2 Commitments of $100 Million Address Racial Wealth Gaps and Accelerate Covid Research

Here are notable new grant awards compiled by the Chronicle:

Bush Foundation

$100 million commitment to create two community trust funds that will enhance wealth building and address racial economic inequity through education, homeownership, and entrepreneurship opportunities for Black and Native communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and the 23 Native nations in the region. This commitment comes in addition to the foundation’s regular grant making.

Wellcome Trust

$100 million commitment to accelerate Covid-19 research and develop new vaccines and treatments to keep pace with the virus’s mutations. Of the grant total, $70 million will support its global partnership with the ACT-Accelerator, and up to $30 million will advance tracking research in low- and middle-income countries.

Conrad Prebys Foundation

$78 million to be divided among 121 recipients in its inaugural grant cycle. Among the grantees was the San Diego Symphony, which received $15 million for the Shell, its new outdoor concert space on San Diego Bay that will open this summer.

The foundation was created from the estate of Conrad Prebys, a billionaire real-estate developer from San Diego who died in 2016. He appeared on the Chronicle’s Philanthropy 50 list three times for his major gifts for medical research, education, public radio, and the arts.

Duke Endowment

$25 million to Furman University for the Furman Advantage, a personalized four-year program that guides students from their first days at the university to graduation through academic advising, mentoring and career guidance, and opportunities for undergraduate research, internships, and study abroad. The Duke Endowment created the program with an initial grant of $25 million in 2016.

Ford Foundation

$15 million commitment to provide seed funding for the Black Feminist Fund, a new philanthropic entity that will make grants to grassroots organizations in Africa, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Europe that support Black women, girls, trans women, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people.

Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund

$9 million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for a project to mitigate the risk of future harm to natural resources in Florida from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.

The fund was created with $2.5 billion in federal penalties stemming from criminal plea agreements from BP and Transocean for their role in the oil spill.

AT&T and WarnerMedia

$7 million commitment to organizations that combat anti-Asian violence and discrimination. The U.S. grantees are Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Asian American Chamber of Commerce, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Center for Asian American Media, and the victims fund at the Atlanta affiliate of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. International recipients are the Southeast and East Asian Centre in the United Kingdom, the European Network Against Racism, and Australians Against Racism.

Harold K.L. Castle Foundation

$2.3 million to the University of Hawaii for academic-success programs that help prepare low-income and first-generation students in middle and high school in the Windward Oʻahu community to go to college.

Barr Foundation

$1 million to the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers for equity programs at health clinics as they make vaccinations against Covid-19 available to people in their communities.

The foundation also gave $475,000 to the Black Boston Covid-19 Coalition, the Chinatown Collaborative, the Greater Boston Latino Network, and the Center to Support Immigrant Organizing for similar work, and a total of $500,000 to community foundations in Essex County, Greater Worcester, Western Massachusetts, and the South Coast to make grants to community-based organizations focused on vaccine equity.

PSEG Foundation

$1 million to Hampton University, Howard University, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University to offer scholarships to these historically Black universities and help students pursue their studies in science, technology, engineering, and math.

New Grant Opportunities

The RADx-UP Coordination and Data Collection Center will make grants worth up to $50,000 each to community organizations, faith-based groups, and tribal nations and organizations nationwide to speed up and expand access to Covid-19 testing for medically, geographically, and socially vulnerable populations. Letters of interest are due April 23, with applications due May 14.

Chick-fil-A is accepting nominations for its annual True Inspiration Awards, which recognize nonprofit groups with Black leaders who work with communities of color in the areas of hunger, homelessness, and education. The restaurant group will award $5 million to 34 charities in the United States and Canada whose board of directors or executive leadership team are predominantly Black. Grants range from $50,000 to $350,000 each. Applications are due May 31.

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.