The John Rex Endowment Board of Directors approved $600,000 in grants to two grassroots collaboratives that support the Endowment’s desired impact that all children and their families are safe, healthy and living to their full potential. Grants were awarded to the collaborative of The RWA Center, ACLA and Young Men 4 Christ and to the collaborative of Village of Wisdom, Education Justice Alliance and ISLA NC. 

Each 3-year grant project will support a collaborative to assess the strength of the partnership, the quality of the collective planning, and the impact of its united action. The $300,000 grant awards were awarded under the funding opportunity that prioritized collaboratives that have Black, Latinx or Indigenous leadership. 

LaTasha Bennett, vice-chair, John Rex Endowment said, “We know that collaboratives play a vital role in our communities to leverage change.  These two collaboratives are advocating for children’s well-being while confronting the disproportionate impacts that racial inequities have on Black and Brown children.  This is hard work but we’re confident that through policy and system change there will be improved health outcomes for those made most marginalized.”

The John Rex Endowment’s focus aligns with others in the philanthropic sector that are addressing racial disparities in grantmaking. One step in this movement is to make funding more accessible to organizations that have historically and currently not had the same level of access to funding, specifically those led by people of color.  “With these two grant awards one-third of the organizations currently funded by the Endowment are led by individuals who identify as a person of color,” said Kellan Moore, president and CEO of the John Rex Endowment.  “We will continue to build this portfolio of partners as we center racial equity in all that we do.”