2025 has been a pivotal year for Opportunity Fund, for Pittsburgh, and for the nation at large. This year challenged us to grow as a philanthropic organization and as individuals.

We celebrated our ten-year anniversary, honoring ten years of working alongside brilliant grant partners and fellow foundations supporting the arts and social and economic justice – ten years of getting to know so many of you so well. Truly, it is the best part of our jobs. To date, Opportunity Fund has distributed a total of $20,382,786, 93% of which specifically benefits the Greater Pittsburgh region.

In February we gathered with many of you in recognition of this milestone to party and dream together. That night we understood that the challenges ahead would be formidable. However, few of us anticipated how aggressive the attacks would be and how rapidly our lives would change as a result. This was a year of political upheaval and immediate assaults on our institutions, our values, and our most historically oppressed communities. So encompassing were the broadsides that perhaps some of us realized for the first time how vulnerable we all are. Yes, we experience these harms differently. Yes, there are groups among us facing greater and more pressing threats than others. Yes, we are in this together. And if we are all in this together, what is possible?

An answer to this question glimmered into presence as we focused on our collective dreams and grounded them into our purpose. Via an official Resolution, our Board directed the staff to disburse the foundation’s resources to advance our mission and guiding values, “which will include without curb or restraint the support of social justice, racial justice, arts and artists, and the other progressive causes set forth in” our founding legal document.

With the confidence of this directive in mind, Opportunity Fund awarded 147 grants in 2025, totaling $2,624,489. Over 80% of these grants flexibly support our partners’ general operations. 37% supported the arts, and 55% supported grant partners with BIPOC leadership. 

Rooted in our core mission, we met this year’s crises by evolving. We leaned on our modus operandi: try something. After a year of board-engaged learning, Opportunity Fund began investing our assets in a new way, making two Program Related Investments (PRIs) totaling $1.75 million to support values-aligned, predominantly BIPOC entrepreneurs. Any effort to grow the endowment must work to advance our mission, not push against it.

The board set aside $330k from the annual budget to respond to urgent needs as they arose. These funds went to support The Collaborative for Immigrant Impact, critical food access during the government shutdown, and a pooled emergency response fund that will launch next year.

As we advanced the Respite for Black Womxn Initiative, we stepped into the roles of grantwriters and fundraisers, experiencing the other side of the funding dynamic with our partners. Members of our team took on vital care work while navigating the very structures whose impacts we are working to address. They faced the gaps in our country’s healthcare, criminal justice, and mental health crisis response systems, as so many Pittsburgh families do every day.

No doubt about it, 2025 was rough. Looking forward, we feel, somewhat unexpectedly, energized and hopeful. In 2026 we will officially launch the Respite for Black Womxn initiative. We will renew our focus on the arts, with an exciting announcement to come early in the year. We will delve deeper into our Program Related Investments (PRIs). As ever, we will continue our shift towards trust-based philanthropy.

Friends, we are grateful to be in relationship with you. You continually show us what our work is meant to be, and how we can use the foundation’s resources more powerfully. We have a lot to do in 2026 and we are eager to get started.

But first, let’s rest.

Jake Goodman

Executive Director

I want to talk about the time we’re living in right now. It’s just February. Our country has elected a president whose administration is actively expanding its power, authoritarian in nature, dismantling so very much, wreaking devastation left and right.  We’ve all been touched by it – some of us more than others. “And then they came for me” has never felt so resonant in my lifetime.

At Opportunity Fund we are asking: What do we do? What can we do? And with whom?

Here’s what I’m thinking:

We need to take this time seriously, try to see it for what it is, even as it evolves.

We need to move money quickly. Our board member, Alisha Wormsley says, “Get it out the door!”

Our theory of change is: try something. We have to try something. And keep on trying. Change the rule book, see what sticks. There’s. Nothing. To. Wait. For.

When we do change our own rule book, we have to be honest and transparent about what it is we are trying to do, and be open to seeing how it affects what others are trying to do, both positively and negatively, and calibrate.

The goal is not to earn trust. It’s to extend trust. I do not believe that anyone is ever capable of knowing all the answers, and certainly not now.  Just try something.

I think that grieving is going to play a big role in many of our doings. This is a time for planting seeds. The soil may be tilled for new things to grow, but we cannot forget that the soil is being overturned and not so we can all enjoy a meal together when it’s over. This is not collective liberation, it is wreckage. And the wreckage involves human lives and dreams.

We fund the arts for the same reasons that authoritarian leaders fear and suppress them: because we know their power. The creation and experience of art forms the most fundamental building blocks of culture that humans can access – and it is something that authoritarian leaders cannot ultimately control – even when they do try to make themselves Chairman of the Arts.

So, as we enter this season of planting or, more in tune with our theme, of dreaming, we will be grieving for all that has been and will be lost.

If philanthropy is all made up, as I first heard from Michelle McMurray of The Pittsburgh Foundation, what place does dreaming have in our planning and doing—now, in these times? At Opportunity Fund, we see dreams not as pie in the sky childsplay, but rather as the beautiful and important vision we each hold pieces of, for our collective future.

Dreaming is an essential part of the work that will lift us up out of these times.

Opportunity Fund is one cog in a wheel trying to make community dreams happen. This room, all of us together, is a wheel. Let’s turn.

Opportunity Fund’s aspiration is to nurture reciprocal relationships with its partners and community members. Trust is key to building strong relationships and, in turn, being in community. General operating support is a type of funding that is unrestricted and allows organizations to use it as they best see fit to meet their goals. The majority of this year’s grant funding, 82%, is unrestricted general operating support. Black-led organizations make up 51% of this year’s total grant partners, 32% are white-led, and 17% have Asian, Latinx, and/or Native leadership teams. A complete list of awarded grants can be found below.

Since the Opportunity Fund’s inception in 2015, the foundation has awarded 1,056 grants totaling nearly $15,240,000. Grant cycles take place two times per year. The deadline to submit an online Letter of Inquiry to be considered for a grant for the next cycle is January 16, 2024. Opportunity Fund encourages organizations focused on the arts and social and economic justice to review its grant opportunities and reach out or submit an online Letter of Inquiry by the deadline. 

Full information about applying for grants is available in the “For Applicants” area of the foundation’s website. 

Grant Partner List:

412 JUSTICE ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. 412 JUSTICE is a multiracial, intergenerational, and multi-issue organization that focuses on economic, environmental, and education justice. 412 JUSTICE builds deep trust and collaboration with impacted people and uses their voice to promote strong, healthy communities and corporate accountability through the redistribution of  wealth, power, and resources.

Abolitionist Law Center ($40,000 over two years) to provide multi-year, flexible general operating support. Funds primarily support the organization’s advocacy for institutional policies and practices in Allegheny County that support decarceration and racial justice, centering directly impacted and traditionally marginalized people. The Abolitionist Law Center is a public interest law firm and community organizing project organized for the purpose of abolishing class and race based mass incarceration in the United States.

Allegheny Lawyers Initiative for Justice (ALIJ) ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Specifically, these funds will support ALIJ to complete a business plan and to develop operational structures, processes, policies and procedures as the organization begins its work. ALIJ provides innovative, holistic defense services and collaborates with community partners to advocate for transformational change in the criminal legal system.

Allies for Health + Wellbeing ($45,000 over three years) to provide multi-year, flexible general operating support. Funds will help provide emergency financial assistance for clients living with HIV, support drastically increased medical insurance costs for staff, and contribute to the organization’s capital campaign. Allies provides integrated medical care, supportive human services, and community-based education for individuals living with, or at risk of, HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

The Allignment Chapter Corporation ($9,000) to provide flexible general operating support. The Allignment Chapter offers immediate emergency support to mothers in need and provides a free financially fit literacy program. The program bridges the gap between low-income and middle-class mothers by equipping them with financial education and skills to empower and diversify the middle class, particularly among single mothers who often lack access to such resources.

ALMA|LEWIS ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support for the organization, including its artist-in-residence programming. ALMA|LEWIS is an experimental contemporary art platform for critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black artists and culture.

Ayúdate Incorporated ($12,500) to provide flexible general operating support, helping to launch the organization. Ayúdate increases the accessibility of mental health resources in the Spanish language at a low cost via telehealth for the growing Spanish-speaking population of Western Pennsylvania.

Balafon West African Dance Ensemble ($30,000 over two years) to provide multi-year, flexible general operating support. The organization creates enriching opportunities to experience the joyful spirit and culture of traditional West African dance, centering the contributions of women. 

Baldwin for the Arts ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support for the 2023-2024 Baldwin Fellowship, a nurturing residency for artists of the Global Majority to explore, create, and breathe, free from the distractions and hindrances of everyday life. Baldwin for the Arts seeks to support the creation of art that reflects the lived experiences of African, Asian, indigenous, and dual-heritage backgrounds by advancing the careers of historically underrepresented literary, visual, and performing artists. 

Beaver County Foundation ($5,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to support the work of Royally Fit. Funds will support the expansion of the Royal T.E.A. cohort, which provides maternal wellness support and self care programming. Royally Fit is a community-based healthcare organization that supports community members as they strive to be fit in every aspect of wellness.

Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) ($20,000 over two years) to provide multi-year, flexible general operating support. Core projects include civic engagement, the Greater Pittsburgh Coalition Against Violence, and the Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable.  B-PEP is a non-partisan collaborative with agency, organization and religious leaders and committed individuals in Pittsburgh and the surrounding region who seek to build economic and social power and influence in and for the region’s African American community.

Black Women’s Policy Center ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. The Black Women’s Policy Center improves the lives of Black women by providing a place of refuge and support through advocacy, navigating systems, accessing resources, training, education as well as policy development and change.

Carnegie Mellon University ($9,996) to support the MS89: Community Archives Screening Series. MS89 is a series of in-person nightclub archives screening events organized by Pittsburgh Queer History Project and co-hosted by LGBTQ elders with first hand experience of never-before or rarely seen archival materials. MS89 is redesigning community archival practice, driven by a collective desire for a shared history, creating diverse and intergenerational audiences who reinterpret this history through theatrical and participatory social events. 

Casa San Jose ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide capital support for Guerrero Glass as the organization transforms into a brick-and-mortar glassblowing studio. Guerrero Glass provides free glassblowing for systematically disadvantaged youth within community, led by community.

Casa San Jose ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to support the Block Chronicles’s Pittsburgh – Latinx Artist Residency (P-LAR). P-LAR is a 10-month residency that strengthens career advancement for Latinx artists in Pittsburgh’s arts sector by supporting their artistic needs during the pandemic through mentorship, resources, and a curated environment for creativity, peace and reflection. 

Center for Artistic Activism (C4AA) ($7,500) to support the Unstoppable Voters Fellowship, through which leading artistic activists make voting joyful, vibrant, safe, powerful, accessible, inspiring, and irresistible, all across the United States. Funding will help expand the program in Pittsburgh for the 2024 elections.  C4AA is dedicated to advancing the practice of artistic activism by empowering individuals to harness their creativity and cultural influence to drive social change. 

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support for CEO Pittsburgh, which supports justice-impacted individuals who are at high risk of being re-incarcerated, are unemployed, and are in need of immediate income. CEO provides comprehensive employment services to help Pittsburgh individuals secure and sustain jobs, offering a pathway to long-term stability and economic opportunity.

Center of Life ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support as the organization uplifts Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood community amidst the rapid development that has begun to reshape the community’s landscape. Center of Life provides families and youth with the life-skills, education, training, and resources necessary to be strong and to make their communities strong.

Chamber Music Pittsburgh ($45,000 over three years) to provide multi-year support for the organization’s MainStage concert series, which features and celebrates a wide range of chamber ensembles of the highest caliber, exposing the Pittsburgh community to superb artists and performances. 

Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support for the 2023-2024 season. The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh provides its community with exceptional performances, community enrichment, and related programming by a world-class ensemble. Repertoire includes familiar works, rarely performed masterpieces, and contemporary compositions.

City Theatre Company ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support for City’s 49th season of contemporary plays, special events, education programs, and community engagement partnerships. City Theatre provides an artistic home for the development and production of contemporary plays of substance and ideas that engage and challenge diverse audiences. 

Community Forge ($10,000) to sustain and expand the Wilkinsburg Open Mic Nights series, which provides a platform for artists and bridges diverse communities in Pittsburgh. Community Forge builds an equitable economy for Wilkinsburg and the Greater Pittsburgh region by creating opportunities that promote professional development, financial wellbeing, and entrepreneurial growth. 

Dreams of Hope ($60,000 over three years), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible multi-year general operating support for Hatch Arts Collective. This grant will fund a national tour and multiple seasons of NEST, an initiative to develop new work by queer and BIPOC artists. Hatch Arts Collective is a Pittsburgh-based performance incubator that develops new, interdisciplinary, and queer- or BIPOC-led performance projects.

East End Cooperative Ministry (EECM) ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Since 1970, EECM has responded to community needs with programs that provide opportunity, transformation and hope to those experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, educational challenges, and barriers to employment. 

Eden’s Farm ($30,000 over two years) to provide flexible, multi-year general operating support. Funds will support the cost of case manager staff salary in providing case management and residential support. Eden’s Farm exists to provide a safe place, trauma-informed holistic care, education and outreach, and resources to survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.

The Embodiment Institute (TEI) ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. TEI creates training and healing spaces for community members and movement leaders to learn about politicized healing and embodiment. TEI changes the conversation, practice and politics of healing through strategic training and interventions at interpersonal, organizational, cultural and environmental scales.

