#FridayFundingFocus, 6 November 2026 – Rockefeller Foundation and OpenAI Foundation
Opportunity: Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services
The Rockefeller Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that promotes humanity’s well-being by finding and scaling solutions that advance opportunity and reverse the climate crisis. The OpenAI Foundation is a charitable organisation focused on ensuring that artificial intelligence is developed and deployed to benefit all of humanity, with a strong emphasis on safe, open, and impactful technological integration.
The Rockefeller Foundation and the OpenAI Foundation have launched Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services, a global initiative to fund artificial intelligence projects that transform urban public services. It aims to accelerate the safe, impactful and equitable adoption of frontier AI technologies to help cities become more responsive, resilient and inclusive.
Focus and Objectives:
This initiative provides funding for innovative AI solutions targeting four core urban challenges:
- Public Health: Improving access to care and food distribution networks.
- Economic Mobility: Enhancing public benefits administration and equitable hiring practices.
- Environmental Resilience: Optimising emergency response systems and local energy grids.
- Civic Engagement: Creating effective, two-way communication channels between residents and local government.
Eligibility:
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Must be a registered nonprofit organisation, public benefit corporation, or university/research lab.
- Must have a formal partnership or commitment with a city government partner (cities cannot apply directly).
- The project must include a meaningful frontier AI component (it does not explicitly require OpenAI models).
- Open globally, including to organisations across Africa, as long as they are not in a country under comprehensive U.S. OFAC sanctions.
The call excludes direct applications from municipal governments without an eligible lead partner, commercial businesses, projects focused on election infrastructure, and initiatives lacking a central AI component.
Value: US$500 000 to under US$1 million for early prototypes and pilots over 24 months (Seed Grants), and US$1 million to US$2 million for expansion and long-term deployment over 24 months (Scale Grants).
Deadline for applications: 29 November 2026
More information and to apply: https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/cities-deliver-ai-solutions-for-public-services
For information about other funding opportunities, refer to the African NGO Fundraising Hub’s Grants and Funding section.
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