Click Here to Give to the Cleveland Black Futures Fund
The Cleveland Black Futures Fund has amassed more than $6.8 million since inception on Sept. 1, 2020, to invest in and strengthen Black-led and Black-serving social change organizations.
updated aug. 28, 2023, 9 A.m. EST
About the Fund
In 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic, we bore witness to what is believed to be the largest civil rights movement in the history of the United States. As more people across our community and our country engage in a long overdue reckoning with the ugly reality of structural racism in America, many of us are thinking about our experiences and roles in this reality – individually and collectively.
In the field of philanthropy, we must be honest about our historic shortcomings in addressing the devastating racial disparities that so directly impact our work. The Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) has reported on the significant inequities that exist within the national philanthropic field at a time when outcomes and disparities for Black children, families and neighborhoods in many areas have widened.
While structural racism is a problem affecting our entire country, the movement for Black lives has resonated in Greater Cleveland for deeply local reasons. According to 2018 research from The Center for Community Solutions, Black residents in Cleveland are more likely to experience higher rates of infant mortality and childhood poverty, be overrepresented in the criminal justice system, be disproportionately represented in lower wage occupations and have shorter life expectancies – all of which cross socioeconomic boundaries.
The Cleveland Foundation and our donors have invested hundreds of millions of dollars to improve education, housing, job opportunities and access to healthcare in our community. And while these investments have improved the quality of life for individuals and families in Greater Cleveland, they have not yet eliminated the disparities that exist along racial lines. More than 50 years after the Fair Housing Act, our city remains one of the most racially segregated in the nation – both geographically and in terms of educational, economic and health outcomes – among other measures.
The launch of the Cleveland Black Futures Fund, seeded with $2.5 million to invest in and strengthen Black-led and Black-serving social change organizations, is just one step in what must be a long-term community-wide effort to dismantle racist systems that have made communities of color vulnerable for generations. As the Greater Cleveland community’s foundation, it is incumbent upon us to respond to the place where the need is greatest, and there is no doubt that the need is great in Cleveland’s Black community. With the understanding that those who are closest to the problem are often closest to the solution, the fund will elevate specific interventions to strengthen the ecosystem of Black leaders and Black-serving organizations in Greater Cleveland by providing intentional resources to help grow organizational infrastructure and capacity. Long-term, the foundation aims to deepen the field of leaders working to dismantle systemic racism and advance the community toward racial equity.
The Cleveland Black Futures Fund builds on the ongoing work of the African American Philanthropy Committee of the Cleveland Foundation (AAPC), which has promoted awareness and education about the benefits of wealth and community preservation through philanthropy since 1993. Established in 2010, the African American Philanthropy Committee Legacy Fund supports a variety of organizations within the African American community of Greater Cleveland. The Cleveland Black Futures Fund will complement the impact of the AAPC and its Legacy Fund, offering an additional pool of resources to support the Black community in Greater Cleveland.
The Cleveland Foundation recognizes that racial inequity is not a simple Black-white divide. However, the needs of various racial and ethnic communities are too vast for one fund to address. The effects of systemic racism on non-Black communities of color must be addressed through interventions that are designed and tailored to the specific needs of each community. As we launch the Black Futures Fund, we are laying the groundwork for future population-specific strategies to address the needs of other ethnic and racial communities in Greater Cleveland.
The launch of the Cleveland Black Futures Fund represents a new and more intentionally anti-racist approach in the Cleveland Foundation’s work, a direction that is necessary if we wish to move our entire community forward. We do not yet have all the answers, but we will continue to listen, learn and act. We hope you will join us.