Focus On Renewal Neighborhood Corporation ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support, focusing on the safety net programs at the organization’s Community Resource Center (CRC). The CRC serves as the epicenter for community safety net programs, including integrated human services to meet the needs of residents.  Focus on Renewal’s programs and partnerships connect children, adults, and families with the relationships, resources, and opportunities needed to develop and sustain a thriving community.

Footbridge for Families ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Footbridge provides one-of-a-kind rapid support and service coordination for families facing financial crises which have no other solution.  

Fractured Atlas ($6,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for Vigilance Theater Group. Vigilance is an immersive theater group dedicated to creating intimate, experiential productions. Vigilance seeks to create original and re-contextualized theater for very small groups in spaces outside of traditional performance environments. 

The Heliotrope Foundation ($10,000) to support the completion of The Sanctuary, a place for formerly incarcerated individuals to heal and begin again. The Sanctuary is a social hall and transitional living space whose mission is to reduce drug addiction, recidivism, and homelessness by meeting people in their most vulnerable states. The Heliotrope Foundation, founded by artist Caledonia Curry (also known as Swoon), is dedicated to supporting communities in their creative responses to adversity. 

The Genesis Collective ($7,500) to provide flexible general operating support for the organization’s efforts to engage in public art projects and employ artists to teach, collaborate, and advocate for their work. The Genesis Collective exists to support artists and their work, increase the public’s access to art and creativity, and entrench art in and around community development in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. 

Industrial Arts Workshop (IAW) ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. IAW empowers Pittsburgh-area youth and adults at the intersection of arts, community development, and workforce readiness. Through the creative process of hands-on sculpture design and welding, students develop skills and have experiences that help prepare them for the workplace – whether that be in welding, another trade, the arts, or some other field all together.

Jazz Workshop, Inc. ($6,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Jazz Workshop, Inc. provides a music education program that teaches jazz and other forms of music to underserved students and other populations to promote and preserve jazz as an art form, build multi-cultural understanding, encourage self-esteem, and self-expression through music.

Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh (JFCS) ($15,000) to provide gap salary funding for an attorney to provide immigration legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children. JFCS supports people through life’s changes and challenges, working to create a caring community where all people have the opportunity to reach their potential.  

Just Harvest Education Fund ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Just Harvest reduces barriers to public safety net benefits, connects people in need to those public benefits, addresses healthy food access needs in food apartheid communities, and mobilizes grassroots participation in policy advocacy for food justice for all. 

Let’s Get Free: The Women and Trans Prisoner Defense Committee ($60,000 over three years) to provide flexible multi-year general operating support. Let’s Get Free works to end perpetual punishment with a focus on Death by Incarceration, build pathways out of the prisons back to our communities through commutation reform, support successful possibilities for people formerly and currently incarcerated, and shift to a culture of transformative justice.

Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild ($15,000) to support concerts and supporting educational events associated with MCG Jazz’s 2023-2024 concert season, featuring jazz legends and emerging artists. MCG Jazz preserves, presents, and promotes jazz through an annual concert series, a recording label, educational programs, and an archive of audio/video recordings, photographs, interviews, and individual artist collections.

Mothers of Incarcerated Sonsᵀᴹ (MISᵀᴹ) ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support, including civic engagement and Re-entry with Dignity programs. MISᵀᴹ is a movement to see and to amplify the voices of the Invisible Prisoners of mass incarceration. The organization endeavors to support those adversely affected by the incarceration of their loved ones and aims to serve the needs of incarcerated individuals through advocacy, awareness campaigns, and benevolent activities. Additionally, MISᵀᴹ focuses on supporting the needs of individuals returning home to their loved ones.

Mwanakuche Farm ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support for the Somali Bantu-led farm in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. Funding will provide provisions for animals and feed, soil amendment, and equipment repair. Mwanakuche Farm educates and provides a reliable, healthy, culturally-appropriate, and in-demand food source for immigrant communities. 

Neighborhood Allies ($30,000 over two years), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible multi-year general operating support for Steel Smiling. Steel Smiling bridges the gap between Black people and mental health support through education, advocacy and awareness.

New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts ($60,000 over three years) to provide flexible multi-year general operating support as the organization continues to provide a safe, accessible, affordable mid-size venue for Pittsburgh’s performing arts community and audiences. The New Hazlett Theater creates dynamic art through innovation and collaboration, providing vital resources to creators from diverse backgrounds to enrich the cultural community.

New Sun Rising ($20,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for Pittonkatonk. Pittonkatonk’s annual May Day Celebration serves as a platform for local performers and social justice groups from the region to come together and showcase their talents alongside international performers from the African diaspora and Latin America. Pittonkatonk empowers people through music in diverse practices to engage the world around them and advance fair and just relations between people and society.

New Sun Rising ($12,500), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for DEMASKUS Theater Collective. DEMASKUS Theatre Collective pushes through traditional boundaries of the arts by developing unique masterpieces that marry the history, passion, and soul of untold stories with high production values.

New Sun Rising ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to support Birth Your Way. Funding will support the development of a diverse, equitable, and culturally sensitive birth workforce that addresses the maternal mortality disparity in Pittsburgh. Birth Your Way establishes a communal scope of practice and elevates the standard of practice within the birth worker profession.

Off the Wall Productions ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Off The Wall is a theater production company that enriches, enlivens, educates, amazes, and entertains audiences, to help create a more conscious and compassionate community while increasing the public knowledge and appreciation of theater in South Western Pennsylvania. 

Office for Public Art ($45,000 over three years), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible multi-year general operating support for Sibyls Shrine. Sibyls Shrine is an art collective and residency program that uplifts Black artists who m/other with opportunities for radical care, rest, and support in an effort to further develop their craft and presence in the art world.

Pennsylvania Prison Society ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. 200 years ago, the Prison Society was designated as Pennsylvania’s independent monitor of correctional facilities, making it the only non-governmental organization in the country with access to people in custody. Through its statutory “gold-key” access to people in custody, The Prison Society is able to meet with people in jail, collect and disseminate information on their experience, and identify issues in a singular way. The Prison Society promotes the health, safety, and dignity of Pennsylvanians in prison and jail.

Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania (PPWP) ($60,000 over three years) to provide flexible multi-year general operating support. PPWP provides high-quality reproductive health care services, comprehensive sexuality education and strategic advocacy.

POISE Foundation ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support of POORLAW’s enforcement of programs and policies that address economic development, housing development, and social service deliveries. POORLAW addresses racial and ethnic disparities in Pittsburgh’s Greater Hazelwood community by addressing the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of residents’ lives and community development. 

POISE Foundation ($30,000 over two years), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible multi-year general operating support for the Alliance for Police Accountability (APA). As a collective of voices fighting for change, APA dismantles harmful systems of oppression, mobilizes community members as active agents of change, and affirms the humanity of Black and other marginalized communities.

Prime Stage Theatre ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support for the company’s 2023-2024 season. Prime Stage Theatre brings great literature to life through the transformative process of live theatre – entertaining, informing, enriching, and inspiring audiences with engaging programs that deliver long-lasting benefits to the youths, adults, and families of our region. 

Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise (PACE) ($30,000 over two years) to provide flexible multi-year general operating support. PACE advances a more equitable community by increasing the capacity of individuals, groups, and organizations that challenge injustice.

The Promise Center of Homewood, Inc. ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. The Promise Center is an out-of-school time educational program designed for students from kindergarten through 12th grade, with a specific focus on African American students from low socioeconomic status communities. The program focuses on building a strong foundation in the fundamentals and fostering relationships based on world cultures, particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM).

Radiant Hall ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Radiant Hall is an artist-led community offering multifaceted support to Pittsburgh’s artists and creatives, centered on the provision and preservation of studio space. 

Rainbow Serpent, Inc. ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Specifically, funds will support the hiring of a part-time program manager. Rainbow Serpent seeks to advance Black LGBTQ culture through the exploration of multimedia art, African cosmologies, and emerging technologies. 

RealTime Arts ($20,000) to provide flexible general operating support that will expand staff salaries and capacities, leading to a more sustainable infrastructure. RealTime Arts (formerly RealTime Interventions) is a community-fueled performance company that creates theatrical experiences and public events that celebrate real stories of real people and real places, and the interconnectedness of all human beings.

Reimagine Reentry, Inc. ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Reimagine Reentry is a reentry program for men and women returning home from incarceration to Allegheny County. Reimagine Reentry walks alongside returning citizens to address the unique challenges of reentering the community through a strengths-based approach. The organization provides opportunities, reduces barriers, and supports returning citizens, empowering positive change for each individual and their community. 

Resonance Works ($12,500) to provide flexible, general operating support for the 2023-24 season. Resonance Works is a performing arts non-profit that empowers musicians and inspires audiences with intimate, genre-defying productions. Showcasing a diverse range of musical genres, Resonance Works presents opera, musical theatre, orchestral, choral, and chamber music. Resonance Works challenges traditional assumptions about classical music and invites audiences to connect with the work in fresh and unexpected ways.

SEE CLEAR ($12,500) to provide flexible general operating support. SEE CLEAR provides continued equitable advancement of Black-led businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs through one-on-one individualized coaching, workshops, and coordinated supportive, educational, and financial services. SEE CLEAR empowers economically disadvantaged youth and adults by helping them to reach their true potential while serving as a catalyst for economic growth and change in the community.

Silver Eye Center for Photography ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Silver Eye promotes the power of contemporary photography as a fine art medium by creating original exhibitions, unique educational programing, and a space for artists to learn, create, and connect through a digital lab. The programs are dedicated to supporting the work of emerging, mid-career, and under-recognized artists and sharing that work with diverse audiences in engaging and meaningful ways.

Social Good Fund ($20,000 over two years), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for PeoplesHub. PeoplesHub focuses on Disability Justice and Solidarity Economy centering art and culture, care and access. PeoplesHub is an online movement school that connects groups and individuals across geographies to build strong, resilient and transformative movements. By creating vibrant spaces for learning and cross-pollination, and working with others to develop their skills for online training and facilitation, PeoplesHub aims to overcome some of the barriers that get in the way of creating inclusive and successful movements.

The Tank Ltd ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for DNAWORKS. DNAWORKS is an arts and service organization dedicated to dialogue and healing through the arts. Through multidisciplinary programs and performances that center the voices and experiences of people of the global majority and the LGBTQ2SPIAA+ community, DNAWORKS aims to create spaces and platforms where marginalized voices can be heard and celebrated, striving to foster dialogue, understanding, and positive change in society.

Tech25 ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. Tech25 is a state of the art event training center providing technical support and educational training for many of the cultural institutions and performing arts centers in Western PA. The organization’s work promotes diversity in the entertainment and event technology industry through providing entry into jobs that pay a living wage and lead to fulfilling careers. 

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) ($5,000) to provide support for the 2023, Pittsburgh-based Rising Leaders of Colors cohort to attend TCG’s 2024 National Conference. TCG is a national theater service organization that plays a leading role in cultivating a thriving theater ecology. 

True Costs Initiative, Inc (TCI)  ($15,000) to provide support for The Fifth Quarter program. The Fifth Quarter provides flexible and unrestricted funding to BIPOC-led organizations that work to fight against extractive activities spearheaded by corporations and governments, prepare youth to become involved in climate activism, and encourage rest and wellness within vulnerable communities. TCI seeks to increase corporate accountability and to strengthen legal systems in the Global South by driving collaboration among communities, funders, and creative leaders in an effort to tip the balance so corporations are held accountable for and internalize the true environmental and human costs of their actions.

Ujamaa Collective ($40,000 over two years) to provide flexible multi-year general operating support. Ujamaa Collective serves as a catalyst for advancing Africana Women by establishing a fair trade marketplace for cultural, artistic, and entrepreneurial exchange. Through the principles of cooperative economics, this initiative aims to support Black creative business women providing on-going cooperative development in the Historic Hill District and beyond, embodying the motto of “we lift as we climb.”

Ujamaa Collective ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide flexible general operating support for the Black Transformative Arts Network (BTAN). BTAN combines a learner-centered approach with Africana knowledge pools, Black history, culture, and arts to transform and transcend status-quo learning in a multi-generational context. BTAN supports, develops, and connects Black youth artists, teaching artists, and educators to foster a transformative creative community for Black children.

Union Project ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support and invest in Union Project’s capacity to deliver mission-based programs in a manner that demonstrates organizational values, implements the goals of its Inclusion Plan, and supports people who have been systemically excluded from access to ceramics. Union Project serves as a space for connection, creation, and community celebration. 

Unique Projects, Inc. ($10,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to support the production and performance of slowdanger’s SUPERCELL, an evening-length multidisciplinary quintet dance performance responding to climate consciousness, media sensationalism, desensitization, and environmental collapse. slowdanger is a project-based multi-disciplinary performance entity based out of Pittsburgh that creates works at the intersection of movement, sound, and technology.

University of Pittsburgh ($7,500) to support the production of video testimonials from transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals to share their health care experiences with college health and counseling center (CHC) providers across the United States. Testimonials will be integrated into online training modules guiding CHCs in how to create gender inclusive care environments with the ultimate goal of making support resources more accessible to TGD students who experience sexual violence.  

Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank ($15,000) to provide flexible general operating support. The Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank supports families experiencing diaper need, period poverty, and incontinence. 

Western Pennsylvania Fund for Choice ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor, to provide capital support for Allegheny Reproductive Health Center (ARHC). This grant will allow ARHC to build out its newly acquired facility that provides a larger footprint to increase capacity, and includes a protected entryway and parking. ARHC delivers fearless, judgment-free healthcare that is imbued with empathy and respect. Offerings include specialized gynecological care, abortion care, options counseling, services specialized to the LGBTQIA+ community, and the option for sedation for any needed services.

