WS Chronicle

The Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) announces $3,000 in grants that have been awarded with its first Impact Grants program cycle. Impact Grants are investments of up to $1,000 in local programs, projects and initiatives that support issues impacting the black community in Forsyth County. 

BPI recognizes that there are local groups and organizations doing impactful work within the black community that may not align with BPI’s current grant focus of advancing equity in education. BPI also acknowledges that there are local groups and organizations doing impactful work that are newer and/or have smaller budgets than their counterparts and believes it is important to invest in these groups. For its first Impact Grant cycle, video proposals were requested from organizations/groups with annual budgets of less than $150,000 doing work within the black community that aligns with one of the four main areas in BPI’s Rethinking Philanthropy report (education, jobs and wages, poverty and civic engagement).

Grants were awarded to: 

*Building Resources in Disadvantaged Groups Through Economic & Empowerment (BRIDGE) to collaborate with Winston-Salem State University’s Center for Entrepreneurship to promote financial literacy workshops to students and entrepreneurs. 

*Hoops4L.Y.F.E to purchase materials for STEAM activities offered at afterschool and summer enrichment camps.

*Kimberly Park Tennis Association to provide financial assistance for tennis tournament fees for youth participants.

During Black History Month, BPI is grateful for this opportunity to invest in black-led organizations doing impactful work to support the local black community. BPI will have its traditional grant round focused on equity in education in the spring and a second Impact Grants cycle in summer 2020. 

Launched in 2007, the Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) serves as a model for rethinking philanthropy in Forsyth County’s black community. BPI encourages people to utilize their philanthropic strengths of time, talent, and treasure to impact meaningful change and address identified needs in the black community. For more information on The Winston-Salem Foundation and the Black Philanthropy Initiative, visit wsfoundation.org/BPI.