OUR GRANTEES
2022 GRANTEE PARTNERS – FINAL GRANT CYCLE
Black Millennials 4 Flint, Washington DC, $5,000
Black Millennials 4 Flint (BM4F) is a national environmental justice and civil rights organization with the purpose of bringing like-minded organizations together to collectively take action and advocate against the crisis of lead exposure, specifically in African American & Latino communities. Their roots began as a water donation drive in Flint, MI with the Greater Washington DC Urban League Young Professionals. Among their DC programs is the “Barbershop+Beauty Shop RJ Project” that focuses on lead poisoning prevention at the intersection of reproductive justice and maternal health.
Empower DC, Washington DC, $5,000
Empower DC is an organization dedicated to achieving social change by investing in the inherent power and lived expertise of DC residents most impacted by social justice and racial inequity. They promote the self-advocacy of low and moderate income DC residents and build collective power to bring about systemic change through grassroots organizing, leadership development, and member-led campaigns. Major accomplishments include contributing to the passage of new racial equity legislation, won 50 million in the city budget for public housing repairs, and the opening of the historic Crummel School site in the heart of Ivy City, for the first time in decades, with a new community basketball court and playground.
iFLY Youth, Washington, DC and Prince George’s County, MD, $8,000 (Two-time grantee; 2019 Grant: $10,000)
iFLY Youth’s mission is to produce the next generation of global leaders by exposing middle school-aged girls of color to international travel, leadership development and character building. The organization prioritizes girls who normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to travel due to financial restraint.
Mamatoto Village, Washington, DC, $8,000
Mamatoto Village is devoted to serving Black women through the creation of career pathways in maternal health; and providing accessible perinatal support services designed to equip women with the necessary tools to make the most informed decisions in their maternity care, parenting, and lives.
National Reentry Network for Returning Citizens, Washington, DC, $5,000
The organization’s mission is to build a strong, national network comprised of individuals returning from incarceration who support each other’s successful reintegration. They use a client-centered approach to identify basic needs and to create a continuum of care that can address barriers to reentry, promote restorative practices, and reduce recidivism.
Program activities include the Peer Navigator Program to assist returning citizens with the needs and support upon returning back to the community, the Ready 4 Work job readiness training program and a supportive reentry housing program.
Ragbaby Exchange, Prince George’s County, MD, $4,000
The Ragbaby Exchange is committed to building self-esteem in women and children through doll making. Their therapeutic approach inspires participants to embrace self-love, while celebrating diversity among people and cultures. They are driven to the mission that self-affirmation empowers and unlock one’s full potential.
Wildseed Society, Washington, DC, $4,000
The WildSeed Society’s mission is to help us get free from capitalism and domination. To do that, the organization is cultivating a spiritual community that supports activists and organizers in Movement.
Young, Black and Giving Back Institute, Prince George’s County, MD, $8,900
The Young, Black & Giving Back Institute (YBGB) serves Black-led, Black-benefitting nonprofits and its leaders with a mission to provide capacity building, convenings, and funding that uniquely meets their social impact needs.
*YBGB’s founder was a BB member. This funding was granted to continue our mission of supporting Black-led nonprofit organizations.
All grant awards supported general operating expenses.
2020 GRANTEE PARTNERS
Our grantmaking for 2020 provided immediate flexible funding to past grantee partners that are addressing critical issues arising from the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and racism. The grant recipients are:
Black Swan Academy, Washington, DC, $11,000
2017 Black Benefactors grant award: $10,000
The organization’s mission is to empower Black youth in under-served communities through civic leadership and engagement. In response to the pandemics, recent efforts include leading mutual aid networks in wards 7 and 8 in DC, re-imagining community safety, and advocating for the removal of police from DC schools.
Chess Girls DC $300
2015 Black Benefactors grant award: $500
Chess Girls DC is committed to improving the confidence of girls in grades K-12 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area through the game of chess. Our second grant award supported their transition to online chess classes due to COVID-19.
Dreaming Out Loud, Washington, DC, $1,000
2014 Black Benefactors grant award: $6,000
Dreaming Out Loud is responding to COVID-19 by supporting communities with direct food aid in partnership with nonprofits, local restaurants and food-makers — including engaging their DREAM Food Entrepreneurship program alumni in emergency meal production, distribution of fresh vegetables, and support for mutual aid networks.
