The Boston Foundation announces $1 million in grants to Greater Boston organizations

Boston – The Boston Foundation is pleased to announce its fourth quarter discretionary grants after a meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors last week. The Board approved $1,020,000 in single and multi-year discretionary grants to 18 organizations. In addition, the Board also acknowledged another $1,152,000 paid out between cycles through other discretionary programs of the Foundation, as well as those grants from the Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund that have been announced in prior public statements. (To date, grants from the COVID-19 Response Fund have exceeded $6 million.)

In addition, the Board recognized $1 million in grants from the Foundation’s Open Door Grants program that would usually be announced at the June meeting, but had been distributed last month to get the funds to nonprofits more quickly.

“This quarter has been unlike any in the 105-year history of the Boston Foundation,” said Paul S. Grogan, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation. “It has upended normal work patterns, highlighted new issues, and underscored the impact decades of inequity has had across every single aspect of life in Greater Boston. We hope these quarterly grants, alongside the millions of dollars in grants made to address the crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, will together begin to address the critical needs being felt particularly among Black and Brown community members – now and in the months to come.

Concern over how shutdowns and other disruptions will affect Boston students and schools shaped many of the education grants in the docket. It includes support for programs that provide summer activities and combat summer learning loss – such as Boston After School and Beyond ($100,000), Camp Harbor View ($50,000) and Philanthropy Massachusetts’ summer program ($25,000), as well as grants for programs to support school leaders in the Boston Public Schools training partnership with the University of Virginia  ($70,000) and the Perrone Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership at the Center for Artistry and Scholarship, Inc. ($40,000).

Boston’s affordable housing issues, exacerbated by the economic dislocation of COVID-19, are also a focus of the docket, with new grants going to the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants ($60,000), Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Inc. ($75,000), Chinatown Community Land Trust ($25,000) and Metro Housing | Boston ($70,000), among others.

The full list of discretionary grants and selected grants from other programs of the Foundation is below. A list of the Foundation’s Open Door Grants for the quarter can be found here, and the full list of grantees receiving funds this quarter from the COVID-19 Response Fund can be found here.

DISCRETIONARY GRANTS:

Education: College Completion

The BASE: A $100,000, one-year general operating support grant to The BASE, an organization that combines athletic training with education and career resources to empower student-athletes to achieve their full potential both on and off the field

uAspire, Inc.: A $45,000, one-year grant to uAspire, Inc., an organization that partners with schools and community organizations to provide free financial aid advice and advocacy to young people and families to overcome financial barriers to higher education, to support the college affordability needs of Success Boston students and provide training and technical assistance to Success Boston coaches.

Education: Structural Reform

Boston After School & Beyond, Inc.: A $100,000, one-year grant to Boston After School & Beyond, Inc., a public-private partnership that seeks to ensure that every child in Boston has the opportunity to develop his or her full potential, to expand organizational capacity, support contingency and expansion planning, and implement summer learning in Boston.

Boston Public Schools: A $70,000, two-year grant payable to Boston Educational Development Foundation, Inc., to support the Boston Public Schools' partnership with the University of Virginia which will provide professional development for leaders of struggling and low performing schools, and will redefine the working partnership between participating schools and the central office.

Camp Harbor View Foundation: A $50,000, one-year general operating support grant to Camp Harbor View Foundation, an organization that seeks to provide an environment in which young adolescents from many of Boston's at-risk neighborhoods can experience fun, friendship, new exposures and mentoring opportunities offered by a caring and experienced staff.

Center for Artistry and Scholarship, Inc.: A $40,000 one-year grant to Center for Artistry and Scholarship, Inc., an organization that sponsors the Perrone Sizer Institute for Creative Leadership, a year-long creative leadership program that builds skills, capacity, and confidence to lead schools that prioritize student agency, family engagement, community partnership, and social justice, to partner with the Boston Public Schools to build an effective and diverse leadership development pipeline for Assistant Principals in the BPS.

