New Orleans, LA (January 29, 2021) – Today, the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF) announced grants worth over $1 million to 28 Black-led organizations as part of its Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity. These grants, funded in part by a $1 million investment from Facebook, support organizations that provide leadership in ending institutional racism, helping eliminate inequitable systems, and working to close the racial wealth gap. With today’s announcement, GNOF will have granted a total of $1.45 million under the Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity, as part of its strategy of raising and awarding a total of $3 million in multi-year grants.
“We are thrilled that Facebook has partnered with us to invest $1 million dollars into Black-led organizations in our region as part of our Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity,” said Andy Kopplin, President and CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation. “These organizations are working on the front lines to eliminate unfair and inequitable systems as well as to build wealth in Black communities. We’re grateful to Facebook and our other investors for helping our region lead the way in creating an equitable future for all.”
“Racial disparities are present in every area in which we work, so we know that we must do more to support local, Black-led organizations who are leading the efforts to advance racial equity in our communities,“ said GNOF Board Chair Leann Moses. “I am proud to share that even before today’s historic announcement, more than 87% of our discretionary grantmaking has supported Black communities and one-third of our discretionary grants have gone to Black-led organizations over the last five years. We want to thank Facebook and other major donors to the Greater Together Fund including the Zemurray Foundation, the Collins Diboll Foundation, Janet and Barry Lang, and Martha Murphy and Jack Leahy. Their support for this important work will help us create a stronger and more just community for all of us.”
Today’s grant recipients include:
- Groundwork New Orleans
- Sankofa CDC
- Ashé Cultural Arts Center
- Junebug Productions Inc.
- New Orleans African American Museum
- No Dream Deferred NOLA
- ACLU of Louisiana
- Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children
- TrainingGrounds Inc.
- Daughters Beyond Incarceration
- Ellis Marsalis Center for Music
- Our Voice Nuestra Voz
- The 1881 Research Institute
- Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development
- Made in New Orleans Foundation
- Grow Dat Youth Farm
- Birthmark Doula Collective
- Familias Unidas en Acción
- House of Tulip
- Jane Place Neighborhood Sustainability Initiative
- Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center
- Operation Restoration
- The First 72+
- Home by Hand, Inc.
- Thrive New Orleans
- Ujamaa Economic Development Corporation
- Citizen SHE
- Corporate Internship Leadership Institute
Launched in November 2020, the Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity was seeded by an initial investment of $350,000 from GNOF and continues to make large, sustained investments in a number of nonprofits leading on racial equity whose work has scalable local, regional, or statewide impact. In addition, the Greater Together Fund for Racial Equity provides critical sustaining support to nonprofits working tirelessly on the community level in the following areas:
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Bolstering the work of Black-led nonprofits leading on racial equity: making investments to sustain the work of local nonprofits that are having an impact in eliminating inequitable systems; and
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Closing the racial wealth gap by investing in initiatives to help small, minority businesses grow their share of gross receipts in our region from the current level of two percent to create meaningful prosperity, as well as investing in housing and other strategies that can build wealth for African American families.
GNOF will also provide leadership by engaging speakers and using our convening power to host conversations and advance dialogue promoting systems change in our region as part of this initiative.
In the fall of 2020, GNOF announced $450,000 in grant awards – $150,000 each to Good Work Network, Power Coalition, and the Urban League of Louisiana.