Liberation in Action Social Justice Fund

Honoring a Legacy. Funding a Future. This fund has been created by Tiye Sherrod in honor of her grandmother, Katherine Sherrod. Katherine Sherrod was born in rural Alabama during the Jim Crow era. As a young Black woman with limited opportunities, she made the courageous decision to move to Chicago in search of a better life. There, she raised a family with strength, faith, and quiet determination. Lovingly known in her neighborhood as Ms. Kathy, she became a pillar of resilience and perseverance. Though she faced the challenges of systemic racism and limited resources, she found a way to create opportunity—not just for herself, but for her children and grandchildren. This scholarship honors Ms. Kathy’s legacy by paying it forward to the next generation of changemakers who are choosing their own path of liberation, often in the face of similar systemic barriers.