Ford Foundation Gives MLK50 $2 Million to Strengthen the Memphis Newsroom’s Reporting on Race and Power

Here are notable new grant awards compiled by the Chronicle:

Lilly Endowment

$30.7 million over five years to Wake Forest University to enhance its Program for Leadership and Character and create a national network dedicated to teaching character within colleges and universities.

The Lilly Endowment is a financial supporter of the Chronicle.

Kaiser Permanente

$25 million over five years to bolster the Center for Gun Violence Research and Education, its new institute to examine the public-health aspects of gun violence.

The grant also supports a collaboration between the center and the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention.

Truist Foundation

$22 million to the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, Living Cities, and Main Street America for Where It Starts, its new multiyear program to strengthen small businesses and develop career pathways in the United States for workers who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

The Council for Adult and Experiential Learning has received $15.7 million, and Living Cities and Main Street America will share a $6.3 million grant.

California Wellness Foundation

$20.5 million to 68 recipients in California that work in the areas of reproductive justice, civic engagement, and supporting the well-being of communities that are predominantly Black, Indigenous, and people of color.

Baltimore Ravens and the Stephen and Renee Bisciotti Foundation

$20 million commitment to create the Baltimore Ravens Boys & Girls Club at the site of the former Hilton Recreation Center and expand youth programs in West Baltimore.

The renovated facility is expected to open before the end of next year.

Mellon Foundation

$12 million to 26 colleges and universities nationwide to advance social-justice research and projects in the areas of civic engagement and voting rights, race in the United States, and social justice in the humanities.

Joan N. and Norman Bluestone Foundation

$8 million to the Queens Botanical Garden for programs within its new education facility, which will be named for the late couple.

Joan Bluestone, who died in 2020, was a longtime volunteer and member of the botanical garden’s Board of Directors. Norman Bluestone co-founded the Bluestone Organization, a real-estate company in New York. He died in 2011.

William N. Pennington Foundation

$5.3 million to Remsa Health to purchase a new helicopter that is equipped to deliver emergency health care to people who live in rural areas of Nevada.

Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts

$4 million to 48 organizations to create jobs for artists through additional exhibitions, residencies, commissions, publications, and curatorial research.

American Journalism Project

$3.3 million to Enlace Latino NC, Fort Worth Report, and Nebraska Journalism Trust to expand their local news coverage within their communities.

Michigan Justice Fund

$2.8 million to 18 grantees to offer services that help previously incarcerated individuals find jobs and successfully re-enter their communities. The grants will also strengthen grassroots organizations that advance criminal-justice reform throughout the state.

First Nations Development Institute

$2.4 million to 25 tribal governments and nonprofit organizations with Indigenous leaders to promote environmental justice, expand green jobs, and continue their work in addressing climate change.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

$2 million to the Social Science Research Council for the Mercury Project, which will make grants to support research projects that study ways to improve demand for routine vaccinations, including childhood vaccines, HPV, polio, measles, and Covid-19, in low- and lower-middle-income countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

Ford Foundation

$2 million to MLK50: Justice Through Journalism to strengthen the Memphis newsroom’s fundraising operations and make its investigative reporting on poverty and public policy available to city residents for free.

The Ford Foundation is a financial supporter of the Chronicle.

Princeton Area Community Foundation

$2 million in unrestricted grants to more than 60 local organizations through its Community Impact and COVID-19 Relief and Recovery Funds.

The recipients work in arts education, children and youth development, community building, education, food security, health, and supporting older people and other vulnerable populations.

Velocity Global and FT Partners

$1 million to First Descents, a charity that provides opportunities for whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, surfing, and other outdoor adventures to adults with serious illnesses. The grant is unrestricted.

New Grant Opportunity

Enterprise Community Partners and the Wells Fargo Foundation are accepting applications for grants through their Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge, a $20 million grant competition to identify and promote ideas to increase access to affordable homes. Grants worth between $1 million and $3 million each will be awarded to expand projects that tackle systemic change in housing access; grantees will also receive two years of technical assistance. Applications are due March 3.

Send grant announcements to grants.editor@philanthropy.com.

Chronicle of Philanthropy subscribers also have full access to GrantStation’s searchable database of grant opportunities. For more information, visit our grants page.