Increasing economic opportunities

Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation: $100,000 (over two years) to expand its “Make Your Money Talk” personal money management program.

Make a Difference-Wisconsin: $50,000 (over two years) to expand “Money Coach,” a financial literacy education program for teens, and provide scholarships to participants.

United Way of Greater Milwaukee & Waukesha County: $50,000 (over two years) for its Universal Drivers Education Program, which provides classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction to any Milwaukee resident up to age 18. The program is projected to serve up to 2,100 youth in its first year.

Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board: $40,000 to support Mayor Tom Barrett’s Earn and Learn program, a 10-year-old summer youth employment program for Milwaukee-area young adults ages 14 to 21.

The Cathedral Center: $40,000 toward implementation of a comprehensive workforce development program specifically targeting homeless women. The program will provide soft skills, work readiness and financial literacy training and education as well as case management services.

Riverworks Development Corporation: $20,000 to support the agency’s Neighborhood Ambassador Program in Milwaukee’s Riverwest and Harambee neighborhoods. The six-month program provides support services and employment opportunities to youth ages 18 to 24 who are aging out of the foster care system.

African American Chamber of Commerce: $1,000 to provide technical assistance to members through access to capital, advocacy, business development and community engagement.


Promoting Racial Equity

Justice Initiatives Institute: $75,000 to help stakeholders within the criminal justice system to help reform current municipal court procedures and policies.

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin: $25,000 for an outreach program designed to educate the Latino community about sexuality and reproductive health.

All People’s Church: $15,420 to help with transportation costs associated with local representation at the Million Mom March, a national event in Washington D.C. designed to raise awareness of the deaths caused by police brutality and to gain congressional support for independent investigations in all police officer-involved deaths.


Strengthening education

Milwaukee Partnership for Education Fund: $150,000 toward expansion of the Transformative Reading Instruction Program in Milwaukee schools that was developed in partnership with Milwaukee Succeeds, Milwaukee Public Schools and Northwestern Mutual. The program uses evidence-based coaching along with tutoring, parent engagement workshops and experiential learning opportunities to help improve third grade reading outcomes among students in all education sectors.

Betty Brinn Children’s Museum: $75,000 to strengthen its outreach to economically disadvantaged families by informing parents and caregivers of the many ways they can help their children learn how to read through special exhibits and programs.

Marquette University: $65,000 to support a six-week summer reading program offered through the university’s Hartman Literacy and Learning Center that tutors first through third graders in Milwaukee who struggle to read on grade level.

Milwaukee Repertory Theater: $40,000 for the fifth year of its Reading Residency Program, which aims to improve literacy through theater. This year’s program will focus on integrating an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.”

Greater Milwaukee Committee: $25,000 for continued support of Teachtown Milwaukee, a program that seeks to recruit and retain teachers in Milwaukee Public Schools.


Strengthening neighborhoods

Rebuilding Together Greater Milwaukee: $120,000 to support emergency repair and accessibility modifications for low-income older adults, veterans and homeowners with disabilities, primarily those living in the neighborhoods participating in the Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative and Building Neighborhood Capacity Program.

Milwaukee Christian Center: $25,000 to implement the federally-funded Building Neighborhood Capacity Program within the Clarke Square and Muskego Way neighborhoods on Milwaukee’s south side.

Avenues West Association: $20,000 to support strategic planning for the Near West Side Partners project, which seeks to revitalize 11 neighborhoods on Milwaukee’s west side.

Interfaith Older Adult Programs: $5,000 to support “Securing our Seniors,” a program in collaboration with the Milwaukee Police Department and the Milwaukee Neighborhood Improvement Development Corporation that provides necessary security measures to help older adult low-income homeowners in the Sherman Park and Capitol Heights neighborhoods remain safe in their homes


Regional vitality

Bradley Family Foundation - $130,000 in support of the Mary L. Nohl Fund Individual Artists Fellowship Program, which recognizes visual artists who are making or will make significant contributions to their fields and who promote the arts in the greater Milwaukee area. The annual program provides fellowships of $15,000 each to established artists and $5,000 each to emerging artists. It also provides support through its Suitcase Export Fund to help local artists with costs associated with exhibiting their work outside of the four-county area.

West Bend Public Schools Foundation: $100,000 toward renovation and redesign of the West Bend High School auditorium into a new center for the performing and visual arts.

Medical College of Wisconsin: $89,145 for three cardiovascular research projects: one focused on the connection between diabetes and heart failure, another focused on treating heart failure and the third focused on the cardiovascular risk of childhood cancer survivors.

Milwaukee County War Memorial Center: $75,000 toward its “Operation Renew” capital campaign, which will renovate the Veteran’s courtyard and provide repairs and upgrades to the public space in the War Memorial building.

NAMI Waukesha: $50,000 (over two years) to expand the agency’s peer support program, which provides support over the phone and in person to people with mental illness.

Meta House: $40,000 for its consumer peer specialist program.

Diverse and Resilient: $33,976 to provide outreach and engagement activities aimed at reducing HIV transmission in Milwaukee.

Neighborhood House of Milwaukee: $30,000 for a program that helps refugees from Southeast Asian and Africa gain the necessary skills to obtain and maintain family-supporting jobs, access resources and be engaged in their community.

CORE/El Centro: $25,000 for further development of its United Voices Collaborative, a group of community health workers across Wisconsin that works to increase health outcomes for communities of color.

Renaissance Theaterworks: $25,000 to further develop and promote the role of women in theater. The grant will specifically support its Brinks Award program, which works to advance work of Midwestern women playwrights, and Warrior Women as Word Art program, which creates a performance based on stories from Milwaukee female veterans.

Interfaith Caregivers of Ozaukee County: $23,770 for marketing and development efforts related to recruiting more volunteers and increasing its capacity to serve older adults in Ozaukee County.

LifeStriders Therapeutic Riding Center: $20,000 to hire an additional bilingual staff member so it can further expand its services in Milwaukee by providing therapeutic horseback riding for children and adults with special needs.

Aurora Family Services: $14,000 to support solution-focused therapy offered through Aurora’s Family Therapy Training Institute.

Asset Builders of America: $12,000 to support “Pipeline to Wall Street,” a career education and development program that targets Milwaukee Public School students and teaches them about the financial services sector.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation: $10,000 to support neighborhood programming in tribute to the service of Leo Ries, longtime leader of the Milwaukee office who retired in 2015.

RedLine Milwaukee: $8,000 to support the agency’s 2015-2016 exhibition series.

BESTD Clinic: $5,000 to support a health tent at PrideFest.

CF Leads: $5,000 to support fellowships for several CEOS and vice presidents of large community foundations to attend the CF Leads Executive Leadership Institute.

Central City Churches Outreach Ministry: $3,648 to cover the position of a part-time employee to run the soup kitchen and pantry.

CEOs for Cities: $3,000 to support Milwaukee’s participation in the cross-sector, cross-city leadership program.

Greater Milwaukee Committee: $2,500 to cover costs so that a group of young Milwaukee leaders can participate in the Shape North America 2015 Conference in Calgary. The conference brings together young leaders from throughout the world to discuss civic issues and share best practices.

Dominican Center for Women: $1,000 toward a spring brunch event celebrating the nonprofit’s 20th anniversary.

Learn More

dunn-web.pngContact Kathryn Dunn to learn more about our grantmaking strategies.