The Education Trust: A $50,000, one-year grant to The Education Trust, which seeks through research and advocacy to expand excellence and equity in education from preschool through college, to support the Massachusetts Education Equity Partnership.

Philanthropy Massachusetts: A $25,000, one-year grant to Philanthropy Massachusetts, for support of its Summer Program, which seeks to ensure that underserved and at-risk youth have access to quality summer enrichment opportunities, regardless of racial, ethnic or socio-economic background.

Health and Wellness

The Reebok Foundation: A $50,000, one-year grant to The Reebok Foundation, payable to Fit Kidz Get Up & Go Inc., to support BOKS (Build Our Kids' Success), a before school physical activity program for elementary and middle school aged students in Boston Public Schools.

Jobs and Economic Development

Hack.Diversity: A $50,000 one-year general operating support grant payable to the Hack.Diversity Fund at the Boston Foundation to support Hack.Diversity's operations and capacity to prepare and place nontraditional and diverse talent into IT/tech internships that convert into full time job opportunities.

Boston Private Industry Council, Inc.: A $50,000, one-year general operating support grant to the Boston Private Industry Council, Inc. to staff and execute the strategic priorities of TechHire Boston, an initiative meant to expand learning and generate more career opportunities so that diverse talent can meet Boston’s IT workforce demands.

Neighborhoods and Housing

Boston Affordable Housing Coalition, Inc./Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants: A $60,000, one-year general operating support grant payable to Boston Affordable Housing Coalition, Inc., an agency that preserves and improves at risk subsidized buildings as permanently affordable housing with maximum resident participation and control.

Chinatown Community Land Trust, Inc.: A $25,000, one-year general operating support grant to Chinatown Community Land Trust, an agency that works to stabilize the future of Boston's Chinatown as a neighborhood for working class families and a regional hub for the Chinese community.

Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Inc.: A $75,000, one-year general operating support grant to Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance, Inc., an agency that educates and mobilizes individuals and communities to increase affordable and sustainable homeownership across Massachusetts.

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority: A $30,000, one-year grant to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for 6,000 pre-loaded $5 Charlie Cards to be distributed in Boston and surrounding communities. The MBTA provides frequent and reliable public transit services; promotes connectivity between work, home, and school; facilitates and contributes to the economic and cultural viability of our city; and preserves the environmental sustainability of our region through transit options beyond single occupancy vehicles.

Metro Housing|Boston: A $70,000, one-year general operating support grant to Metro Housing|Boston, an agency that mobilizes wide-ranging resources to provide innovative and personalized services that lead families and individuals to housing stability, economic security, and an improved quality of life.   

Nonprofit Effectiveness

Empower Success Corps: A $50,000, two-year grant to Empower Success Corps (formerly Executive Service Corps of New England) to equip ESC consultants with the skills and knowledge to integrate a DEI lens in their engagements with community-based nonprofits.

Other/Unaligned Grants

Boston Dance Alliance, Inc.: An $80,000, one-year grant to Boston Dance Alliance, a local arts service organization that serves the dance community, to support a series of convenings and conversations on dance and disability and implementation of related strategic initiatives.

Selected other grants:

The Boston Foundation Board of Directors also acknowledged more than $1 million in payments or requests for payment made by special funds at the Foundation in accordance with the specific terms of each fund. These special funds have advisors/advisory committees that make recommendations for the re-granting of these funds. Other grants included:

Boston Branch of the NAACP
$50,000: For the NAACP Convention 2020

Museum of African American History
$25,025: For the Third Annual MAAH Stone Book Prize

TSNE MissionWorks
$25,000: For the Alliance for Nonprofit Management's Stepping into Boldness Series

Environmental League of Massachusetts, Inc.
$25,000: For the Civic Action Project

STRIVE Boston
$20,000: For general operating support

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.
$15,000: For the Listen for Good Initiative

The Board also acknowledged a number of other grants announced previously in other Boston Foundation communications, including:

Open Door Grants: $1,000,000

Equality Fund: $165,000

Free for All Fund: $70,000

Latino Legacy Fund: $25,000