Announcing the fourth round of grantmaking from the Cleveland Black Futures Fund
The Cleveland Foundation and its partners have announced nearly $1.4 million to 36 Black-led and Black-serving nonprofit organizations in Greater Cleveland:
- 10K Movement ($25,000)
- Art of Me Productions ($25,000)
- Black Child Development Institute – Cleveland ($25,000)
- Black Diamonds Cheer and Dance Academy ($25,000)
- The Cleveland Observer ($75,000)
- CollectivExpress Inc. ($50,000)
- Collinwood Cobras Inc. ($25,000)
- David’s Challenge Ohio Young Achievers ($25,000)
- DNA Rising ($25,000)
- Duffy Liturgical Dance Ensemble ($25,000)
- Environmental Health Watch ($25,000)
- 50,000)
- Foluké Cultural Arts Center, Inc. ($50,000)
- Gilmore Girls Greetings Foundation ($75,000)
- Greater Cleveland Congregations ($25,000)
- Hands-On Health ($15,000)
- I’m In Transition Ministries ($50,000)
- Imagine Your Victory ($50,000)
- Integrity Development and Rehabilitation Center ($25,000)
- Jarvis Gibson Foundation ($15,000)
- Jordan Community Resource Center ($100,000)
- Larchmere Porchfest ($25,000)
- Mended Inc. ($25,000)
- The Missing Link, COPE Inc. ($50,000)
- The New Community ($25,000)
- Ohio Sister Circle ($50,000)
- The Phe’be Foundation ($75,000)
- Pipeline To God Communications, Inc. ($50,000)
- PolicyBridge ($25,000)
- Pregnant with Possibilities Resource Center ($50,000)
- Queen IAM ($75,000)
- Removing The Stigma ($25,000)
- The Tavern Coffee House ($25,000)
- Tender Heart Crusades ($15,000)
- We Think 4 a Change ($15,000)
- Young Leaders Program ($25,000)
- Young Men Growing ($50,000)
Celebrating Cleveland Black Futures Fund Round 1 Grantees
Recipients of first-round funding from the Cleveland Foundation’s Cleveland Black Futures Fund share how their grants helped them make an impact in the community.
Cleveland Black Futures Fund grantee partners
Check out our blog series to learn more about what these organizations are doing to support Black lives in Greater Cleveland.
Subscribe to the Cleveland Black Futures Fund E-Newsletter
Want to learn more about racial equity initiatives in Greater Cleveland? Check out our Racial Equity e-newsletter archive:
Latest News
AUG 28, 2023
feb. 1, 2023
Cleveland Black Futures Fund announces $1 million to 42 nonprofits in its third round of grantmaking
july 11, 2022
Cleveland Black Futures Fund releases third RFP, application portal opens August 1, 2022
May 2, 2022
June 29, 2021
Cleveland Black Futures Fund announces nearly $2 million in grants
jan. 21, 2021
Cleveland Black Futures Fund releases RFP, application portal opens Jan. 25
Dec. 11, 2020
Facebook awards $1 million to Cleveland Black Futures Fund
sept. 1, 2020
Cleveland Foundation announces creation of Cleveland Black Futures Fund
Advisory Committee
The Cleveland Black Futures Fund advisory committee guides the application parameters and grantmaking process for the fund. The seven-person group is comprised of community leaders working alongside foundation representatives:
- Carrie Carpenter, Board Member, Cleveland Foundation
- The Rev. Dr. Robin Hedgeman, Board Member, Cleveland Foundation
- Constance Hill-Johnson, Board Member, Cleveland Foundation
- Treye Johnson, Regional Outreach Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland
- Shanelle Smith Whigham, Vice President, Sustainability & Social Impact, KeyBank
- Timothy L. Tramble Sr., President & CEO, Saint Luke’s Foundation
Cleveland Black Futures Fund
Radio One town hall
The town hall broadcast live Feb. 11 on the Z107.9, 93.1 WZAK and Praise 94.5 Facebook pages and on YouTube and explored how the Cleveland Black Futures Fund will be supporting the capacity of Cleveland-based nonprofit organizations that are both Black-led and Black-serving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cleveland Foundation Racial Equity Historic Milestones
Looking to learn?
Visit our blog for a list of anti-racism resources.
Learn how the Cleveland Foundation is taking steps to promote racial equity through financial operations and structures here.
Learn how the Cleveland Foundation is leveraging its portfolio to build diverse representation in the investment industry here.