To POISE Foundation serving as fiscal sponsor to support general operations of the Alliance for Police Accountability, a grassroots organization dedicated to criminal justice reconstruction, specializing in community/police relations. It is the mission of the Alliance for Police Accountability to bring the community, police, and government officials to a working relationship and put an end to racial profiling, police brutality, and injustice within the criminal legal system through advocacy, education, and policy.
$10,000 to New Sun Rising to support City of Play and the inaugural season of Pittsburgh FireWalk: an autumn series of firelit revels through the central Northside and adjacent hilltop neighborhoods. Inspired by some of the greatest fire carnival traditions throughout history, and more recently by Providence Rhode Island’s WaterFire, the FireWalk will be a regularly scheduled array of bonfires. Each fire will be carefully tended with talented performers, local storytellers, and street vendors of food, drink, and art. The cauldrons themselves will be distinctly designed by artisanal metalworkers in homage to the retired steel mills and iron furnaces of the region.
$15,000 to support two evidence-based programs, Strengthening Families & Strong African American Families, as a bridge to benefits in Fayette County.
East End United Community Center is a place for individuals and families to come together and prosper. The East End United Community Center has a breadth of services that support the entire family, the majority of which emphasize social and emotional learning, the process through which children and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make reasonable decisions.
Fractured Atlas ($5,550) to support FotoEvidence in creating the “Limitless Africans” book by artist-photographer Mikael Owunna and related educational programming focused on LGBTQ African migrants. This body of work is a collaborative response between Mikael and his community, to re-define what it means to be an immigrant, African and queer in North America and Europe at this time.
Tech 25 (previously 25 Carrick Ave Project) provides youth and adults in the Pittsburgh Region with career opportunities in the event production and broadcast industry through classes, workshops, and hands-on mentoring. Their 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. Tech 25 is a state-of-the-art event training center providing technical support and academic training for many cultural institutions and performing arts centers in Western PA.
$10,000 to support the general operations of Global Minds Initiative, a for-youth, by-youth organization created to combat the issues of cultural intolerance and discrimination through an after school tutoring program between English-as-a-Second-Language and Native English Speaking students. Global Minds serves as an educational support system for ESL students, while educating NES students about other cultures, in order to create more globally minded young leaders.
$7,500 to support “I Too am Pittsburgh,” a public poetry installation utilizing the City of Pittsburgh’s public transit system as a mobile creative space crafted to address historic and imaginary borders separating neighboring communities.
Crossing Limits is an interfaith literary organization established in 1998 to promote solidarity amongst varying faith and cultural traditions. Their mission is centered upon celebrating and utilizing poetry as a sacred tool to nurture spiritual communities dedicated to pluralism.
$10,000 to Abolitionist Law Center to support general operations for Coalition to Abolish Death By Incarceration West (CADBI-West), which organizes for an end to life-without-parole, which they refer to as “Death By Incarceration” (DBI). CADBI-West is made up family and friends of those serving DBI and other prison sentences, formerly incarcerated people, and currently incarcerated people.
The Chamber Orchestra of Pittsburgh provides exceptional performances, education, and related programming by a world-class ensemble. Their repertoire includes compelling works that are familiar, rarely performed, and newly composed.
$10,000 to support The PA Benefits Center, a program that works to increase access to public benefits for low-income families and individuals in the greater Pittsburgh region and across the state.
Benefits Data Trust is a national not-for-profit organization committed to transforming how individuals in need access public benefits.