World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh ($10,000) to provide flexible general operating support. World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh convenes and connects people around global issues to build a competitive, thriving, and inclusive Pittsburgh. Their vision is a globally minded and connected world that is equitable and just for all. For this vision of the future to become a reality, the Council works to create and execute diverse, bold, and engaging youth and public programming.

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS

Dreams of Hope ($5,000), acting as fiscal sponsor for Casey Droege Cultural Productions and Hatch Arts Collective, to support a new spectacle performance with Little Amal, an international art project. Little Amal is a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child who has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees. 

FreshGrass Public Foundation ($2,005), serving as fiscal sponsor for The Walk Productions, to support Amal Walks Across America, as Little Amal walked across the United States, from Boston, MA to San Diego, CA, with a significant stop in Pittsburgh. Little Amal is a 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child who has become a global symbol of human rights, especially those of refugees. 

RealTime Arts ($5,000) to support the design and creation of a “welcoming event” for Little Amal’s stop in Pittsburgh, as part of Amal Walks Across America. The Walk brings attention to the plight of refugees around the world, particularly children who have been separated from their parents, and RealTime’s event focuses on Pittsburgh history as shaped by generations of immigrants. 

…

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_{Please note that some of the entities listed below are 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, and some are not.}

Performing Arts | Multidisciplinary and Visual Arts | Black-led Movement Work
Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights | Reproductive Freedom | Economic Independence
Healthcare | Housing | Social Services | Tangible Aid | Other

ARTS

PERFORMING ARTS

Afro-American Music Institute, Inc. 

Afro-American Music Institute (AAMI) creates community through classes and concerts to instill comprehensive knowledge about the Afro-American contribution to the world. AAMI provides a forum both in performing and recording opportunities for otherwise undiscovered talent in the greater Pittsburgh Community. 

Alumni Theater Company

Alumni Theater Company (ATC) creates bold theatrical work that gives fresh voice to the experience of young Black artists and highlights their rich contribution to our community. ATC operates a year-round program providing talented Black youth in grades 6-12 with high quality performing arts training and a platform to express their ideas.

Barrels to Beethoven

Barrels to Beethoven is dedicated to the preservation, education, and innovation of the steelpan, a handmade musical instrument developed by afro-Caribbean people. The organization provides impactful arts education, teaches accurate historical and cultural content, and inspires a new generation of steelpan builders, tuners, players, and teachers.

Cave Canem

Founded in 1996 to remedy the under-representation and isolation of African American poets in the literary landscape, Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of Black poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets. 

The Corner

The Corner is a grassroots community outreach program and multi-purpose space connecting neighbors to social service resources and affordable programming centered on the arts, social justice advocacy, education, and community engagement. Born out of the need for a local, safe “third-place” space, The Corner serves as a neighborhood hub where community members can be part of something bigger than themselves and have a voice.

DEMASKUS Theater Collective

DEMASKUS Theater Collective is a national service-oriented collective of artists and administrators seeking to make known the messages of the marginalized. They achieve this through the production and presentation of quality, compassionate, and inclusive artistic events.

Dreams of Hope

Through the power of the arts, Dreams of Hope provides the region’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, asexual, and allied (LGBTQA+) youth a welcoming environment to grow in confidence, express themselves, and develop as leaders. 

Balafon West African Dance Ensemble

Balafon is a performance ensemble driven by the belief that the interconnectedness developed by West African dance makes people and communities stronger. Balafon provides an insightful, woman-centered perspective on West African tradition and culture as a source of healing and balance by providing quality education and entertainment to audiences of all nationalities and walks of life.

Hill Dance Academy Theatre

The Hill Dance Academy Theatre (HDAT) provides professional level training in Black Dance traditions, history, culture, and aesthetics that engages and empowers students to pursue careers in Black dance. 

Kelly Strayhorn Theater

Kelly Strayhorn Theater is a home for creative experimentation, community dialogue and collective action rooted in the liberation of Black and queer people.

Kente Arts Alliance

Kente Arts Alliance is an African American arts organization whose mission is to present high-quality art of the African Diaspora.  Kente presents art with a purpose by offering programs that entertain, inform and uplift the residents of underserved communities.   

Legacy Arts Project

Legacy Arts Project unites creativity and wisdom by preserving, promoting, and creating Africana arts that honor the history, heritage, and cultures of Africa diaspora in ways that advance healing and wellness, education, and community empowerment. 

New Horizon Theater

New Horizon Theater brings to the greater Pittsburgh area consistent, high-quality cultural events, reflecting the African-American points of view, and to provide an ongoing venue for ethnic writers and performers to further their professional development. 

PearlArts

PearlArts is a dance-focused arts organization that exists to celebrate and explore the full range of Blackness and Culture through dynamic performances and experiences. PearlArts facilitates innovative collaborations, artistic residencies, and a broad range of creative dance and sound educational opportunities.

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company (PPTCO) is rooted in the African American community, with a mission to produce the works of local racially and culturally diverse playwrights, provide a nurturing environment for all who work on and off the stage, and build and serve a culturally diverse audience that can strengthen our civic community.  

Pride Youth Theatre Alliance

The Pride Youth Theater Alliance is a growing network that advances the practice of Queer Youth Theater by providing emerging and established leaders in the field with resources and opportunities to exchange, collaborate, and learn. 

MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND VISUAL ARTS

ALMA|LEWIS

ALMA|LEWIS (A|L) is an experimental contemporary art platform for critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black culture. A|L creates supportive residencies in the A|L art space that encourages the rigorous artistic practice of visual and literary artists; curates world-class exhibitions to present exciting, provocative work from emerging and mid-career artists; and provides access to the Black Archive.

August Wilson House

August Wilson House fosters and promotes greater appreciation for and understanding of African-American literature, the performing arts and the literary and social legacy of August Wilson by exploring the cultural narrative of August Wilson’s writings through seminars, readings, exhibits and performances. August Wilson House is an arts center in this great artist’s childhood home, in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District.

BOOM Concepts

BOOM Concepts is a creative hub dedicated to the development of artist and creative entrepreneurs representing marginalized voices. It is a community space for field building, knowledge sharing, mentorship, and storytelling.

FashionAFRICANA  

FashionAFRICANA advances the cultural equity of the African diaspora through the lens of quality artistic programming that illuminates our art and cultural history, and cultivates a more life-giving and globally aware approach to African-inspired art and culture.

Sabira Cole Film Festival

Sabira Cole Film Festival (SCFF) screens a curated selection of new and old films from the African Diaspora. SCFF presents an annual juried film festival that highlights issues & representation of people from global indigenous communities. 

Sibyls Shrine

Sibyls Shrine is an arts collective and residency program rooted in radical care, rest and support for Black women, womxn, trans women, and femmes who are m/others and identify as artists, creatives and activists in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania— and beyond. The Sibyls Shrine residency program uplifts Black creative m/others to further develop their craft and presence in the art world.

Ujamaa Collective 

Ujamaa Collective is a catalyst to advance Africana Women by providing a fair trade marketplace for cultural, artistic and entrepreneurial exchange through cooperative economics in Pittsburgh’s Historic Hill District and beyond. Ujamaa accomplishes this through its artisan boutique, pop-up marketplace events, arts and entrepreneurship programming, and through advocacy on health and wealth, including their passion for cooperatives, rooted in values of meaningful work, creativity, community and wellness.

Women of Visions

Women of Visions is the longest-running collective of Black women visual artists in the United States. Women of Visions exists to promote the arts, culture, and history of women of African descent, by helping each other to excel as artists and to grow professionally through exhibitions, community collaboration, educational programming, and other progressive opportunities.

Social & Economic Justice

BLACK-LED MOVEMENT WORK

1Hood Media  

1Hood is a collective of artists and activists who use media, art and activism to challenge inequity, raise awareness, and unify humanity.  

Alliance for Police Accountability

The Alliance for Police Accountability (APA) is a grassroots organization dedicated to criminal justice reconstruction, specializing in community/police relations. Through advocacy, education, policy, and community participation, APA is dismantling an unfair and unjust system to create a safer community for us all. APA is committed to making neighborhoods safer, ending mass incarceration, and transforming our world through the eyes of youth.

Atasa Solar

Atasa Solar will co-create renewable energy public structures and wearable solar garments in collaboration with Indigenous communities to overcome environmental and economic injustice, design racism, and misogyny. Community-led design solutions will incorporate Indigenous innovation and the latest in solar and battery technology to provide design solutions supporting environmental injustice. 

The Black Unicorn Library and Archives Project

The Black Unicorn Library is a Black queer feminist library and archive that celebrates libraries as sites of possibility and freedom. Black Unicorn explores the relationship between literacy and liberation and brings a unique experience and lens to material collection, information sharing, and community building. 

Black, Young, and Educated

Black, Young, & Educated (B.Y.E.) is a youth-led organization that aims to amplify Black voices through community and media. Founded through the work of high school students who felt underrepresented in their school systems, B.Y.E educates Black youth and young adults on topics that affect their everyday lives, to give them better/more accessible opportunities, more productive things to attend in Pittsburgh, and support for anything they will need. 

Black in Appalachia   

Black in Appalachia: Research, Education & Support is a non-profit that works in collaboration with public media, residents, university departments, libraries, archives and community organizations to highlight the history and contributions of African-Americans in the development of the Mountain South and broader Appalachian region and its culture. This is accomplished through research, local narratives, public engagement and exhibition. 

Black Dream Escape

Black Dream Escape is a therapeutic practice that focuses on Black and Indigenous rest/sleep/dreams. Black Dream Escape educates, guides, and soothes. Using original music and original meditation scripts, we guide people into a rested state. Our practices soothe the parts of the self that struggle with stillness, boredom, and self-worth. We educate individuals and the wider ethos about the overdue sleep and rest debt that Black and Indigenous people have been forced to accumulate.

The BlackteaBrownsuga Network

Our mission is to educate, inspire, and equip the community with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve success through music, media, and mental health focused programs. We are giving the people a voice!

Black Political Empowerment Project 

The Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) is a non-partisan community collaborative that seeks to build economic and social power and influence in and for the Pittsburgh region’s African American community. B-PEP was launched in 1986 to ensure that the Pittsburgh African-American community votes in every single election.  

The Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op

The mission of The Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op is to establish, educate and assist black people for sustainability and food sovereignty. 

Black Women’s Policy Center 

The Black Women’s Policy Center aims to be the leading source for Black women’s voices through shaping policy, shaping the narrative, and advocacy in the Greater Pittsburgh region and beyond. The Black Women’s Policy Center’s mission is to improve the lives of Black women by providing a place of refuge and support through advocacy, navigating systems, accessing resources, training, education as well as policy development and change.  

Brown Mamas

Brown Mamas exists to provide positive socialization for black mothers and connect them with the resources and information they need to raise happy, healthy adults and thrive beyond motherhood. We believe that by helping Black moms enjoy their motherhood journey, we hope to help them unlock the door to uplifting Black communities. 

Children’s Window to Africa

To create enjoyable and enriching opportunities and a safe environment for children to learn and value and appreciate their cultural heritage in order to preserve this heritage, encourage artistic expression, and increase each child’s possibility of cultural, spiritual, intellectual, and social wealth. Cash App: $Hetepu

The Embodiment Institute

The Embodiment Institute is a training and research entity serving our embodied transformation. We are focused on bringing about relational transformation in our communities through embodied healing towards justice.

Hill District Consensus Group

The Hill District Consensus Group’s mission is to create effective pathways for intergenerational residents to overcome economic, social, and housing disparities.

Landless People’s Alliance/Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters 

To assist the Black community in achieving self-sustaining practices, through strategic leadership, collective giving, grantmaking and advocacy. To increase the supply and habitability of homes affordable to families while improving the quality of the lives of those who reside in these communities.

Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH)  

MICAH is a multi-racial, interfaith organization committed to addressing social justice issues that have an impact on the community and on the members of MICAH congregations. MICAH’s goal is to empower people to act together in pursuit of justice and to organize so that people of many traditions can come together with one voice for justice. 

Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality  

OFUAPB is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to fight against police brutality and to support our extended families – who, while not related by blood, are bonded to us through the needless bloodshed of our loved ones.

POORLAW  

POORLAW encourages community, leadership, ownership, and friendship. POORLAW is invested in the future of our children, and to Pittsburgh’s Greater Hazelwood community’s growth into a thriving, safe and enjoyable place to live and raise families. POORLAW aims to address racial and ethnic disparities by addressing the lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our residents’ lives and community development. This includes economic development, housing development, and social service deliveries.   

Radical Youth Collective

The Radical Youth Collective’s main program is a youth fellowship. We Build capacity for Black organizations by training up young Black organizers who help those orgs. We are focusing our efforts to create & lift up self-determination & solidarity infrastructure in Black communities & to destroy any points of access white supremacy has to exploit & criminalize us. 

Riverbends Development, Inc.

Riverbends Development, Inc. provides an accessible do-it-yourself introduction to genealogy and history designed specifically to meet the needs of African-American amateur genealogists and historians. It’s vital for people to have a sense of where we come from. The trans-Atlantic slave trade made that impossible for those who identify as African descendants, Black, Black Indigenous, African American, Caribbean, etc. Genealogy research gives a sense of connection as we gather the pieces that were scattered, building our narratives, supporting our ongoing healing, returning to self, moving toward wholeness.

SisTers PGH  

SisTers PGH is a Black and Trans led non-profit organization that serves QTBIPOC (Queer Trans Black Indigenous People of Color) trans, and nonbinary people within Southwestern PA. SisTers provides housing services, as well as a community space, for trans and nonbinary people to amplify the voices of trans people within conversations around housing access, government leadership, mental health, medical care, employment, and education. 

