Please note: As of June 30, 2023, the SEED Initiatives Program is managed by Prosper Portland. Please contact SEED@prosperportland.us or visit the Prosper Portland SEED Grant page for updated information. For any inquiries about grant cycles prior to fiscal year 2022/23, please direct your questions to Office of Community & Civic Life at civiclife@portlandoregon.gov.
The New Vision
Social Equity & Education Development (SEED) Initiatives is supported by an ongoing $1 million in cannabis tax revenue allocation and a vehicle for single-source monitoring, measuring, and reporting on the city’s cannabis tax revenue.
Portland City Council’s decision to allocate ongoing funding to the SEED Initiatives is one small step toward rectifying past racially-biased cannabis policies and disparate cannabis-related arrests. This commitment has the potential to begin to repair the lasting legal, social, economic, and inter-generational consequences past cannabis prohibition has had on Black and brown communities.
The History
In November 2016, Portland voters approved Ballot Measure 26-180 to impose a 3% local tax on adult-use cannabis retail sales. Since then, over $14 million in cannabis tax revenue has been allocated across various City of Portland bureaus to support street infrastructure improvements; DUII training; drug rehabilitation; criminal justice, expungement and re-entry services; and small business owners from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition.
For more detailed information about the history of Portland’s local cannabis tax, please review these additional resources:
- Adult-Use Cannabis Tax Fund Report, prepared by City Budget Office (2020)
- Timeline, Report, and Plan: Portland's Local Cannabis Tax, prepared by the Cannabis Program (2019)
SEED Grant Fund
The SEED Grant Fund application is now open! Find out more:
In alignment with the Ballot Measure 26-180 passed in 2016, the SEED Grant Fund prioritizes Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and women led/owned small business initiatives and/or projects, programs or services that support economic and educational development of Black and brown communities, which were most impacted by cannabis prohibition.
The SEED Grant Fund supports nonprofit and for-profit entities of any size, including community-based organizations, individuals, firms, teams or consultants. Newly-formed groups or initiatives with fiscal sponsorship from a nonprofit entity are also eligible. Multi-entity collaborations, coalitions and/or consortium efforts are encouraged to apply.
The SEED Grant Fund distributes funding across a range of projects, programs and services within the following designated priority areas, but are not limited to:
- Education development
- Entrepreneurship and economic development
- Social justice
In the 5 cycles of the grant program, the SEED Grant Fund (formerly Cannabis Social Equity Grant) has awarded $4,379,415 through 42 grants.
| . | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Applications submitted | 9 | 32 | 31 | 123 | 90 |
| Applications awarded | 3 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 10 |
| Grant funds awarded | $350,000 | $631,321 | $548,094 | $1,800,000 | $1,050,000 |
| Majority BIPOC-led recipients | 33% | 17% | 67% | 89% | 70% |
| Majority Women-led recipients | 0% | 0% | 17% | 29% | 30% |
SEED Initiatives Fact Sheet
2022 Grant Fund Recipients
View the 10 grant recipients and their proposals:
2022 SEED Grant Applications Now Closed-- Deadline Monday, Dec. 20, 2021
2022 SEED Grant Fund will provide a total of $1,000,000 in grant funding.
3 Funding Options Available:
Four (4) One-Time Grants at $50,000 total per grant
Four (4) One-Time Grants at $75,000 total per grant
Two (2) Two-Year Grants at $250,000 total per grant ($125,000 per year)
The SEED Grant Fund seeks applications from non-profit and for-profit entities, of any size. Please note, newly formed groups or initiatives with fiscal sponsorship from a non-profit entity are also eligible to apply. Multi-entity collaborations, coalitions and/or consortium efforts are also encouraged to apply. If you have experience, expertise or passion in one of the priority areas and/or provide multicultural and community-specific engagement --- this might be the funding opportunity for you!
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Office of Community & Civic Life recognizes that individuals and communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition may not want to participate in the legal cannabis industry. For this reason, the SEED Grant Fund supports projects within and outside of the cannabis industry. All are eligible to apply for this funding opportunity.
2022 SEED Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement
PLEASE NOTE: Once you have completed the application, please convert it to a PDF and sent to: SEED@portlandoregon.gov
2022 Info Sessions: Round 1
- Monday, Nov. 29 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. PST
- Friday, Dec. 3 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. PST
2022 SEED Grant Fund Application Timeline:
ROUND 1 Applications for funding are due by Monday, Dec. 20, 2021 by 5 p.m. PST (DEADLINE EXTENDED), email completed applications to SEED@PortlandOregon.gov
ROUND 1 Decisions will be sent out by Monday, Jan. 31, 2022 by 5 p.m. PST – Note: those selected to move to the FINAL ROUND will be notified via email and will have four (4) weeks to complete the finalist application.
2022 SEED Grant recipient work is expected to start after July 1, 2022
Note: Final round dates due dates will be posted in January.
Grant Recipients
If you are a current SEED Awardee, please use this link to submit documentation to us. This link is ONLY for grant recipients; please do not submit applications through this link as they will not be accepted.
2021 Grant Fund
You can read the press release announcing the 2021 Grant Fund awards,and find a complete list of all grant recipients below:
Additional Questions?
Contact the Cannabis Program at SEED@portlandoregon.gov
Stay Informed
Stay informed about upcoming grant funding, educational development events, ongoing opportunities to help us identify priorities, and other activities related to the SEED Initiatives and the Cannabis Program by:
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