Blackstone Promises $40 Million to Entrepreneurship Program for Students of Color

Here are notable new grant awards compiled by the Chronicle:

Blackstone Charitable Foundation

$40 million commitment to expand its LaunchPad entrepreneurship program at historically Black colleges and universities and Hispanic-serving institutions. The financial company is partnering with the United Negro College Fund to help select which institutions will benefit from the program. Blackstone is also giving $5 million to bring LaunchPad to six additional campuses within the University of Texas system.

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

$18 million through its Safety and Justice Challenge to support programs in 15 cities and counties that are advancing new ideas to reduce incarceration rates for nonviolent offenses and address racial inequity in the U.S. criminal-justice system.

Craig Newmark Philanthropies

$15 million to a network of food banks and other organizations that work to reduce hunger across America, specifically among military veterans. The recipients include the Bob Woodruff Foundation, D.C. Central Kitchen, FareStart, Feeding America, God’s Love We Deliver, and World Central Kitchen. Newmark previously gave the coalition $10 million in October.

Harold Grinspoon Foundation

$11 million in matching grants to 110 nonprofit Jewish summer camps as they prepare to re-open for the 2021 season while contending with pandemic safety protocols. The matching grants are unrestricted.

Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation

$10 million to create the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, in partnership with the German government and several agencies of the United Nations, to improve the health and sustainability of reefs and other marine ecosystems.

Helen Diller Foundation

$10 million to the University of California at Berkeley to endow its Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies.

American Bar Endowment

$7.2 million to the American Bar Foundation and the ABA Fund for Justice and Education for legal service, education, and research programs related to the law.

Frances Bunzl Family Trust

$5.6 million to the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and Jewish Family and Career Services Atlanta for their endowments. Each group is receiving an equal share of the grant. Frances Bunzl died in 2019 at the age of 99.

Comcast

$5 million through its Comcast RISE Investment Fund, which will make grants up to $10,000 to small businesses owned by Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, and Philadelphia.

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

$4.9 million to Williams College, Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport Museum for a three-year project that will use maritime history as a basis for studying the history of slavery in New England, European colonization in North America, the dispossession of Native American land in the region.

Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation

$4.1 million to the Girls Empowering Movement Program that will increase access to physical activity and fitness opportunities for middle-school girls across Georgia.

Center for Disaster Philanthropy

$1 million to Catholic Charities USA for recovery efforts as communities in California, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington State continue to rebuild following last year’s wildfires.

Dominion Energy

$1 million to Virginia 4-H for operating support and help the youth organization continue its educational programs throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Facebook

$1 million to the Greater New Orleans Foundation to support the Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity, which is making grants to 28 Black-led organizations in the region that are working to end institutional racism and close the racial wealth gap.

New Grant Opportunity

The RRF Foundation for Aging is accepting proposals for projects working to improve quality of life for older Americans through direct service, advocacy, education, and training programs for professionals working with elders. Its program areas are caregiving, economic security in later life, housing, and social and intergenerational connectedness. Proposals for direct-service projects are being considered from organizations based in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Florida. Projects of national relevance are considered from organizations across the United States. Letters of inquiry are due March 15, and the deadline for full proposals is May 1.

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

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