ONE DC, Washington, DC, $10,000
2017 Black Benefactors grant award: $7,500
ONE DC’s mission is to exercise political strength to create and preserve racial and economic equity in the District of Columbia. The organization is partnering with local community-based groups to advocate for housing, employment, and other critical issues arising from the pandemics.
ScholarCHIPS $5,000
2015 Black Benefactors grant award: $5,000
The organization’s college scholarship recipients are youth of incarcerated parents and first-generation college students who will be experiencing the new realities of COVID-19 and navigating college online without the support and networks that other students may have.
2020 Grants Total: $27,300
2019-20 GRANTEE PARTNERS
iFLY Youth, Washington, DC, $10,000
General operating support
iFLY Youth’s mission is to produce the next generation of global leaders by exposing middle school aged girls of color to international travel, leadership development, character building and community service. Invincible Fearless Liberated Youth (iFLY) Scholars participate in program activities that include making mock passports, learning how to apply for a passport, and creating self-identity maps as a strategy to gauge their interests in international travel and education. The inaugural class of 10 iFLY Scholars traveled to Costa Rica in June 2018, where they harvested cacao, discovered wildlife in the rain forest, volunteered at an orphanage and practiced their Spanish skills throughout the local community. At the conclusion of the program, six students finished the school year with a 3.5 GPA or higher and three of the 8th grade students were accepted into selective high schools in DC. The second class of Scholars traveled to Cartagena, Columbia in June 2019. Black Benefactors funding made possible the addition of a new program site for 2019-20. The third class of Scholars will travel to Rome, Italy in 2020.
Wise Young Builders, Washington, DC, $10,000
General operating support
The mission of Wise Young Builders (WYB) is to enhance the value, viability and perception of STEM trades by use of project-based learning to empower under-served youth to learn practical skills. They accomplish this by offering hands on workshops and small group math-focused instruction during out of school time. This furthers the goal that youth are able to improve math skills, understand construction in their lives; connect to entrepreneurship, hobbies, continued education, college, and careers. WYB also addresses and discredits the biased belief that youth who desire careers in skilled trades are secondary to those who elect to attend college. Their outcomes include: 84% of youth increased their math scores on post-test, 96% design and build take home projects, and 93% gained more knowledge of the construction field and related industries.
2019-20 Grant Awards Total: $20,000 and capacity building support
2017-18 GRANTEE PARTNERS
The Black Swan Academy, Washington, DC, $10,000
General operating support
The mission of The Black Swan Academy (BSA) is to empower Black youth in under-served communities through civic leadership and engagement, giving them a comprehensive set of tools needed to succeed in life and become active social catalysts in their communities. Activities include civic leadership out-of-school time programs, an annual Youth Civic Leadership Summit, the “I Have Pride” Black History & Culture Writing Contest and Showcase, and community forums.
ScholarCHIPS, Inc., Washington, DC, $5,000
General operating support
ScholarCHIPS is an organization that serves a worthy population that is often forgotten – children of incarcerated parents. Founded by a young powerhouse, Yasmine Arrington, whose own father was incarcerated for most of her childhood, ScholarCHIPS provides renewable college scholarships to these children, and provides them with the emotional support they need to stay in school and complete college.
2017-18 Grants Total: $15,000
2015-16 GRANTEE PARTNERS
Organizing Neighborhood Equity (ONE DC), Washington, DC, $7,500
General operating support
*First grant award for community organizing
ONE DC’s mission is to exercise political strength to create and preserve racial and economic equity in Shaw and the District. ONE DC envisions the nation’s capital as a place where low income, poor, and immigrant communities are organized, educated, and trained to take action to create and preserve social and economic equity.
ACCESS Youth, Inc., Washington, DC, $2,000
General operating support
*Second-time grantee partner
ACCESS Youth provides at-risk youth with the skills, resources and support they need to stay in school and out of the criminal justice system. Their early, restorative justice-based interventions help to curb the school-to-prison pipeline at three key points – when students begin experiencing behavior problems in school, when students exhibit truancy, and when juveniles are arrested by the police for first-time, low-level offenses. By partnering with schools and targeting truancy and suspension, ACCESS Youth aims to improve school performance and engagement, as well as graduation rates.
Chess Girls DC, Washington, DC, $500 + member wish list support for the 2015 holidays
General operating support
Chess Girls DC is a 501c3 nonprofit organization committed to improving the confidence of girls in grades K-12 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Chess Girls DC provides a unique chess instructional program that is dedicated to increasing the play of Chess and promoting the appreciation of the game because of its unique cognitive benefits.
