Tilo Fund

Supporting women-led, local organizations advancing health, safety, rights, and opportunity in communities shaped by migration and displacement.

We believe that leaders who are embedded in the communities they serve best understand local needs, challenges, and opportunities, and that partnering with them creates lasting change. The Tilo Fund joins a global movement to directly support people working in their communities to make the world safer, more equal, and more just.

  • The Tilo Fund is our response to the impact of sudden, dramatic cuts to US humanitarian aid and mass deportations from the US, particularly on communities in Central and South America. The Tilo Fund is our way of collectively moving beyond a sense of helplessness and into meaningful action.

    A core principle of the Tilo Fund is that resources should flow as directly as possible to support local solutions to local problems. We have seen that it is often women leaders who respond long-term to instability and crisis in their communities, yet less than 1% of global humanitarian funding goes directly to local women-led organizations. We aim to do our part to address this imbalance by prioritizing relationship-driven, trust-based grantmaking that centers women’s leadership.

    The Tilo Fund is agile and focused. We emphasize careful selection, deep engagement, and long-term partnerships. Our goal is not only to provide funding, but to build a community of donors working together with local leaders to build a more equitable and responsive system of support and partnership.

    About our name: The tilo tree in Latin America – called the linden or basswood in North America – has heart shaped leaves that provide deep shade and flowers that produce healing honey and calming teas and infusions. Across many cultures, the tilo tree symbolizes shelter, care, restoration, community, and resilience.


  • The Tilo Fund supports organizations that:

    • Are women-led

    • Are based in communities they serve

    • Are responding in communities shaped by displacement and migration

    • Deliver services, advocacy, or coordination

    • Advance health, safety, rights, and opportunity

    The Tilo Fund prioritizes leaders and organizations that are effective and make an impact. We trust our grantees to know and deliver what is needed. Our grants may support general operations, program activities, or other core needs.

    We plan to issue grants to 4-6 organizations in 2026.

    A typical grant in 2026 is $10,000 to $20,000.

  • In 2026, we are supporting organizations in Central America (Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Panama) and the Andean region of South America (Ecuador and Colombia). 

    These countries have been severely affected by US and global cuts to humanitarian aid and mass deportations from the US.

    We are prioritizing contexts where local women leaders are responding with limited access to flexible or institutional funding and where our team has expertise and deep local connections.

    We will consider expanding our geographic scope after assessing our impact in our first year.

  • Grants are by invitation only in 2026.

    To express interest or suggest an organization for our review, please email info@tilofund.org.

  • The Tilo Fund anticipates issuing our first grants in the summer of 2026.

  • Please contact info@tilofund.org for more information or to get involved.

Our Team

  • Melanie Nezer

    FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

    Melanie is a leader in policy and advocacy and public education and engagement in the areas of immigration, asylum, refugees, and humanitarian assistance. She began her career as an immigration attorney, worked at HIAS for 20 years, and most recently was at the Women’s Refugee Commission, where she focused on the impact of recent US foreign aid cuts and mass deportations to Central America.

  • Rachel Levitan

    ADVISOR

    Rachel has spent her career bridging law, policy, and practice in the global displacement field. She began her career litigating civil rights cases in federal court and founded Turkey’s first refugee legal clinic. Rachel worked at HIAS for 13 years, expanding its international programs and advocacy. She currently advises KIND (Kids in Need of Defense) on global development and is a research fellow at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of International Migration.

  • Sabrina Lustgarten

    ADVISOR

    Sabrina has led organizational transformation, complex operations, and high-impact programs across global humanitarian and development contexts. She was a senior leader at HIAS for more than 20 years, where she founded HIAS Ecuador, expanded operations in Latin America, and went on to run HIAS’ global operations. Sabrina is currently the COO of Shalom Orlando.

  • Maureen Greenwood-Basken

    ADVISOR

    Maureen has extensive experience in philanthropy and social justice. She led the children’s rights portfolio at the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, advanced the rights of women and girls at the UN Foundation, and advocated for human rights as a senior leader at Amnesty International USA. She currently consults for the University of Oxford and other clients and advises donors on their philanthropic giving.

  • Diana Florez

    ADVISOR

    Diana works on gender, transitional justice, peacebuilding, and forced displacement, bridging grassroots organizations, UN agencies, and academic research. Her focus is on women’s differentiated risks in post-conflict and organized crime contexts.  She currently researches forced separation in conflict and migration at King’s College, London.