem Foundation exists to carry out the directions of Richard Ray Solem (known as Ray) before his death on January 4, 2006. He wrote, "I have always been driven by an internal sense of purpose - a belief that service to mankind should take precedence over personal comfort, status or accumulation of assets." Ray wanted to encourage creativity in helping low-income immigrants become productive citizens of the United States of America. He cared greatly about the challenges they face. Moreover, as an entrepreneur, he excelled in thinking "outside the box" and strived to find unusual and effective methods that overcame obstacles to achieving goals.

The foundation provides grants to organizations throughout the U. S. that very creatively help immigrants here become valued members of society. Current priority for funding goes to organizations focused on immigrants who are victims of human trafficking and gender-based violence and/or unaccompanied immigrant youth.

Grants are made for two (2) years. The first payout is at the time when awards are decided and the second is no sooner than the following January. Although award decisions are for two years, awardees must submit a one-page report describing how they spent the first half of their award before receiving the second half of it. Applicants may re-apply in each new funding cycle. Priority is given to applicants with incomes under $1 million. The maximum grant award is $20,000.

The Ray Solem Foundation will not consider grants to the following types of organizations or for the following purposes:

Individuals;
Operational deficits;
Religious organizations for explicit religious activities, as distinguished from social or educational activities;
Partisan activities;
Fraternal organizations, labor, societies, or other;
National fund-raising efforts;
501(c)(4) organizations or lobbying activities;
Organizations whose overhead percentage is more than 20% of total expenses;
Brand-new projects that have not yet been piloted;

The next application due date is April 26, 2026.

Please email applications to memerson@raysolemfund.org. Mailed applications, either paper or thumb drive, are not accepted. Requests must be in 12-point font, 1-inch margins, single- or double-spaced, PDF format. Please do not use doc, docx, xls, xlsx or rtf format. Please start each file name with the same seven letters and do not use Ray Solem Foundation or its abbreviations in the file names. No more than 15% of direct costs may be requested for indirect costs. The application itself must be five (5) pages or less, including the budget narrative. Supplementary information such as brochures or annual reports is not part of the five page limit.

Each application must include the following:

Executive summary (250 words or less) that states why your organization exists and the amount of funding requested.
Organization background, mission, record of achievement, and connection to RSF priority areas of focus.
Description including goals, results and a paragraph that starts "Our project or organization is innovative because . . ." followed by what makes it especially creative. Advice: Because many organizations say their innovativeness is due to their holistic nature, a strong application will describe other attributes or will give details on what is uniquely effective. Likewise, being the only one in a certain geographic area is not uniquely creative, though it may lead to innovations.
Impact of work to date.
Expected outcomes during the coming two years and evaluation plan including how you plan to measure success.
Budget narrative or budget and expenses statement. Include matching funds if applicable.

Revised January 2024

Tracks

This is Ray's autobiography, called Tracks (a pdf), describing his early years and his professional life. He wrote it for his children in 1999, seven years before his death.

Tracks

Past Winners

These are links to web sites of public schools and non-profit organizations that have received awards from the Ray Solem Foundation for their innovative approaches to helping immigrants. (links worked on July 28, 2023)

Intercambio: Uniting Communities - variety of resources for creating English language and American culture programs.
Time Out - help for victims of domestic violence
Coachella Valley Housing Coalition - teaching English and science simultaneously.
Roca, Inc. - effectively helping immigrant at-risk teenagers
License to Freedom - aid to victims of domestic violence and human trafficking
Episcopal Refugee Center - helping refugees rebuild their lives
Street Grace - fighting human trafficking
Centreville Immigration Forum - programs for immigrants in need

Contact

You can contact Marianne Emerson, the president of the Ray Solem Foundation, at memerson@raysolemfund.org or 202-486-4143.