The People’s Colloquium is a 501c3 nonprofit based in Portland Oregon that awards grants to organizers who provide free educational offerings in the arts and humanities either locally in Portland or available through the internet.
These grants are intended to cover operational costs related to the grant offering. For example, the cost of owning a Meetup.com account that hosts reading groups; printing costs for a pamphlet related to an in-person seminar; or the stipend for a lecturer.
As of now, we do not offer grants internationally.
To qualify, please fill out a Grant Application Form.
Grants applications that request funding for electronic subscriptions such as Zoom, Meetup, Mailchimp, or similar, will be evaluated within 30 days after the application has been received. All other grant applications will be evaluated biannually, on either June 1st or December 1st.
Questions about the grant or general inquiries about The People’s Colloquium can be emailed to ThePeoplesColloquiumPDX@gmail.com. Please contact us if you require the information on this website in another format. We’re happy to make what accommodations we can to help everyone access our resources.
Events that are free to attend are oftentimes not free to provide. There are numerous possible costs, from Zoom memberships and Meetup.com accounts, to advertising and outreach costs, to material costs related to equipment, transportation, and rentals. Oftentimes these costs are hidden and unknown to event participants, leaving volunteer organizers on their own to cover the expenses.
Our mission is to alleviate the financial burdens so that organizers can focus on what they do best: building community, facilitating events, and promoting learning. The People’s Colloquium strives to play a small part in creating a world where anyone can learn anything, at anytime, regardless of costs and without barrier.
The People’s Colloquium has the following amount to distribute. If you’re organizing free education in the arts and humanities and have unaddressed costs, we want to hear from you!
$2,500.00
The People’s Colloquium has provided grants to the below groups and events. Check them out!
Andrea organizes a weekly poetry group that supports poets through peer critiques, one-on-one editing, and by providing other resources. She has worked as a journalist for nearly a decade, and has received a Wisconsin Community Papers Second Place award for her work. Andrea holds a BA in Writing from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.
Donovan oversees The People’s Colloquium’s finances and budget. He writes and directs plays, and muses on whether or not existence can be distilled down into utterances burped from meat holes. If not, maybe we’re just here to seek growth, embrace change, and be kind to others—and above all, reallocate all the money and resources used on war to shelter, feed, and educate every human being on this planet.
Hannah oversees The People’s Colloquium’s internal documentation and communication. She also acts as a weekly poetry critique facilitator. During the day, she’s a project manager for a logistics company, and during the evening, Hannah enjoys reading and writing poetry, watching basketball, and eating any food a dear friend will cook for her. She holds a BA in English.
Ian facilitates the Portland Association of Deleuze Studies’ weekly seminar and is exploring experimental film projects with other Portlanders. He spent 15 years in Japan, where he worked as a translator and earned a PhD in American Literature at Osaka University. His dissertation investigated the influence of psychedelics on science fiction and comics.
Jared hosts and facilitates The Critiquery, a weekly writer’s critique group. He’s also an editor for Typehouse Literary Magazine. He’s driven by a love of creative writing and a strong belief that all other forms of art should be accessible to all. He holds a BA in English from the University of Southern California, and a JD from Loyola Law School Los Angeles.
Kristen organizes The People’s Colloquium’s board of directors. She attends various creative writing critique groups and philosophy groups. She holds degrees in political science and the visual arts, has taught at the college level, and serves on the boards of several Portland-area nonprofits.
Lily (she/her) hosts and facilitates Write to Publish, a weekly writer’s critique group for short stories and personal essays. She is an editor for Typehouse Literary Magazine and a graduate of Portland State University. She holds a BA in English with a focus in creative writing. Her work can be found in World Literature Today, Little Fictions | Big Truths, JMWW and more.
Raven assists with organizing The People’s Colloquium’s board of directors. She’s an enthusiastic facilitator of multiple seminars in philosophy and religion on Meetup.com and Discord.com. She holds a BA from The Evergreen State College where she studied Evolutionary Biology and Multimedia Art. She is continuing her education in philosophy through a growing repertoire of online offerings.
Rich is responsible for strategic planning for the nonprofit as a whole and for organizing its volunteers. He’s passionate about offering free educational events, including seminars and critique groups, in creative writing, philosophy, and literature on Meetup.com and Discord.com. He holds a BA in philosophy from Kent State University, and a MS in Traditional Chinese Medicine from The Oregon College of Oriental Medicine.
Shannon is a regular participant in the Write to Publish critique group. She holds BAs in English and Spanish and is a freelance writer. Her short stories and creative nonfiction have been published in The Forge, Hobart, Entropy, X-R-A-Y, and elsewhere.
Tyler is a mediator between The People’s Colloquium and various philosophy groups. He is a co-organizer and regular participant in philosophical close-reading groups focused on, but not limited to, authors such as Plato, Kant, and Hegel. He also has an interest in the arts in general, more particularly visual art, and has participated in traditional art groups. Pen, ink, and watercolor are his mediums of choice.
Do you appreciate what we do or benefit from participating in groups that have received funding through The People’s Colloquium? If so, please consider donating to The People’s Colloquium. We accept monthly donations through our Patreon. Our ability to support free education in the arts and humanities in part depends on your generosity. The more donations we receive, the more grants we can provide. Our nonprofit operates on a shoestring budget and is run by passionate volunteers dedicated to making sure your donations reach the people who need them.
Thank you!
Thanks to our Patreon supporters!