Soil Sisters

Soil Sisters eradicates food apartheid in historically excluded Black neighborhoods in Pittsburgh by empowering residents to create their own paths to food security. We do this through education and practical garden experience, along with distributing garden supplies throughout the community.   

Tabitha’s Daughters, LLC

Tabitha’s Daughters provides processes and practices that positively impact the health and wellness of Black women, primarily within the city of Pittsburgh. Tabitha’s Daughters, as an African-American women’s organization, is seeking to be the solution to our own challenges. 

Take Action Mon Valley  

Take Action Mon Valley (TAMV) is a social justice organization that unapologetically combats ALL forms of community violence through activism and organizing. TAMV equips communities with the necessary knowledge to leverage local grassroots community organizing, to gain power and influence over decisions that directly affect the community, thus creating sustainable change and increasing the conscious level of residents. TAMV is focused on addressing social justice issues in small communities.

TransYOUniting

TransYOUniting is a mutual aid non-profit, providing resources to Pittsburgh’s Trans Community. We are Trans, Non-binary and Gender Expansive people working to better our community’s lives here in Pittsburgh. To uplift transgender folks by assisting with employment, health access, housing and mentorship and mutual aid.

True T PGH

Celebrates queer people of color through creative art, community health, and social activism. Rooted in Pittsburgh’s underground Ball community, True T provides meaningful resources through community outreach and safe space making. The Option-U Residence provides LGBTQIA+ short-term & emergency housing programs, prioritizing people of trans experience. 

West End P.O.W.E.R.  

West End P.O.W.E.R. (WEP) is a community organization committed to strengthening communities through activism, advocacy, education, equity, and promoting unity. WEP works with decision makers, community leaders and stakeholders, policy makers and others to bring about the positive outcomes we seek, particularly in communities of color and other represented communities.

Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens

Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens (YBMKQ) is a leading youth organization in the greater Pittsburgh area – inspiring youth to embrace their true excellence while unleashing their inner potential. YBMKQ’s programs help young adults shape their own values while providing them with all the tools, resources and support they need in order to evolve into confident leaders tomorrow.

CIVIL LIBERTIES, CIVIL RIGHTS, and HUMAN RIGHTS

Abolitionist Law Center  

Abolitionist Law Center exists to promote the rights of prisoners and the wrongly convicted by educating the public about injustices in the criminal legal system, and about abusive conditions in the prison system; To provide pro bono legal services to prisoners in order to right injustices and errors committed in the court, and to litigate prisoner claims for violation of their civil rights; To advocate for the abolition of the prison system. 

America’s Black Holocaust Museum  

To be intentional about acknowledging, understanding, and sharing the story of the African American experience from pre-captivity to present day. We envision a humane and peaceful world where all individuals and communities thrive. 

Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration – West

The Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration – West (CADBI-West), based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, organizes for an end to life-without-parole sentences, which we refer to as “Death By Incarceration” (DBI). We believe that death by incarceration is a human rights violation and an affront to the humanity of us all. The group is made up of family and friends of those serving DBI and other prison sentences; formerly incarcerated people; currently incarcerated people; and others who recognize that ending DBI is an important part of the fight against mass incarceration and for social justice. Twitter: @cadbiwest, Facebook: CADBI PITTSBURGH West

Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc.  

Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc. (PCSI) is recognized as the innovative Community Action leader in reducing the impact of poverty in Pittsburgh through direct service, advocacy, mobilization of resources, sustainable economic empowerment, and effective institutional change. 

POISE Foundation  

POISE Foundation assists the Black Community in achieving self-sustaining practices through strategic leadership, collective giving, grantmaking and advocacy. Created in the format of a Community Foundation, POISE receives funds from a variety of donors, envisioning a nation in which all Black people are empowered and self-sufficient. With this vision at the core of the Foundation’s philosophical approach to its work, the Mission of 

Prisoner Justice & Whistle-Blower Support Campaign

We aim to secure the safety, dignity, and humanity of whistleblowers behind bars in Pennsylvania by championing the cases of prisoners, meeting with government officials, protesting, and movement building with allies intent on destroying the racist, classist system of mass incarceration.  

The Uhimwe Alliance

The Uhimwe Alliance is a group of brothers of African descent and their allies working together to make it better for our brothers in pursuit of their Future Selves. Our Vision is to offer safe environments for social, cultural and artistic opportunities that promote and advocate wellness, education and positive visibility for same-gender-loving men and boys.

REPRODUCTIVE FREEDOM

Groundswell Fund  

Groundswell Fund strengthens U.S. movements for reproductive and social justice by resourcing intersectional grassroots organizing and centering the leadership of women of color – particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and Transgender.  

Healthy Start Inc., Pittsburgh  

The mission of Healthy Start is to improve maternal and child health and to reduce poor birth outcomes and infant mortality in Allegheny County. Healthy Start serves a target population of women, infants, fathers, and families, who are at-risk for poor pregnancy outcomes with a focus on the reduction of perinatal health disparities for Black women and babies, including infant mortality, preterm delivery, and low-birth weight births.

Birth Your Way/The Birthing Hut LLC

The Birthing Hut is a maternal health organization that prioritizes the improvement and advancement of Black birth through advocacy, education, resources and support. Birth Your Way raises awareness of Black maternal mortality disparities in Pittsburgh and nationally. 

Elephant Song Doula Services

Elephant Song Soula Services increases access to culturally relevant pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and lactation education for expectant Black mothers and their families.

New Voices for Reproductive Justice  

New Voices for Reproductive Justice is dedicated to transforming society for the holistic health and wellbeing of Black women, girls and gender expansive people, nationally and in Pennsylvania and Ohio. New Voices helps to dismantle patriarchal anti-Blackness using the tools community organizing, leadership development, and voter engagement.

Western Pennsylvania Fund For Choice  

The Western Pennsylvania Fund for Choice believes that abortion care is essential reproductive healthcare and that lack of funds should never be a barrier to accessing abortion care. The Fund facilitates access to safe, respectful abortion care to anyone who needs it in the Western PA region by directly supporting any individual requiring help affording their abortion care.  

SAFETY NET RESOURCES: Economic Independence

100 Black Men Of Western PA 

100 Black Men of Western PA will endeavor to improve the quality of life of our community and enhance educational opportunities for African-Americans with a particular emphasis on African-American males in 8th-12th grade. 

Axiom Advancement Corporation  

Axiom Advancement Corporation is a financial institution located in Allegheny County with a lending program that provides financial services to small businesses who need access to capital from a non-traditional source. Axiom welcomes applicants who do not have the collateral or equity to secure funding from a commercial bank. 

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh  

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh engages in emergency resource distribution, peer-to-peer support, wealth building, trauma-informed financial counseling, and policy advocacy to ensure systematically disenfranchised communities can meaningfully achieve economic justice and lead dignified and equitable lives. 

C-Clear Empowerment Inc.  

C-Clear empowers economically disadvantaged youth and adults by helping them to reach their true potential while serving as a catalyst for economic growth and change in the community. C-Clear gives aspiring entrepreneurs a platform to develop job creation and new community and economic development.

Homewood Children’s Village  

Homewood Children’s Village simultaneously improves the lives of Homewood children and reweaves the fabric of the community in which they live. 

Operation Better Block  

Operation Better Block strategizes, organizes, and mobilizes, block by block, to benefit Pittsburgh’s Homewood Community. Operation Better Block providing technical and community development assistance to Block Associations, fosters youth development, participates in housing development efforts to construct new housing units, supports public and private investments to stimulate economic development, and builds partnerships with others to promote community sustainability.

The Wellness Collective

The Wellness Collective is a consortium of neighbors helping neighbors through emergencies and onto a path of stability.  Currently serving The Greater Pittsburgh Area, this membership collective allows everyday people to access immediate support to necessities such as mental and physical health, housing, transportation, nutrition, education, and the like, in order to create security while we work together to help establish long-term stability.

Team G.R.O.W. Inc.  

Team G.R.O.W.’s mission is to provide outreach, resources, and education for low income families and homeowners in the Hill District/Uptown neighborhoods about skills to keep their homes maintained, including simple electrical work, patch work drywalling, pipe repairs, and more. 

When She Thrives  

When She Thrives is dedicated to empowering single mothers to move their families from poverty to prosperity through advocacy, education, personal and professional development. 

Zellous Hope Project  

Providing a bridge over the holes on the road to living better, by working together with existing organizations, to create the change we want to see in the lives of the people we serve. 

SAFETY NET RESOURCES: Healthcare

Royally Fit, LLC

Royally Fit is a holistic health and wellness brand providing solution based products and programming supporting whole body health. We use organically grown herbs to small batch blend teas, aromatherapy products and other wellness products using the profits to provide health screenings, wellness workshops, food, formula and Narcan distributions in communities that lack equitable access.

Steel Smiling

Steel Smiling’s mission is to bridge the gap between Black people and mental health support through education, advocacy and awareness.

SAFETY NET RESOURCES: Housing

Amani Christian Community Development Corporation  

Amani facilitates healthy and safe communities by creating programs that educate Pittsburgh’s Hill District community residents and nurture youth, encourage community and economic development and promote a livable quality of life. Amani focuses on developing human capital in the Greater Hill District and understands the need for a shared vision and responsibility for the revitalization of the Hill District, its residents, and its youth. 

Penn Plaza Support & Action Coalition (PPSA)

Housing is a human right. PPSA is committed to change the way that housing is developed for low-to-moderate-income residents of Pittsburgh region. PPSA believes that authentic change comes from residents supporting each other and connecting our experiences, hearts, and minds. PPSA creates public-facing actions to educate the community about housing and development. We demand dignity and respect for people and communities of color, and advocate against discrimination and displacement. 

Serenity Living Transitional Home (SLTH) 

SLTH offers a safe place to live and learn to young women between the ages of 18 and 23 that are aging out of foster care or suffering from homelessness. These young women are provided housing, driver’s lessons, life skills, and job placement for up to two years.

Willissae’s Agency For Vision And Empowerment (WAVE)  

WAVE creates housing and economic stability for at-risk individuals in low-income communities through personal empowerment, skill set development, problem solving and wealth building.

Za’kiyah House Housing  

Za’kiyah House provides support services to persons experiencing homelessness, drug addiction, and re-entry in Pittsburgh. Za’kiyah’s mission is to reduce homelessness, recidivism, and addiction, coordinating partnerships and resources to address these needs.

SAFETY NET RESOURCES: Social Services

Autism Urban Connections Inc.  

Autism Urban Connections provide support, education, advocacy, and empowerment, with an emphasis on self-care to families of those with Autism, with priority placed in the African American, minority, and economically disadvantaged communities. 

Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective: BEAM

BEAM is a national training, movement building, and grant making institution that is dedicated to the healing, wellness, and liberation of Black and marginalized communities. BEAM’s mission is to remove the barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing. 

Center Of Life  

Center of Life’s (COL) mission is to provide families and youth with the life-skills, education, training, and resources necessary to be strong and to make their communities strong. At COL, we believe “everything is about people.” Our vision is to empower and equip families to bring economic revitalization their communities.  

Healing By Dezigns

Healing By Dezigns empowers and transforms the lives of Black women who have encountered domestic violence and are still dealing with remnants of trauma. Healing By Dezigns provides Black women with healing strategies and techniques needed on their holistic healing journey through art, fashion, and design.

Divine Intervention Ministries  

Divine Intervention Ministries is dedicated to providing currently and formerly incarcerated adults and at-risk youth with coordinated resources that will connect them to supportive services and job training opportunities focusing on restoring and realizing their maximum potential spiritually, physically, and economically.

Foster Love Project  

Foster Love Project provides love in action to foster children as well as support to the families who are providing care for them.  

Foundation Of HOPE 

The Foundation of HOPE is an interfaith non-profit organization with the mission to empower incarcerated and released individuals to restore their relationship with their God, rebuild their lives, and reconcile to their communities.

Homeless Children’s Education Fund  

Homeless Children’s Education Fund advances the education of children and youth experiencing homelessness, guiding them to be productive, empowered citizens. 

JADA House International  

JADA House International is dedicated to bringing educational and social opportunities to Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood community for both youth and adult groups struggling to find access to positive and supportive programs. The Hazelwood community has suffered extensively over the years due to the steel mills closing down, the deterioration of businesses and schools, lack of job opportunities, and increasing crime rate. Every action JADA House takes helps to build a stable and more inclusive Hazelwood community.

Macedonia Face  

Macedonia FACE is a faith-based non-profit community outreach organization. We are committed to living out our mission by addressing disparities that impact African American families and other vulnerable populations within the community. Macedonia FACE’s mission is to encourage the development of healthy families. 

Mwanakuche Farm

Mwanukache Farm offers reliable, healthy, culturally-appropriate foods and land-based educational experiences to the Somali Bantu community in Western Pennsylvania, so that members of the community are supported in their successful acclimatization and transition to self-sufficient life in American society. 

Reimagine Reentry, Inc.

Reimagine Reentry exists to reduce recidivism in Allegheny County by providing opportunities, reducing barriers, and supporting formerly incarcerated people in a holistic way. Reimagine Reentry meets people where they are at by providing trauma-informed, wrap-around services to returning citizens. 

United Somali Bantu Of Greater Pittsburgh (USBGP)  

USBGP builds community amidst the Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh through enabling individuals and families to successfully acclimate and transition to self-sufficient lives in American society, particularly from a socio-economic and civic perspective, by both providing direct practical assistance and connecting people to other resources and opportunities. 

