NEW YORK—The Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and NBCUniversal Local, a division of NBCU that operates NBC/Telemundo-owned stations, announced that 90 nonprofit organizations in 11 U.S. markets will receive a total of $3.475 million in Project Innovation grants. this year to support programs designed to uplift diverse communities.
“Supporting nonprofit organizations in the communities where we operate is central to our philanthropic strategy at NBCUniversal,” said Jessica Clancy, senior vice president, corporate social responsibility, NBCUniversal. “We are honored to partner with NBCUniversal Local to award these grants to organizations that improve equality in their cities.”
Project Innovation participating markets include New York (WNBC, WNJU), Southern California (KNBC, KVEA), Chicago (WMAQ, WSNS), Philadelphia (WCAU, WWSI), Dallas-Fort Worth (KXAS, KXTX), Boston (WBTS, WNEU, NECN), Hartford, CT (WVIT, WRDM), Washington, DC (WRC-TV, WZDC), Miami-Fort Lauderdale (WTVJ, WSCV), San Francisco Bay Area (KNTV, KSTS), and San Diego (KNSD, KUAN).
The complete list of Project Innovation 2022 grant recipients is available here.
Eligible nonprofits were selected for funding in four grant categories, including community engagement, culture of inclusion, next generation storytellers, and youth education and empowerment.
Since 2018, the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation and NBC/Telemundo-owned stations have presented a total of $14.3 million in innovation project grants to 389 nonprofit organizations.
“Our grantmaking program has helped hundreds of nonprofit organizations expand and deepen their work in our communities,” added Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal Local. “This year’s winners are helping individuals reach their full potential and empowering youth and children to be our next generation of storytellers, technologists and community leaders.
Here is a market-by-market overview of some of this year’s Project Innovation grant winners:
New York: The Arthur Project
The group’s “Therapeutic Mentoring” program provides in-school and out-of-school middle school students with the tools they need to boost their academic performance and social-emotional well-being. The program includes individualized therapeutic mentoring during the school day, after school, and on weekends that addresses trauma and focuses on building trust and positive relationships.
Southern California: Westside Infant Family Network (WIN)
Westside Infant Family Network’s (WIN) In-Home Mental Health Therapy program provides culturally appropriate mental health care and community resources to families and children from prenatal to age five, to help prevent complex trauma and mental disorders. health problems to have a lifelong impact on the healthy mental, physical and social-emotional development of children.
Chicago: Chicago Baseball Academy and Education
The organization’s Community Partner program will be expanded to allow the Chicago Baseball and Education Academy to partner with more organizations to help even more children. The group is opening its doors and professional-level baseball facilities at the University of Illinois at Chicago – free of charge – to area youth baseball organizations to provide a safe space and up-to-date facilities for children can play in summer and winter. The group also offers personalized programs for children, including college visits, mentoring, sports nights, and more.
Philadelphia: Center for the Development of Black Educators
The group focuses on equity, recruiting, training, hiring, and retaining Black educators who reflect the cultural background of the students they serve. The Freedom Schools of Literacy Academy program will expand its five-week summer program into an after-school program for the 2022-23 school year for young scholars in grades 1-3, and will offer free enrollment to participating students. and compensation for high school and college apprentices in the program.
Dallas Fort Worth: Beacon Hill Preparatory Institute
Beacon Hill Preparatory Institute’s “Closing of the COVID-19 Reading & Math Learning Gap” program addresses the learning loss that K-5 students have experienced throughout the pandemic, including widening racial and economic learning gaps. Certified teachers, assisted by trained volunteers, assess individual student needs and create a personalized learning plan for each student. The grant will allow the organization to increase the number of math and reading tutoring programs to meet increased demand for services.
Bay Area: Oakland Kingmakers
King Makers of Oakland’s mission is to dramatically improve educational experiences, outcomes, and life options for Black students and their families who have been historically underserved by their schools and districts. Their model uses the groundbreaking work of John A. Powell, Targeted Universalism, which confirms that improving academic outcomes for the most marginalized students – black males – can lead to improved outcomes for all students over time. time. The grant will be used to train an additional 60 student leaders to master narrative change, media production, distribution and event production through their Kingmakers of Oakland “KOO” Media Academy program.
Washington, DC: Shout Mouse Press Inc.
Shout Mouse Press is a writing and publishing program dedicated to amplifying deaf voices. Through writing workshops that lead to professional book publication, they accompany young people (ages 12+) from marginalized communities to tell their own stories in their own voices, as published authors, and to act as leaders and agents of change. Shout Mouse Press will use the Innovation Project grant to expand its existing programming by working with teen parents to create advice books inspired by their children, then mentoring them to become ambassadors for early childhood literacy for their communities.
Boston: Urban Food Initiative
The Urban Food Initiative, “The Daily Table”, solves realistic barriers to food and nutrition insecurity for the elderly, those confined to their homes, those who depend on public transport and the disadvantaged. Their program innovatively created an online ordering system – with no markup, 30% cheaper than grocery stores and with free shipping – to increase food bank equity.
Miami/Fort-Lauderdale: Homes for Everyone in Miami
Miami Homes For All has worked to end and prevent homelessness in Miami-Dade County for nearly forty years. Funding from the grant will go to the Miami-Dade Eviction Task Force (ETF) program, which ensures housing assistance reaches low-income households, BIPOC, who not only experience cost burdens at significantly higher rates higher than white households, but also experience serious systemic barriers to accessing resources.
San Diego: Promises2 Kids Foundation
The mission of the Promises2Kids Foundation is to create a brighter future for foster children in San Diego. The group’s “Guardian Scholars” program, which serves 47% of Latinos, 24% of Blacks as well as LGBTQIA+ youth, offers current and former adoptive youth access to group and one-on-one support to ensure young people graduate. high school and identify an education and a career. way that maximizes their interests to help them lead healthy and independent adult lives. The Innovation Project grant will be used to facilitate the recruitment of mentors and connection to culturally meaningful opportunities in the wider community.
Harford, Connecticut: Connecticut Violence Intervention Program Inc.
Connecticut’s Violence Intervention Program is for young adults ages 14-24 who have been directly involved in or experienced violence and who have been traumatized or otherwise affected by community violence. The organization will use the grant funds to support various programs that provide a safe environment for youth in the Greater New Haven area, who are exposed to or victims of abuse, while helping to provide effective solutions to control and prevent the crime in the community.
