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Washington state-based fund, Black Future Co-op Fund, has awarded $1.05 million in grants to 21 Black women-led organizations in honor of Women’s History Month.
The fund’s social media team announced their new grants via their Twitter page on Mar. 22.
“This #WomenHistoryMonth, we are proud to announce $1.05M in grants to 21 Black-woman-led organizations,” they wrote. “Learn about our We See You grant recipients and the amazing Black women leading them in their work to advance Black self-determination and liberation.”
Created by Black Washington state natives and community leaders Andrea Caupain Sanderson, Angela Jones, Michelle Merriweather, and T’wina Nobles, the Black Co-op Fund has aimed to uplift Black people and Black communities throughout the state through philanthropy. They launched the We See You grant program to financially back Washington-based nonprofit organizations headed by Black women.
“The We See You grants illustrate our confidence in women who lead but often do not receive adequate support to do the excellent work they envision for our communities,” Sanderson, the Black Future Co-op Fund’s architect and CEO of Byrd Barr Place, said
in a statement. “This is about helping our people and organizations across the state be self-determined, to own our own stories, to reframe the narratives about us.”Through their initiative, grant recipients would receive $50,000 in “unrestricted” funds.
“Each grantee will receive $50,000 in unrestricted funds as an acknowledgment of and support for their work,” the fund’s team wrote. “Grants were made barrier-free, intentionally breaking down obstacles to accessing needed resources.”
Recipients of the grants include the Multicultural Child and Family Hope Center, which was launched to provide cultural education programs for youth, and The Agape House, which was created to end homelessness and potential human trafficking among Black women aged out of foster care in Seattle.
According to their statement, the fund has reportedly invested $2.75 million to “advance its mission of igniting Black generational wealth, health, and well-being” since June 2010. This round has been “intended to continue fueling the work already being done in Black communities across the state.”