SAFETY NET RESOURCES: Tangible Aid

The Allignment Chapter Corporation

The Allignment Chapter was created to provide same day emergency support to low income mothers in need. Our mission is to decrease mental illness and child neglect in low income communities. We also will be decreasing low income numbers as well by providing 6 week required financially fit webinar training. We currently service women in 7 different states which are ran by our life saving volunteers.  

Feed the Hood

Feed the Hood’s mission is to expand the culinary workforce by providing students with peer to peer mentorship, culinary training, and real world experience to prepare them for employment in the restaurant and hospitality industry. 

Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank 

The Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank ensures that babies in need are clean, healthy, and dry, and envisions a community where all families have an equal opportunity to thrive. 

OTHER

Cultivating Resilient Youth  

Cultivating Resilient Youth empowers, educates and mentors youth for success in life through program development and academic preparation, while creating and providing opportunities for social change to build a strong foundation for a successful future. 

Gwen’s Girls  

Gwen’s Girls empowers girls and young women to have productive lives through holistic, gender-specific programs, education, and experiences. 

H.O.P.E. For Tomorrow, Inc  

H.O.P.E. For Tomorrow develops youth, in partnership with their families, to compete in the global community by addressing academic, socio-economic and relational risk factors.  

Manchester Youth Development Center  

Manchester Youth Development Center is committed to nurturing the development of children by meeting their academic, social and emotional needs within a constructive, wholesome and safe learning environment, which places value on making positive choices as a foundation for building a productive life. 

Program To Aid Citizen Enterprise (PACE) 

PACE advances a more equitable community by increasing the capacity of individuals, groups, and organizations that challenge injustice.

Grant Partner List:

25 Carrick Ave Project ($10,000) to support general operations and continued educational and workforce development programs. 25 Carrick Ave Project helps to empower Pittsburgh’s hilltop communities by providing vocational training and employment opportunities to youth and adults in the event/entertainment industry.

100 Black Men of Western PA ($7,500) to support the Economic Empowerment Initiative, which fosters economic empowerment of African American youth through  strategies that address disparities and champions the students’ future success. 100 Black Men of Western PA endeavors to improve the quality of life of its community and enhance educational opportunities particularly for African American males in 8th-12th grade.

Afro-American Music Institute($15,000), to support UHIMWE Alliance’s Bayard Rustin Conference, Black Gay Arts Project, and community engagement efforts to mobilize and unify same-gender-loving and queer people of color to make existence better for themselves and others in pursuit of their future selves.

Allegheny County Bar Foundation ($15,000) to support the Pro Bono Center Pardon Project by funding a Pardons Fellow to coordinate services between organizational partners, clients, volunteer attorneys, and law students with the goal of growing the number of individuals in the greater Pittsburgh area applying for pardons. The Pro Bono Center provides legal services to individuals with low incomes and creates, manages, and supports programs that match volunteers with thousands of individuals in need of free legal help.

Allies for Health + Wellbeing ($15,000) to support general operations including supportive services for HIV-positive clients such as housing, utilities, and transportation. Allies provides integrated medical care, supportive human services, and community-based education for individuals living with, or at risk of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

Allegheny Health Network (AHN) – Center for Inclusion Health ($10,000) to support patients released from Allegheny County Jail by providing funding for identification cards, transportation, and home supplies as needs are identified during the post incarceration transition. The CIH RIvER Clinic (Rethinking Incarceration and Empowering Recovery) within AHN is the first and only clinic of its kind in Western PA to provide a continuous, transitionary care model for patients focusing on medical, psychological, and social support.

ALMA|LEWIS (A|L) ($17,500) to support artist-in-residence programming, dedicated to supporting Black art and artists in Pittsburgh. A|L is an experimental contemporary art platform for critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black culture. 
 
Amani Christian Community Development Corporation ($15,000) to the creation of the Amani Labor Free Repair Program in Pittsburgh’s historic Hill District to provide needed home repairs for low-income homeowners. Amani facilitates healthy and safe communities by creating programs that educate the Hill District community residents and nurture youth, encourage community and economic development, and promote a livable quality of life.

Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall ($7,500) to support general operations of the Music Hall’s three venues as the organization journeys through the pandemic and the Music Hall’s restoration. The Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall builds community with a library, theater and historic site that welcome, inform, entertain and engage the community and the region in lifelong learning.

Angels’ Place ($10,000) to support the Family Support Program, all-inclusive child care and services provided to single, student-parent families at no cost, and for working parents at significantly reduced rates. Angels’ Place provides exceptional early childhood education to help parents in need and their children become lifelong learners and create a brighter future.

Artsmiths of Pittsburgh Arts and Cultural Center ($7,500) to support general operations of the Artsmiths’ shop in Carnegie, and the mentorship and economic support of its artists. Artsmiths’ mission is to address inequality by engaging its community in the making and appreciation of art.

ARYSE ($10,000) to support the 2022 PRYSE Academy summer program for immigrant and refugee youth in Allegheny County, focused on the academic, social and emotional well-being of all participants and their families. ARYSE is a student-centered organization that supports immigrant and refugee youth in becoming engaged, confident, and celebrated members of our shared community.

Attack Theatre ($10,000) to support general operations. Attack Theatre builds community with artists and audiences through the process and production of personal, accessible dance-based performance. Blending varied art forms with dynamic contemporary dance, Attack Theatre creates passionate portrayals of everyday life.

August Wilson House ($15,000) to support general operating expenses as the organization prepares for the  public opening of the August Wilson House site in 2022. The August Wilson House promotes the literary and social legacy of August Wilson through the restoration of his boyhood home on Bedford Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood, and fosters greater appreciation of African-American literature, the performing arts, and the legacy of August Wilson.

Balafon West African Dance Ensemble ($10,000) to support general operations. Balafon is a performance ensemble driven by the belief that the interconnectedness developed by West African dance makes people and communities stronger.  People of all ages are exposed to the highest levels of artistic and cultural expression which draws from Founder Mama Kadiatou’s practice of centering and elevating the role of women to embody their own narrative.

Beaver County Foundation ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support the Royally Fit Community Wellness Program, including nutritional wellness workshops, art therapy, physical fitness and preventive health activities. Funds will support the acquisition of a mobile Wellness Wagon and technical assistance to catalyze Royally Fit’s Community Care Clinic. Royally Fit strives to ensure all people have access to the resources needed for whole body wellness.

Beaver County Regional Council of Governments ($7,500) acting as fiscal sponsor to support the work of The Genesis Collective. The Genesis Collective is a diverse group of artists, advocates, and activists who support artists and their work, increase the public’s access to art and creativity, and enhance and amplify community development work that is already happening through art in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh (BBBSPGH) ($10,000) to support the launch of the Big Siblings Community-based Mentoring Program to recruit, train, and support LGBTQ+ mentors and LGBTQ+ youth in Allegheny, Washington, & Greene Counties. The program will provide opportunities for LGBTQ+ “matches” to share experiences and learn from each other, empowering LGBTQ+ youth. BBBSPGH supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.

Black in Appalachia ($10,000) to support general operations. Black in Appalachia works in collaboration with public media, residents, university departments, libraries, archives and community organizations to highlight the history and contributions of African Americans in the development of the Mountain South and broader Appalachian region and its culture. Black in Appalachia is a community service for Appalachian residents and families with roots in the region.

Black Political Empowerment Project (B-PEP) ($15,000) to support general operations for an administrative assistant position to assist with B-PEP’s Corporate Equity and Inclusion Roundtable (CEIR), and related programs and projects. B-PEP is a non-partisan community collaborative who seek to build economic and social power within the region’s African American community. The CEIR works to achieve higher levels of inclusion and diversity for people of color in employment, business ownership, and development.

Black Women’s Policy Center ($15,000) to support general operations and to build collective power among Black women, advocate for their needs, and advance policy to achieve racial and gender justice. The Black Women’s Policy Center improves the lives of Black women by providing a place of refuge and support through advocacy, navigating systems, accessing resources, training, education, and policy development and change.

Bunker Projects ($12,000) to support general operations and the growth of the organization’s operational capacity by providing funding to cover rental costs, accounting services, and artist stipends. Bunker Projects is a nonprofit artist residency and experimental gallery in Pittsburgh, specializing in contemporary and multidisciplinary art-making and exhibition. Bunker Projects provides the resources and supportive environment emerging artists need to self-direct their creative growth, connecting artists at all stages of their careers with Pittsburgh’s active and growing arts community.

Carnegie Mellon University ($7,629) to support TQ Live! in September 2022 at the Carnegie Museum of Art. TQ Live! is a queer evening of dazzling performance, dance, poetry, comedy, resplendent fantasies, music, and more. The annual event is geared towards community building and community sustaining, with a positive party-like atmosphere that celebrates local LGBTQIA talent.

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh ($15,000), acting as fiscal sponsor to support The Covering LLC’s Holistic Fashion Therapy, which provides Black women who have had traditional domestic violence counseling but are still struggling with recovery with healing strategies and techniques needed on their holistic healing journey through art, fashion, and design.

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh ($13,000) acting as fiscal sponsor for Soil Sisters, to support their summer youth programming in the Beltzhoover neighborhood. Soil Sisters eradicates food apartheid in historically excluded Black neighborhoods in Pittsburgh by empowering residents to create their own paths to food security.

Cave Canem Foundation ($10,000) to support Cave Canem’s week-long, annual writing retreat in 2022. Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of Black poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of Black poets.

Chatham Baroque ($10,000) to support general operations for an artistically excellent and productive 2022/2023 Season. Chatham Baroque presents captivating, historically informed period music performances and educational programs, aiming to preserve critical musical traditions, illuminate historical contexts, expand the scope of early music, and build a vibrant and diverse community of artists and music enthusiasts.

Community Justice Project ($15,000) to support general operations. The Community Justice Project provides broad impact legal support for eligible low income people who live in Pennsylvania. Through this advocacy, CJP seeks to protect the basic needs of low income individuals and families, and to assist them in their efforts to become self-sufficient or to otherwise improve their lives and the communities in which they live.

Creative Citizen Studios ($10,000) to support general operations. Creative Citizen Studios provides a professional studio environment for adult artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities, supporting their ability to create, exhibit and sell their work.

East End Cooperative Ministry ($10,000) to support general operations. For 50 years, EECM has responded to community needs with programs that provide opportunity, transformation and hope to those experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, educational challenges, and barriers to employment.

Faith United Methodist Church – Roots of Faith ($10,000) to support general operations of Roots of Faith. Roots of Faith builds community by reconciling people with God and one another. It sits in the community of Fox Chapel and serves the neighboring community of Sharpsburg and was born out of a desire to address and bridge the divide of the vast economic disparity between these communities.

Foster Love Project ($15,000) to support general operations and the hiring of two new staff members, enabling the organization to expand its current programs. Foster Love Project provides love in action to foster children as well as support to the families who are providing care for them.

Grow Pittsburgh ($15,000) to support general operations and food growing projects across the region. Grow Pittsburgh’s mission is to to teach people how to grow food, and promote the benefits that gardens bring to our neighborhoods.

Heritage Community Initiatives ($7,500) to support general operations and the enhancement of transportation, education and nutrition programs to meet the growing need to provide safety net resources for those who are under-resourced in forty communities throughout Eastern Allegheny County. Heritage Community Initiatives is dedicated to making a positive impact on the social mobility of thousands of individuals, families and children.

Hill District Consensus Group ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations. The Hill District Consensus Group creates effective pathways for intergenerational residents to overcome economic, social, and housing disparities.

Human Services Center Corporation (HSCC) ($15,000) to support general operations of programs that work with clients to find a pathway out of poverty, including a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, Emerging Leaders Program, Supports for Success, and food pantry. HSCC improves the quality of life for children, adults, and families in the Mon Valley area.

Industrial Arts Workshop ($10,000) to support general operations. Industrial Arts Workshop advances new and original sculpture creation and artistic literacy, inspires and supports sculpture artists and their work, and shares their work through collaboration, accessible education programs, projects, and outreach.

Legacy Arts Project ($5,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support the Sabira Family Collective and general programming of the Sabira Cole Film Festival 2022. The Sabira Family Collective holds an annual juried festival of new independent films, based in Pittsburgh, but accessible internationally online.

Legacy Arts Project ($30,000 over two years) acting as fiscal sponsor to support Children’s Windows to Africa’s fourth year of programming at City and County public housing sites during the summer of 2022. Children’s Windows to Africa creates enriching opportunities and a safe environment for children to learn, value, appreciate, and preserve their African cultural heritage in order to encourage artistic expression and increase each child’s possibility of cultural, spiritual, intellectual, and social wealth.

Manchester Citizens Corporation ($7,500) acting as fiscal sponsor to support Mobilify SWPA. Mobilify engages all communities in collaboration towards securing greater multimodal transportation choices, equitable transportation access, and economic opportunity across Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Manchester Youth Development Center (MYDC) ($5,000) to support general operations and programming that increases the opportunities, voice, and capacity of this Black-led organization and the Black youth and families they serve. MYDC is committed to nurturing the development of children by meeting their academic, social and emotional needs within a constructive, wholesome and safe learning environment, which places value on making positive choices as a foundation for building a productive life.

McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation ($15,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support The BlackteaBrownsuga Network. The BlackteaBrownsuga Network educates, inspires, and equips youth, artists, and community-serving individuals with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve success through music, media, and mental health focused programs in McKees Rocks/Stowe and Western Pennsylvania.

Neighborhood Legal Services Association (NLS) ($10,000) to support general operations in the provision of civil legal aid to low income individuals and their families who cannot afford it otherwise in order to protect their family, their home and their income. These funds will enable NLS to address funding gaps that other funding sources do not cover nor allow. NLS provides an essential service that protects the safety and restores and preserves the dignity of individuals who have nowhere to turn for help.