2015-16 Grants Total: $10,000
2014 GRANTEE PARTNER
Dreaming Out Loud, Inc. (DOL), Washington, DC, $6,000
Dreaming Out Loud has as its mission to inspire and build a more ethical society through human development, community engagement and social enterprise. DOL founded and manages Aya Community Markets, a growing network of farmers markets and mobile farm-stands that provide access to fresh produce while promoting economic development and increasing health equity. In addition to our grant, Black Benefactors members will provide in-kind support of professional services and volunteer activities.
2014 Grant Total: $6,000
2013 GRANTEE PARTNERS
ACCESS Youth, Inc., Washington, DC, $1,000
Since it was founded in 2009, ACCESS Youth has been the sole provider of juvenile justice victim-offender mediation in the District. Youth who complete mediation through ACCESS Youth are diverted out of the criminal justice system, given access to resources, and, perhaps most importantly, the possibility for healing and positive transformation.
College Tribe, Washington, DC, $1,000
A mentoring program that aims to increase the number of African American young men in the District of Columbia, specifically Ward 8, to graduate from high school, enter college and become successful.
DREAM Life Organization, Washington, DC, $500
An organization that provides mentorship and resources for young, single mothers in the DC area.
2013 Grants Total: $2,500
2012 GRANTEE PARTNERS
Adventure Theatre Musical Theater Center (ATMTC), Montgomery County, MD, $1,000
ATMTC cultivates new generations of artists and audiences by creating memorable theatrical productions and by providing young people the highest quality musical theater training. Adventure Theatre (founded in 1951) and Musical Theater Center (founded in 1986) merged into one organization in 2012. ATMTC serves students at all skill levels and families from diverse communities, approximately 75,000 people annually. The Black Benefactors grant provided support for Adventure Theatre’s African American Adventures, a series of children’s productions based on popular African-American books and music.
DC Students Construction Trades Foundation, Washington, DC, $500
The D.C. Students Construction Trades Foundation prepares District residents for success in careers, education and life. Since 2005, the Foundation has helped District students access career pathways in the skilled construction trades. The foundation is a partner working with D.C. Public Schools and the D.C. Apprenticeship Council to support the Academy of Construction and Design at Cardozo Senior High School and the District of Columbia Apprenticeship Academy. The Foundation strives to make skilled trades education and training accessible to residents of the District of Columbia. The Black Benefactors grant supported the organization’s wish list identified from the Catalogue for Philanthropy Greater Washington.
Global Kids DC, Washington, DC, $1,000
Global Kids (GK) is a premier non-profit educational organization for global learning and youth development that works to ensure that urban youth have the knowledge, skills, experiences and values they need to succeed in school, participate effectively in the democratic process, and achieve leadership in their communities and on the global stage. GK launched its Washington, D.C. program in collaboration with the District of Columbia Public School system to bring GK’s proven approach to teachers and students at Bell Multicultural High School and Friendship Collegiate Academy. The Black Benefactors grant supported the program’s 2012 Summer Gateways program.
2012 Grants Total: $2,500
2010 GRANTEE PARTNERS
African Continuum Theatre Company, Washington, DC, $3,500
African Continuum Theatre Company was the only professional African-American theatre company in Washington, DC. It was created in 1989 as a service organization to assist the various small black community theatres improve the quality and visibility of their work. African Continuum Theatre Company presented over 34 fully-produced main-stage plays and seven world premieres, along with numerous public readings of new works by playwrights of color for over a decade.
First Generation College Bound, Prince George’s County, Maryland, $3,500
For over 20 years, First Generation College Bound (FGCB) has helped young people realize a dream that often seemed out of reach – to be the first in their families to get a college education. This unleashing of human potential has produced hundreds of college graduates, millions of dollars in added lifetime earnings and a brighter future for all. FGCB graduates have attended some of the nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, and some have gone on to enter graduate programs, law school and dental school.
Germantown Hardknocks Youth Foundation, Montgomery County, Maryland, $2,000
Germantown Hardknocks Youth Foundation provides youth with alternatives to violence, gangs and drugs through basketball, recreation and positive youth development programs. The program helps to inspire and guide youth in the belief that they can act on their dreams, make a difference in their community and realize their potential, one step at a time. It also places priority on character development, volunteer service and career exploration.