BPI Unveils New Website and Announces Impact Grant Recipients during Black Philanthropy Month

In celebration of August’s Black Philanthropy Month, the Black Philanthropy Initiative (BPI) is excited to announce the public unveiling of its first website (bpiws.org) as well as $5,000 in grants awarded through its Impact Grants program.  

BPI’s new website highlights its research, advocacy, and grantmaking efforts, plus the long-standing accomplishments and generosity of our local Black community. It also offers a digital platform for continuing our community’s conversation and learning around systemic inequities through the data reflected in BPI’s 2018 Rethinking Philanthropy research report.

BPI’s Impact Grants are investments in programs, projects, and initiatives supporting Forsyth County’s Black communities; grantees are local groups and organizations with annual budgets under $150,000. During this grant cycle, BPI requested video proposals from organizations or groups working in one of the four critical areas from its research report: education, jobs and wages, poverty, and civic engagement, or on criminal justice reform or racial justice efforts. BPI prioritized Black-led organizations and programs working within predominately Black neighborhoods (including 27101, 27105, and 27107).

Grants were awarded to:  

• Building Resources in Disadvantaged Groups through Economics and Empowerment (BRIDGE): $1,000 to partner with Winston-Salem Delta Fine Arts Center to offer three financial workshops to Black artists
• H.O.P.E. Dealers Outreach: $1,000 to host peaceful community events that advocate for social justice, provide mentoring in schools and neighborhoods, and address gun violence
• HUSTLE Winston-Salem: $1,000 to host a masterclass on disrupting the bias in fundraising for investments in Black entrepreneurs and businesses
• The Wells Center Inc for Women in Transition: $1,000 to provide mentoring, resources, and job placement assistance to women transitioning out of the criminal justice system

• Whole Man Ministries of NC: $1,000 for materials to renovate a home to provide to a chronically homeless veteran

Awarding these grants during Black Philanthropy Month is especially gratifying for the volunteer-led selection committee. Robert Leak III, chair of BPI’s Grants Committee, notes:

“BPI is excited to invest in Black-led organizations doing important work in local communities of color. Impact Grants are an opportunity for smaller groups and organizations to make impact in their neighborhoods through a wide variety of creative programming.”

BPI’s grants are made possible by the collective pooling of resources from the generous people of Forsyth County to invest in Black-led organizations and support the local Black community. In 2020, BPI provided over $100,000 in grants to local programs and initiatives. Currently, BPI offers two grant programs: Impact Grants and Advancing Equity in Education Grants and will be adding a third grant program focused on Building an Inclusive Economy in Fall 2021.