New Sun Rising ($15,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support The Birthing Hut host community engagements to educate about the racial injustices within the experience of Black birth and encourage community-based solutions for the improvement of the future of Black birth. The Birthing Hut provides education, resources, and prenatal services to the community.

New Sun Rising ($10,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support Elephant Song Doula Services – Childbirth Education for the Culture. Elephant Song Doula Service increases access to culturally relevant pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum, and lactation education for expectant Black mothers and their families.

New Sun Rising ($15,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support The Black Unicorn Library and Archives Project. Black Unicorn cultivates libraries as sites of learning, possibility, and freedom, and to celebrate the literary and artistic contributions of Black women, queer, trans, non-binary, and gender-nonconforming people across the Diaspora. Black Unicorn explores the relationship between literacy and liberation and is a cultural intervention, addressing the limited and distorted representations of Black literature available in our education and cultural spaces.

New York Foundation for the Arts ($10,000) acting as fiscal sponsor to support Larimer Senior Stories, an ongoing collaboration between multidisciplinary artist John Peña and a group of retired residents of Larimer engaged in their community’s positive growth who gather for monthly luncheons to create collaborative works of art through which the seniors share their rich histories with the surrounding neighborhood.

Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality (OFUAPB) ($10,000) to support general operations. OFUAPB fights against police brutality via organizing and statewide initiatives in Ohio, and supports extended families – who, while not related by blood, are bonded through the needless bloodshed of loved ones.

Open Hand Ministries ($15,000) to support general operations. Open Hand Ministries promotes social justice in Pittsburgh’s East End by building a diverse community focused on financial wellness, equity creation, and homeownership.

Organization of Chinese Americans, Inc – Pittsburgh Chapter ($7,500) acting as fiscal sponsor to support JADED, a Pittsburgh-based collective of Asian women artists. Funds will be used to produce a free public program highlighting the art, history, and cultural practices of Pittsburgh’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community; to cultivate interethnic and intergenerational connections; to nurture community leadership in the movement for racial justice; and to document through film AAPI cultural leadership. 

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Media ($7,500) acting as fiscal sponsor to support the Freedom Corner Dedication Project, a documentary and public free screening of Kenneth Love’s film about the Freedom Corner Dedication which took place April 21, 2001.

Pittsburgh Glass Center ($50,000 over two years) to support general operations and to support The Glass Center’s capital campaign to significantly expand its facility. Pittsburgh Glass Center cultivates an inclusive and welcoming environment that encourages everyone, from the casually curious to the master artist, to learn, create, and be inspired by glass. We share our passion for glass locally and globally to advance a more diverse, vibrant, and accessible glass art community. 

Pittsburgh Musical Theater (PMT) ($7,500) to support need-based financial aid for students of PMT’s Conservatory. This aid provides opportunity for students with financial need to engage in arts education, develop transferrable life skills, engage with a diverse creative community, and build confidence in a nurturing environment.

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) ($5,000) to support general operations for its 2022 season. Using music as the vehicle for larger ideas, PNME seeks to bring together the people and the arts of our time. PNME commissions, performs, and presents new work in ways that challenge, engage, and inspire communities.

Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks (PSIP) ($7,500) to support a free production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” that will be presented to the public in Pittsburgh city parks each weekend in September 2022. Pittsburgh Shakespeare in the Parks provides free and accessible Shakespeare and classical theatre to the residents of Pittsburgh in public parks and outdoor spaces.

POISE Foundation ($15,000) acting as fiscal sponsor for Alliance for Police Accountability to support the work of the Radical Youth Collective’s Summer Fellowship. The youth fellowship focuses on rapid response, education, direct action, leadership development, research, decentralized and democratized Black community solutions, mutual aid, solidarity economy projects, and the fight for abolition. The Radical Youth Collective builds capacity for Black organizations by training up young Black organizers who help those organizations.

Preservation Pittsburgh ($6,250) to support the 2700 Jane Street “Wild Sisters” History Project. 2700 Jane Street is the former Wild Sisters/Bloomers feminist/lesbian space located on Pittsburgh’s South Side. This grant will fund the research and writing related to the site’s social and architectural history, plus further community engagement, leading to an application to recognize the site as a City of Pittsburgh designated historic landmark. Preservation Pittsburgh is a non-profit advocacy group dedicated to preserving our region’s historic, architectural, cultural, and environmental heritage.

Prime Stage Theatre ($5,000) to support general operations as the theatre company produces five stage productions in their 2022-23 season, presented live at the New Hazlett Theater and streamed to reach local, regional, national, and international audiences. Prime State entertains, inspires, and enriches audiences through professional theatre experiences by bringing literature to life and programs that deliver quantifiable results and benefits to the region.

Protohaven ($10,000) to support general operations and Protohaven’s efforts to increase diversity in its member-base through targeted marketing to groups typically under-represented in makerspaces and in design/fabrication. Protohaven engages people in the process of making things to enrich individual lives, build thriving communities, and contribute to a vibrant, sustainable society.

Radiant Hall ($10,000) to support general operations as Radiant Hall continues to build a vibrant and sustainable support model for Pittsburgh’s working artists, centered around affordable studio space.

Renaissance City Wind Music Society ($5,000) to support general operations and the 2022–23 Renaissance City Winds season of performances and audio recordings. Renaissance City Wind Music Society promotes the best in wind chamber music, with an emphasis on American music, by presenting concerts and educational programs, producing recordings, commissioning new works, and collaborating with other artists.

Resonance Works ($15,000) to support general operations during the 2022/23 seasons. Resonance Works is a multi-modal performing arts company in Pittsburgh, dedicated to creating musical programs that empower artists, engage audiences, and normalize diversity. Resonance Works present socially relevant performances of new and traditional classical music repertoire and to foster authentic artistic collaborations and community partnerships.

Shana Simmons Dance ($15,000) to support general operations, including board development, increasing marketing and fundraising plans, and the 2022 season. Shana Simmons Dance seeks advancement of quality dance performance and increased engagement with audiences and the community through financially accessible interactive and immersive productions. The vision and passion of the company is to encourage movement in all bodies.

Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Aid (SWPL) ($16,500) to support Washington County Pardon Project Coordinator, who recruits reformed applicants to apply for pardons from nonviolent criminal records, matching them with volunteer pardon coaches who ensure accuracy, quality, and completeness of applications to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.  SWPL Improves and stabilizes low-income and other vulnerable Southwestern Pennsylvania residents’ families, housing, and financial security with legal representation and other assistance.

Team G.R.O.W. ($10,000) to provide educational support for low income home owners who may face evictions or home depreciation due to damages to their homes. This program provides education such as small electrical knowledge, patch work drywalling, repair small pipe damages, and skills to keep homes maintained. Team G.R.O.W provides outreach, resources, and educates low income families and home owners in Pittsburgh’s Hill District and Uptown communities.

Theatre Communications Group (TCG) ($15,000) to support a Pittsburgh-based cohort of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color program. TCG is the national theatre service organization that leads for a just and thriving theatre ecology.

Union Project ($12,000) to support general operations. Through intentional arts practice and deliberative dialogue, Union Project builds understanding and empathy, fosters creativity and connections, and builds skills and opportunities to support and unite some of Allegheny County’s most vulnerable populations.

Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank ($10,000) to bolster general operations to support vulnerable families in crisis by supplying basic need items including diapers, wipes, period products, and incontinence supplies through a network of 55 partner agencies in Allegheny, Westmoreland, and Fayette counties. The Western Pennsylvania Diaper Bank ensures babies in need are clean, healthy, and dry and a vision of a community where all families have an equal opportunity to thrive.

Willissae’s Agency for Vision and Empowerment (WAVE) ($10,000) to support general operations of WAVE’s housing counseling and renters’ eviction prevention services. WAVE empowers individuals who face barriers to discover and reach their potential through education, housing counseling, social services, long-term support and community development.

Women in Tech Pittsburgh (WITPGH) ($10,000) to support general operations, enhancing WITPGH’s ability to create educational pathways for women of color in technology and to advocate for diversity in the Pittsburgh technology sector. WITPGH empowers women to succeed in the tech sector through education, advocacy and community.

Women’s Law Project ($40,000 over two years) to support general operations. Women’s Law Project creates a more just and equitable society by advancing the rights and status of all women throughout their lives. Women’s Law Project works on a wide variety of issues, including reproductive rights, workplace rights, and discrimination.

Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens (YBMKQ) ($15,000) to support general operations. YBMKQ is a community-based organization made up of dedicated young men and women who engage high school-aged youth in becoming the leaders of tomorrow while serving the community.

Zellous Hope Project ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations and the continuation of services to those in need of economic and social stability. Zellous Hope Project provides a bridge over the holes on the road to living better by working together with existing organizations, to create the change we want to see in the lives of the people we serve.

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We stand in solidarity with this coalition by signing the open letter to call on Colcom to stop funding the network of anti-immigrant groups it has long supported. We advocate for the legal rights of immigrants and refugees to stay in the U.S. without fear and believe in the humanity of those who face enormous harm due, in no small part, to Colcom’s funding. 

The Opportunity Fund supports social and economic justice with a focus on racial justice, as well as the arts. We often support those marginalized groups who are growing their own power within community, including immigrants, refugees and people who are at risk of deportation.

We are one of many supportive organizations who believe it is a reasonable and mainstream position to request that Colcom Foundation discontinue their funding and support of this dangerous and extremist work. Most importantly, we are advocating with this coalition by asking Colcom to direct all of its funding to civic and conservation projects for the common good.

We invite others to join us and stand with this coalition. 

PITTSBURGH, DEC. 13, 2021 – The Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Awards honored six artists at tonight’s virtual ceremony, including choreographer and visual artist Staycee R. Pearl, named Established Artist, and multi-faceted musician Danielle “INEZ” Walker, named Emerging Artist. Chosen from a field of 170 public nominations, the Established and Emerging artists will each receive an unrestricted award of $20,000. 

The Established Artist award recognizes an artist whose reputation in the field extends beyond the Pittsburgh region and who is respected and validated by a wide spectrum of peers. The Emerging Artist award honors an artist who is developing a body of work that is outstanding in both its current quality and potential for future growth. 

Established Artists awardee Staycee R. Pearl is the co-founder and co-artistic director of PearlArts Studio and STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos, where she creates artful experiences through dance-centered multimedia works in collaboration with her husband and artistic collaborator, Herman Pearl. She received her initial dance training at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and was an artist with University of Pittsburgh’s PITT ARTS program from 2006 to 2009. 

Ms. Pearl co-founded PearlArts Studio in 2007, and in 2009 became its founding artistic director, connecting with creatives and arts supporters through artist residencies, informal showings, and movement and art workshops. Currently the dance program coordinator at the Father Ryan Arts Center in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, Ms. Pearl premiered the National Dance Project-supported “CIRCLES” at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in October. 

Emerging Artist awardee Danielle “INEZ” Walker has gained wide-spread attention for her singing, music production, drumming, and songwriting, as well as her expertise in audio mixing, mastering and engineering. She studied at Berklee College of Music, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in professional studies in music production in 2013.  

Ms. Walker, who performs as INEZ, was named “Pittsburgh Music Artist of the Year” for 2020 by Pittsburgh’s WYEP 91.3 FM radio station. She released her debut album “Voicemails and Conversations” in 2019 featuring the single “Clouds,” a collaboration with singer-songwriter Clara Kent. Ms. Walker is a teaching Artist with Trust Arts Education, a program of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and with YMCA Lighthouse Project.

In addition to monetary awards of $20,000 each, the Established and Emerging Artist awardees were presented with an award object co-designed by Studio Glass Company artist Daniel Buchanan and 2017 Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Awards Emerging Artist recipient Sarika Goulatia. 

Ms. Pearl and Ms. Walker were among a slate of six artists recognized for excellence and achievement in the arts at the event, including choreographer Theodore “Teddy” Alexander and visual artist and muralist Janel Young, who were both named Emerging Artist finalists, and multi-media artist and engineer Mikael Owunna, and poet and essayist Dawn Lundy Martin, who were both named Established Artist finalists.  

Those attending the virtual event were treated to a multi-media dance performance by Slowdanger, an a cappella song by musician Geña, and a slam-poetry recitation by writer and performer Erin Perry. 

The Carol R. Brown Creative Achievement Awards is a shared initiative of The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Opportunity Fund and is one of very few such regional programs that provide direct philanthropic support to individual artists. The awards recognize the key role Ms. Brown, who was president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust from 1986 to 2001, played in the revitalization of Pittsburgh’s downtown arts district. 

The awards program is guided by a shared belief in artistic excellence, creative development and the need for continuous career advancement of Pittsburgh-based artists. To learn more about the awards, including a list of previous honorees, visit https://pittsburghfoundation.org/carolrbrown. A video of the award ceremony is available here.

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Images of the artists are available for media usage and are available to media on request.
A video featuring the six artists recognized may be found here. 

PITTSBURGH, PA, December 7, 2021 – For some, the uprisings for racial justice in the summer of 2020 came and went. But for the Opportunity Fund and its Executive Director, Jake Goodman, the energy of that time offered “a precious moment of potential.” This moment “revealed the anti-Blackness that is baked into American life, which results in an ever-evolving and systematic devaluation of Black life that is designed to protect and grow the standing of white people. Once exposed, it is vulnerable.”

