The Greater Milwaukee Foundation has spent the last several years studying how to advance equity in the region. In 2015, as a way to further understand the work underway in the community, it created a special opportunity to fund equity efforts that address the needs of communities of color. Through that, $1.2 million was awarded to a variety of projects in Milwaukee County. 

9to5 Wisconsin: $37,000 to support “Ban the Box,” a grassroots campaign designed to persuade the city of Milwaukee to remove the box on its job application form that asks if individuals have ever been convicted of a crime.

African American Chamber of Commerce: $80,000 (over two years) for a project, in partnership with Milwaukee Black Business LLC, which will provide marketing tools, resources and other technical assistance to African American-owned businesses in Milwaukee to help them grow.

Artists Working in Education: $60,000 (over three years) for Five x Three, a youth-led community design project that will engage more than 500 youth and culminate in 15 large-scale art installations throughout the Clarke Square, Harambee, Layton Boulevard West, Lindsey Heights and Washington Park neighborhoods.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee: $100,000 (over three years) toward development of a pilot program for elementary and middle school boys of color ages 9 to 12 called “At Promise,” which will strengthen their social and emotional learning skills.

Cardinal Stritch University: $80,000 to create an alumni program for its African American Leadership Program, a 9-month program which builds the leadership skills and potential of African American professionals from multiple sectors within the community. The grant will also help support creation of a long-term plan for the program’s future.

Cross Lutheran Church: $86,100 (over three years) to develop training and educational opportunities for men of color to help them strengthen their leadership skills.

Grandesco Solutions: $20,000 to enable Prism Technical Management and Marketing Services to create a program for at-risk boys of color that would introduce them to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Milwaukee Academy of Science: $75,000 (over three years) for an after-school program called Project Empower Nova, which will educate students on the historical roots of racial and economic disparities and empower them to respond to and redress those issues in their community.

Medical College of Wisconsin: $60,000 to support an in-depth study that will seek to understand the reasons for the substantial cancer health disparities among Milwaukee’s African American population, particularly with breast cancer.

MICAH Wisconsin: $50,000 to support the position of a full-time young adult organizer who will work with young adults and participating congregations in the 53206 area to help reduce mass incarceration.

Public Policy Forum: $28,500 to support a research project that would look at how city government uses its tools to link the investment of public dollars to job opportunities for unemployed low-income city residents.

Reformation Lutheran Church: $9,500 to teach 80 people of color about internalized racial oppression and how to address it.

Southeast Asian Educational Development: $80,000 (over two years) to conduct an environmental scan of the Hmong community and create a leadership training program that will increase the community and civic engagement of Hmong refugees in Milwaukee.

Voces de la Frontera: $80,000 (over two years) to support an immigration coordinator position that will help the agency’s efforts toward organizing, conducting outreach and providing assistance to immigrants with deferred action and citizenship applications.

Wisconsin Black Historical Society: $70,000 (over two years) to conduct an analysis of the nonprofit social services providers that have served central city residents on Milwaukee’s north side and examine their impact on the African American community.

YWCA of Southeast Wisconsin: $80,000 to cover the costs of a community readiness assessment that will identify new solutions for Milwaukee’s business community to employ low or unskilled job seekers.

Frank Zeidler Center for Public Discussion: $35,000 toward the facilitation of listening sessions between law enforcement and residents in Milwaukee’s Harambee, Metcalfe Park and Amani neighborhoods that would address the issue of racial profiling.

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