A subsequent evolution occurred within the Opportunity Fund, beginning with a recognition that, every grant cycle, proposals flow in to address problems existing within systems: housing, transportation, human services, criminal justice, social services. The vast majority of applicants report that these systems create the very worst outcomes for Black people. “If we truly do not accept the current status quo of many Black people living and dying under worse conditions than almost everybody else,” says Goodman, “then we need to change the way we generally go about business at the Opportunity Fund. Otherwise, we are tacitly accepting that status quo.”

This growing awareness of the impact of white supremacy culture is taking place within philanthropy citywide. Foundations in Pittsburgh are taking steps—discreetly and collectively—to heal the harms often perpetrated by a system that intends to do good. Although the Opportunity Fund was already funding Black-led movement work at that time, its board and staff wanted to go deeper. The organization identified multiple ways it would “let this moment change us,” vowing that 2020 would be the last year the Opportunity Fund would be entirely white-led, naming racial justice as the focus over all of its justice funding, and allocating $50,000 in initial seed money to establish a fund designed by Black people for Black people. 

For some, the uprisings for racial justice in the summer of 2020 came and went. But for the Opportunity Fund and its Executive Director, Jake Goodman, the energy of that time offered “a precious moment of potential.” This moment “revealed the anti-Blackness that is baked into American life, which results in an ever-evolving and systematic devaluation of Black life that is designed to protect and grow the standing of white people. Once exposed, it is vulnerable.”

A subsequent evolution occurred within the Opportunity Fund, beginning with a recognition that, every grant cycle, proposals flow in to address problems existing within systems: housing, transportation, human services, criminal justice, social services. The vast majority of applicants report that these systems create the very worst outcomes for Black people. “If we truly do not accept the current status quo of many Black people living and dying under worse conditions than almost everybody else,” says Goodman, “then we need to change the way we generally go about business at the Opportunity Fund. Otherwise, we are tacitly accepting that status quo.”

This growing awareness of the impact of white supremacy culture is taking place within philanthropy citywide. Foundations in Pittsburgh are taking steps—discreetly and collectively—to heal the harms often perpetrated by a system that intends to do good. Although the Opportunity Fund was already funding Black-led movement work at that time, its board and staff wanted to go deeper. The organization identified multiple ways it would “let this moment change us,” vowing that 2020 would be the last year the Opportunity Fund would be entirely white-led, naming racial justice as the focus over all of its justice funding, and allocating $50,000 in initial seed money to establish a fund designed by Black people for Black people.

The organization contracted with yvette shipman (lowercase), a justice and transformative change consultant, to look at systems-change with a lens toward reparations. shipman accepted the challenge and assembled the Opportunity Fund Innovation Venture (OFIV) Community Advisors: a discipline-broad, experience-rich, intergenerational team of Black contributors. These advisors from Pittsburgh and beyond brought expertise in engineering, art, education and health, as well as lived experiences in Kenya, Turkey, South Africa, Ghana, Atlanta, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh. 

They devoted three months in collaboration and affirmed “the rich diversity of our Blackness; intersectional, transformative justice; our creative, spiritual, entrepreneurial, social, and civic intellect; Black health and wellness, including rest as a corrective, restorative, human right; and Black cultural and spiritual presence in shaping America.” Says shipman, “Some funders say to give everybody a little bit of money, often making it more challenging to achieve goals. We want to give people what they need so they can do what needs to be done.” 

Lessons learned and shared by the OFIV Community Advisors challenge the traditional grant funding process to expand both its processes and its imagination. Recommended innovations include: a process for channeling funds toward groups and individuals who exist outside of the in-network of social justice folks; collective decision-making to ensure the presence and participation of those from the community who have the most to gain or lose by what gets funded; and shorter applications that allow folks to present themselves in a manner truer to who they are, whether by phone, video, or front porch conversations. 

In a letter to the board and staff of the Opportunity Fund, OFIV Community Advisors expressed appreciation for “supporting and entrusting us to think through, shape, and recommend strategic initiatives designed to nurture and support Black creative intellect in Pittsburgh” and called the Opportunity Fund’s selection of yvette shipman to curate their group of artists, scholars, activists, engineers, elders, and community members to independently craft such a project “a gesture of goodwill and faith often avoided by many of Pittsburgh’s foundations.” 

The only thing the Opportunity Fund knew when they began this process was that the decisions about the fund would be made without foundation oversight—unless requested. “In terms of systems change, one thing we could easily do was not be in the room while the OFIV Community Advisors engaged in the process,” recalls Goodman. As recommended by the Community Advisors, the Opportunity Fund will directly support two of the creative projects the group proposed. Atasa Solar (via Land Art Generator) partners with the Maasai in Kenya and the African diaspora to uplift Indigenous women’s design and technology and create a model for culturally relevant, renewable energy to provide energy justice for the community.

Remember, Re-member, Reclaim, Repair (via Riverbends), an ancestry and genealogy exploration for Black and African American residents in Pittsburgh and the South, is an ode to creating wholeness in the presence of literal disconnection from place of origin, and includes a pledge by participants to build an older, Black or African American family tree.

“It is important to see ourselves reflected in solutions and answers to problems of injustice,” says Tereneh Idia, who leads Atasa Solar. 

In a broader context, the Opportunity Fund views OFIV as a first explicit foray into the work of reparations, and acknowledges the deep learning underway and on the path ahead. As part of that work, shipman—who has since accepted the role of Program Officer/Repair at the foundation—reflects on the gifts of this process: “Black people discern the most direct and impactful route to transform what it is we need for ourselves. Philanthropy’s role is to clear any obstacles to this transformation.”

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“Pittsburgh Opportunity Fund steers mission to “advance racial justice”” by Dani Janae, Pittsburgh City Paper, January 27, 2022.

Grant Partner List:

1Hood Media ($10,000) to support general operations of Young Black Motivated Kings & Queens. YBMKQ is a community-based organization made up of dedicated young men and women who engage high school-aged youth in becoming the leaders of tomorrow while serving the community.

1Hood Media ($10,000) to support general operations of Black, Young, and Educated. B.Y.E educates Black youth and young adults on topics that affect their everyday lives, to give them better/more accessible opportunities and greater support.

412 Food Rescue ($20,000) to support the expanded use and refinement of their Home Delivery food distribution model. 412 Food Rescue’s mission is to prevent perfectly good food from entering the waste stream by redirecting it to those who are in poverty and experiencing food insecurity.

Abolitionist Law Center ($40,000) to support general operations, with a focus on their Court Watch program which organizes observations of criminal court proceedings in Allegheny County, collects data on court operations and case outcomes, publishes reports and strategic communications, and advocates for judicial policies and practices that further decarceration and racial justice. The ALC is a public interest law firm organized for the purpose of abolishing class and race based mass incarceration in the United States.

Afro-American Music Institute, Inc. ($15,000) to support UHIMWE Alliance’s Bayard Rustin Conference, Black Gay Arts Project, and community engagement efforts to mobilize and unify same-gender-loving and queer people of color to make existence better for themselves and others in pursuit of their future selves.

Allies for Health + Wellbeing ($20,000) to support safety net services for HIV-positive clients, including essential household furniture and household items, especially mattresses and protective items to extend the life of the mattresses. Allies provides integrated medical care, supportive human services, and community-based education for individuals living with, or at risk of HIV, viral hepatitis, and sexually transmitted infections.

American Civil Liberties Foundation of Pennsylvania ($25,000) to support the ACLU-PA’s work on reforming the criminal legal system in Western Pennsylvania by strengthening policy and advocacy capacity in order to support grassroots power-building around bail reform. The grant supports a key staff position of Criminal Justice Policy Counsel.

ARYSE ($10,000) to support PRYSE Academy 2021, a summer program designed to help refugee youth become engaged, confident, and celebrated members within their communities and throughout our world.

August Wilson House ($15,000) to support general operating expenses associated with post-pandemic stabilization and capacity building in 2021. The August Wilson House’s mission is to celebrate the literary and personal legacy of August Wilson and serve as an arts center to nurture the historic Hill District community and arts practitioners and scholars influenced by his work.

Balafon West African Dance Ensemble ($15,000) to support general operations. Funds will support the development of administrative capacity, new programmatic offerings, and expanded staffing. Balafon helps to cultivate an educated and enthusiastic appreciation of West African rhythm and dance traditions to spread joy and offer sources of healing, balance and grounding in the lives of people of all ages and walks of life.

Beaver County Foundation ($10,000) to support Paramount Enterprises’ Inclusive Entrepreneurship Program for aspiring entrepreneurs facing barriers to entrepreneurship, and existing business owners who are struggling in their business because of the negative impacts of COVID-19. Paramount assists participants in their entrepreneurial journey through one-on-one mentoring, seminars, networking, assistance in building strategic partnerships and workspace.

Bodiography ($5,000) to support collaboration between Brazil’s renowned Cisne Negro Dance Company and Pittsburgh’s Bodiography Contemporary Ballet.

Bunker Projects ($10,000) to support the Bunker Projects’ residency program, which invites and hosts emerging artists into a live/work space for extended residency and provides support and tools for artists to build stability into their practice while engaging with the Pittsburgh community.

C-clear Empowerment, Inc. ($10,000) to support general operations and the equitable advancement of Black-led businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs in McKeesport through expert one-on-one individualized coaching, and coordinated ancillary supportive, educational, and financial services.

Catapult Greater Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support Soil Sisters Plant Nursery’s summer youth programming in the Beltzhoover neighborhood. The mission of Soil Sisters is to provide access to naturally grown vegetables, herbs, and flowered seedlings in the inner city targeting food apartheids and neighborhoods that are lacking agricultural resources.

Cave Canem ($10,000) to support Cave Canem’s week-long, annual writing retreat in 2021. Cave Canem is a home for the many voices of Black poetry and is committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets.

Center for Civic Arts ($5,000) to support opportunities for social engagement through diverse art forms, education, creative place-making, and historic preservation. CCA builds healthy, integrated, and dynamic relationships between people and place in Wilkinsburg.

Center of Life ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations as the organization provides families and youth with the life-skills, education, training, and resources necessary to be strong and to make their communities strong.

The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support general operations during the 2021-2022 program year. The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh provides performances, education, and related programming with a repertoire that includes works that are familiar, rarely performed, and newly composed.

City of Bridges Community Land Trust ($10,000) to support the City of Bridges CLT to expand strategies to redress the intersections of housing, economic, and racial justice. CBCLT builds community ownership that preserves permanent affordability, empowers individuals, and ensures responsible growth and stewardship.

Community Kitchen Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support culinary training and transitional employment programs for individuals experiencing significant barriers to employment such as low educational attainment, poverty, past or current incarceration, recovery from addiction, transient/unstable housing, and mental illness.

Contemporary Craft ($50,000 over three years) to support general operations. Contemporary Craft engages the public in creative experiences through contemporary craft, based on the fundamental idea that access to the arts for all can lead to more fulfilling individual lives, a healthier community, and a more engaged civic society.

Crop and Kettle ($5,000) to support the Roots to Fruits: Personal and Workforce Development program, a farm-to-table workforce training program offered to qualifying adults who are eager to overcome barriers to employment and break cycles of generational poverty in their families.

Cultivating Resilient Youth ($15,000) to support general operations. Cultivating Resilient Youth empowers, educates and mentors youth for success in life through program development and academic preparation, while creating and providing opportunities for social change to build a strong foundation for successful future.

East End Cooperative Ministry ($10,000) to support general operations. For 50 years, EECM has responded to community needs with programs that provide opportunity, transformation and hope to those experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, educational challenges, and barriers to employment.

East End United Community Center ($15,000) to support Shaping Our Convictions, Healing Our Community, a community dialogue project in Fayette County with the intention of sparking community transformation that replaces the long-standing distrust, avoidance, and unhealthy coping techniques of addressing and processing difficult social and political topics and histories of trauma with a culture of healthy dialogue and deliberation.

Forward Allies for Mental and Reproductive Health ($10,000) to support general operations. Forward Allies is a collaborative effort to support birthing people, birthing families, and birthing communities through education, facilitation, and advocacy by actively reducing barriers to quality reproductive and mental health care. 

Front Porch Theatricals ($7,500) to support general operations and Front Porch’s 10^th Season, postponed from 2020. The mission of Front Porch is to provide professional, high-quality musical theater productions featuring Pittsburgh’s diverse actor, artistic and technical talent base.

Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council ($15,000) to support general operations of the Office of Public Art (OPA). OPA envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change. OPA builds capacity for this work through civically engaged public art, artist resources, public programming, and technical assistance.

Grow Pittsburgh ($15,000) to support general operations and a smooth transition of organizational leadership. Grow Pittsburgh teaches people how to grow food and promote the benefits that gardens bring to our neighborhoods.

H.O.P.E. for Tomorrow ($15,000) to support general operations. H.O.P.E. for Tomorrow develops youth, in partnership with their families, to compete in the global community by addressing academic, socio-economic and relational risk factors.

Handmade Arcade ($5,000) to support Pittsburgh’s maker movement by providing craft-based artists, designers, and makers with opportunities to sell products, build community, network, and share their artistic practice. The organization will work to increase BIPOC and LGBTQ+ representation in its maker and consumer audiences.

Health GAP ($15,000) to support grassroots organizing to respond to the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and HIV in the hardest hit communities in the U.S. and around the world, building power in directly impacted communities to demand equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. Health GAP is a global advocacy organization dedicated to ensuring that people living with HIV access life sustaining medicines, that there is sufficient funding to ensure access, and that HIV programs deliver quality care.

Hill Dance Academy Theatre ($10,000) to support A Black Bead Story : : The Digital Spectacles, a series of performance-based short films, called spectacles, which specialize in masquerade arts, including costuming, accessory and implement design, dance, and spoken word featuring densely beaded works.

Hill District Consensus Group ($15,000) to support general operations of The Black Urban Gardeners and Farmers of Pittsburgh Co-op (BUGS), including the education of Black growers through classes on beekeeping and farming methods that are sustainable for the production of organic honey and the preservation of bees. The mission of BUGS is to establish, educate and assist Black people for sustainability and food sovereignty.

Jewish Family and Community Services of Pittsburgh ($60,000 over two years) to maintain the expanded capacity of JFCS Immigration Legal Services to serve vulnerable immigrants, especially immigrant children, throughout the Pittsburgh region by offering virtual legal services and community-based office hours through partner organizations.

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh ($15,000) to support the Holocaust Center‘s LIGHT (Leadership through Innovation in Genocide and Human rights Teaching) Education Program. LIGHT prepares middle and high school students to lead the charge for cultural change through education designed to inspire and empower students to become leaders in the fight for human rights.

Kelly Strayhorn Theater ($45,000 over three years) to support general operations and a partnership with PearlArts Studios to increase the platform for dance in Pittsburgh.

KidsVoice ($20,000) to support the Bootstrap Project, which removes barriers to independent living faced by youth aging out of foster care by providing legal representation related to housing, employment, and more. KidsVoice advocates in court and in the community to ensure a safe and permanent home for abused, neglected and at-risk children.

Landforce ($15,000) to support general operations and evaluation planning. Landforce leverages environmental stewardship jobs for people who have been systemically marginalized from the employment sector to build a firmer future for themselves and their families, while benefiting Pittsburgh’s environment.

Lawrenceville United ($5,000) to support the Lawrenceville “Neighbors In Need” fund to provide emergency financial assistance to residents and small businesses.

Legacy Arts Project ($10,000) to support general operations for Sabira Family Collective which hosts and presents the Sabira Cole Film Festival, continuing the legacy of the Sembène Film Festival by holding an annual juried festival of new independent films, based in Pittsburgh, but accessible internationally online.

Legacy Arts Project ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations. Legacy Arts Project preserves the history and traditions of African art as presented throughout the diaspora through education, interaction, and presentation.

MICAH ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations and the hiring of a full-time organizer. Milwaukee Inner city Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH) is a multi-racial, faith-based organization addressing a range of social justice issues. MICAH’s goal is to empower people to act together in pursuit of justice and to organize so that people of many traditions can come together with one voice for justice.

Millvale Community Library ($5,000) to support the Millvale Free Fridge project by which residents can access free, nutritional food, along with programming around food justice and systems of mutual aid for youth and adults in and around Millvale.

National Council of Jewish Women Pittsburgh ($10,000) to support NCJW’s Center for Women which provides educational programs, networking, and systems change for women seeking financial stability, with a growing emphasis on working mothers.

New Sun Rising ($15,000) to support Brown Mamas in the development of the GROW Mama Mentoring Cohort. The cohort will work with mothers in Allegheny County to strengthen their fundamental knowledge of the purpose and function of solid parenting, and to assist them with building the village of support needed during their mothering years.

The Open Door, Inc. ($30,000 over two years) to support general operations. The Open Door provides housing and wrap around services to individuals living with HIV and other mental and and substance issues. Building from a harm reduction model, The Open Door provides supportive housing and related services to improve the health of the forgotten population of high-risk, chronically homeless people living with HIV.

Philadelphia Lawyers for Social Equity ($15,000) to help launch the new Pardon Project of Allegheny County, including compensation for a Pardon Fellow with lived experience of incarceration, to be selected by Pittsburgh Community Services, Inc.

Pittsburgh Glass Center ($15,000) to support general operations through artistic activities such as classes, outreach, artist residencies, exhibitions, and studio rental. Pittsburgh Glass Center cultivates an inclusive and welcoming environment that encourages everyone, from the casually curious to the master artist, to learn, create, and be inspired by glass.

Pittsburgh Musical Theater ($5,000) to support need-based financial aid for students of PMT’s Conservatory. This aid provides opportunity for students with financial need to engage in arts education, develop transferrable life skills, engage with a diverse creative community, and build confidence in a nurturing environment.

Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble ($12,500) to support general operations and PNME’s virtual and immersive 2021 season. PNME commissions, performs, and presents new work in ways that challenge, engage, and inspire communities. 

Pittsburgh Public Media ($15,000) to support WZUM, the radio station also known as “the Pittsburgh Jazz Channel”. WZUM works with performers, educators, institutions and music lovers to help build and sustain a community that supports and embraces this great American and Pittsburgh treasure of jazz.

POWER (Pennsylvania Organization for Women in Early Recovery) ($10,000) to support the evaluation of POWER’s new Detox Rehab program. POWER helps women reclaim their lives from addiction and related emotional health issues and improve the well-being of future generations.

Prime Stage Theatre ($7,500) to support general operations. Prime Stage’s mission is to entertain, inspire, and enrich audiences of all ages, diversities, and challenges through professional theatre.

Project Love Coalition ($10,000) to support the Agri Green Space and Learning Garden/Farm model project, a training and outreach program located in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, designed to introduce farming training for African/Americans to the agri-business industry.

Proud Haven ($15,000) to support general operations and an emergency housing program expansion to serve more individuals and to extend their stays. Proud Haven’s mission is to provide a safe shelter for LGBTQIA+ youth (ages 18-25) and adults experiencing homelessness in Pittsburgh. Proud Haven also provides emotional support and resources to help LGBTQIA+ youth develop the skills needed to live independently.

Radiant Hall ($12,500) to support general operations as Radiant Hall continues to build a vibrant and sustainable support model for Pittsburgh’s working artists, centered around affordable studio space.

The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka ($15,000) to support Gift to America 2.0: New Voices. New Walls. This program will enable the creation of four original works through the commission of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) or immigrant artists reflecting on the issues of social justice and/or the immigrant experience.

Sojourner House ($10,000) to support Sojourner House MOMS.  The program offers comprehensive support services and safe, independent housing for families who are experiencing homelessness and recovering from addiction.

Thomas Merton Center ($15,000) to support general operations. The mission of Thomas Merton Center is to build a consciousness of values and to raise the moral questions involved in the issues of war, poverty, racism, classism, economic justice, human rights, and environmental justice.

Three Rivers Young Peoples Orchestras ($12,500) to support general operations and TRYPO’s 2021-22 season programming. TRYPO creates a dynamic, inclusive community where young people are inspired to pursue a lifelong passion for music.

United Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh ($37,500 over two years) to support general operations including staff hours for growing client needs, long term program development, and the creation of a financial sustainability plan. USBGP’s mission is to build community amidst the Somali Bantu of Greater Pittsburgh through enabling individuals and families to successfully acclimate and transition to self-sufficient life in American society by providing direct practical assistance and connecting people to other resources and opportunities.

United States Artists ($32,500 over two years) to support a 2022 USA Fellowship for an artist in the greater Pittsburgh community. United States Artists awards up to fifty $50,000 unrestricted Fellowships to the most compelling artists working and living in the United States, representing every demographic, and at every career stage. With this unrestricted award, recipients decide for themselves how to best use the money – whether it is creating new work, paying rent, reducing debt, getting healthcare, or supporting their families.

Veterans Place of Washington Boulevard ($10,000) to support life-sustaining services to the homeless veteran population around the Pittsburgh area, while remaining a safe environment for this vulnerable population. Veterans Place empowers veterans’ transition from homeless to home, ending the cycle of homelessness, and to assist all at-risk veterans to become engaged, valuable citizens who contribute to their communities.

Western Pennsylvania Fund for Choice ($20,000) to ensure that lack of funds is never a barrier to accessing safe, respectful abortion care for anyone in the region who needs it.

Western Pennsylvania Fund for Choice ($15,000) to support general operations of the Allegheny Reproductive Health Center (ARHC) for their programs and services providing affordable, comprehensive reproductive healthcare for all who need it. ARHC offers obstetric and gynecological care, abortion care, in-office and in-hospital surgical procedures, options counseling, full spectrum doula care, and services specialized to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra ($10,000) to support “Moving Forward Together After COVID-19,” a concert to help to start the healing process post COVID-19. The Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra provides musical enrichment through high quality performance and education to a broad-based audience in the Westmoreland region.

Willissae’s Agency for Vision and Empowerment (WAVE) ($10,000) to support general operations. WAVE empowers individuals who face barriers to discover and reach their potential through education, housing counseling, social services, long-term support and community development.

Zellous Hope Project ($15,000) to support general operations and the continuation of services to those in need of economic and social stability. Zellous Hope Project provides a bridge over the holes on the road to living better.

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To Our Community,

The thing about a moment is that it comes and goes. We have seen moments when the hope of racial justice seemed within reach and, every time, we have seen them go.

We are now in a precious moment of potential. The racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness that is baked and caked in/onto American life—and that results in an ever-evolving but systemic devaluation of Black life, meant to protect and grow the standing of white people—is, for growing masses of us, exposed. And vulnerable.

It is being exposed in philanthropy, in our own work at the Opportunity Fund, and it is reflected in the proposals we receive. To wit, almost every proposal we read to address an issue of injustice reflects a system—housing, transportation, criminal justice, human services, healthcare, etc.—that creates disparately negative outcomes for people of color. Moreover, as quantified in the vast majority of our pool of proposals, the systems create the very worst of outcomes for Black people. This has been true in every one of the nine grant cycles since the foundation was established.

We are coming to recognize that the way we generally go about business at the Opportunity Fund tacitly accepts the permanency of the current status quo: that many Black people will live and die under worse conditions than almost everybody else. But we do not, in fact, accept this. That is why we are letting this moment change us.

To change, we are:

Deepening our commitment to Racial Justice by making it an explicit part of our mission, as a focus over all of our social & economic justice (SEJ) funding.

This is the time to invest transformatively. We chose not to create a special “Racial Justice Fund,” because no fund we could create would ever be larger than our general grantmaking budget. We want this giving to be large and long term.

We will prioritize funding for SEJ proposals that explicitly and effectively work to lessen and, ultimately, help end disparately negative outcomes for people of color—and, most specifically, for Black people. We will prioritize work that is led by those most directly impacted, which means that we will increase the overall amount of funds we award to Black-led organizations.

Adding Black-Led Movement Work as a new subcategory under our SEJ funding category.

For generations, activists, educators, artists, and movement leaders have creatively pressed to realize a different reality, one in which Black lives matter — and thrive. Now, it seems like a critical mass is standing in solidarity and that, we dare to hope, change is possible.

This is why the Opportunity Fund is elevating Black-Led Movement Work as a core funding subcategory under which groups can apply for funds: because it is effective; because it is powerful; because it is visionary; because it is just; because all boats will rise when we live in a society that truly believes #BlackLivesMatter. Because we want to create a clear avenue to direct funds to more grassroots efforts that are explicitly led by Black people.

Increasing the number of Black-led Arts organizations to which we provide multi-year, general operating funds.

We have been inequitable in the way we have awarded multi-year, general operating grants in our Arts funding categories. These grants provide reliable, long-term, flexible funding, which we have come to understand is necessary for transformative work. Since our inception, of the 13 multi-year general operating grants awarded to Arts organizations, only one of these organizations is Black-led.

We commit to correcting this inequity by steadily increasing the number of Black-led Arts organizations to which we award these prized grants. To be clear, this is not a problem we will correct overnight. The funds will continue to be sourced from our general grantmaking budget, and we cannot commit that amount of funds all at once for multiple years and simultaneously meet our other priorities. But our commitment stands and we will share data to update our communities on our progress.

Committing to making 2020 the last year that the Opportunity Fund is an entirely white-led foundation.

We believe our work, like all others’, should be led by those whom it is meant to serve and/or who are most impacted. Black people are often most impacted by the injustices upon which our work focuses, and our team does not include any Black leadership. We are excited for this to change, and know it will make our work stronger.

Forming an all-Black Advisory Team to help us design and implement a new fund that might focus on “Returning the ‘Right to Rest’ to Black people” and/or on Self-Care for Black people.

In truth, we do not yet know. From its beginning, we want this fund to be developed by and for Black people. The fund’s goals, guidelines, structure, and processes will be designed by the Advisory Team, with input from the Opportunity Fund’s board and staff. Once the guidelines are set, final grant decisions will be made by panelists, 100% of whom will self-identify as being Black/African American/people of African descent. The fund may or may not be housed at the Opportunity Fund.

We are committed to establishing this fund, and know doing so will take time. We will aim to complete the fund’s design and—if the Advisory Team believes it should directly support individuals—seek IRS permission by the end of 2020.

The Opportunity Fund will begin by allocating $50,000 to this fund. The fund will be further supplemented, we hope, by individual donors—especially white donors—whom we will actively invite to contribute. We have never solicited donations before, but we are driven.

Finally, credit must be given to three colleagues who have knowingly and unknowingly influenced our thinking on this. In alphabetical order: Karen Abrams of The Heinz Endowments, Medina Jackson of Pitt’s Office of Child Development, and Michelle McMurray of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Becoming more transparent about the demographic data we collect and analyze during each grant cycle.

While imperfect, our current data collection and analysis is fairly rigorous. At the outset of each board meeting, we review data about the current group of applicants and how this data compares to all past applicants and grantees, and we examine trends over time. Moving forward, we will share the most relevant data and analysis on our website. Because we are accountable to you.

Participating in an anti-racism learning affinity group for white philanthropic professionals, on an ongoing basis.

If we want to help repair the world, we must repair ourselves.

This moment will pass. But when we move into the next one, we will be different. As our learning and understanding continues to deepen, we expect we will change again. The constant, though, will be our continued desire to partner with all of you to create the lasting change we need.

In solidarity,
Jake, Tiffany, and Idy