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IJʿ and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Announce Recipients of Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening Grants

Grants will empower communities of color through funding for voter registration and mobilization, civic engagement, and leadership development in the Deep South

ATLANTA — Today, the(IJʿ) and the (Foundation) announce 68 organizations selected to receive grants through the Vote Your Voice initiative. These grants, called field strengthening grants, are designed to enable organizations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi to expand their voter outreach, civic engagement and leadership development activities in communities of color.

The Foundation and IJʿ launched Vote Your Voice in 2020 as a $30 million initiative to help ensure full voter participation and fair representation for Black communities and other communities of color across the Deep South. The program was later expanded to a 10-year, $100 million initiative, which also includes support for civic engagement activities, leadership development, and organizational capacity building. Grant amounts are based on each applicant's organizational capacity, demonstrated outcomes, proposed scope of work and budget. Typical awards range between $50,000 to $500,000, with a duration of one to three years based on the organization's request.

During this cycle of grant funding, Vote Your Voice focused on organizations working to engage young adults of color across the five key states as well as voters of color in non-metro areas. Among the 2023 grantees are Florida Student Power Alliance, which is building a people-powered Florida, centered through the leadership of young people; Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, which advances the civic engagement of Black women voters; and Poder Latinx, which is mobilizing the Latinx community to become decision-makers in our country's democracy and win on economic, immigrant and environmental issues. A full list of 2023 Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening grantees can be found below.

“We are deeply grateful to the IJʿ for the generous support to scale our nonpartisan civic engagement program across Georgia and Louisiana,” said Leah Qusba, executive director, Action for the Climate Emergency. “This critical funding will allow our organization to reach tens of thousands of our nation's youngest, most diverse voters—and ensure they have everything they need to participate fully in our democracy.”

“We are so excited about this powerful investment which will allow us to continue to build power and a bench of leaders to sustain that power,” said Ashley Shelton, president, founder and CEO of The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “This funding is so powerful because it supports the hardest thing to raise money for which is infrastructure. Infrastructure is critical to growing and sustaining the work and we now have the resources to do just that.”

“Full voter representation means just that—widening the net so that everyone, those who live outside our major cities or hail from communities that historically were prevented from exercising their right to vote—is brought into the democratic process,” said Ayana Gabriel, vice president of Community Impact for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. “The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is proud and excited to partner with the IJʿ in supporting these very worthy organizations, who are dedicated to ensuring that all of us have a seat at the table in this democracy.”

“Voting is foundational to our democracy – and that foundation is under attack across the Deep South,” said Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the IJʿ. “The work of these grantees is paramount to ensuring that the voices of voters of color are heard in the 2024 local and national elections and beyond. Together, we will build a stronger, more inclusive democracy where everyone can thrive.”

2023 Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening Grantees

Alabama

Alabama A&M University Foundation

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice

Alabama Institute for Social Justice

Destiny Driven Inc

Foot Soldiers Park Inc.

Friends of the West End

Limestone County NAACP

The Ordinary People Society

United Women of Color

Florida

904WARD

Alianza Center Inc.

Dream Defenders

Emgage Foundation, INC.

Engage Miami Civic Foundation

Equal Ground

Faith in Florida

Florida For All

Florida Justice Center

Florida Rising Together

Florida Student Power Alliance

Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters Corp.

Hope CommUnity Center

NALEO Educational Fund

Real Women Radio Foundation

State Voices Florida

Georgia

9to5 Georgia

A Better Glynn

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta

Barred Business

Coalition for the People's Agenda

Cobb Collaborative, Inc.

Collective Renaissance Georgia

Common Defense Education Fund

Delta Research and Educational Foundation (Southern Region Delta Sigma Theta Sorority)

Fair Count

GALEO

Georgia Justice Project

Georgia Muslim Voter Project

Latino Community Fund Inc.

Migrant Equity Southeast

Peach Concerned Citizens, Inc

ProGeorgia

RestoreHER US.America

Women on the Rise GA

Louisiana

Operation Restoration

Power Coalition for Equity and Justice

Together Louisiana

Urban League of Louisiana

Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)

Mississippi

Children's Defense Fund

Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable

Mississippi Center for Re-entry

Mississippi NAACP

The Parents' Campaign Research & Education Fund

We Must Vote, Inc

Multi-state

Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote

Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE)

Boat People SOS

Civic Nation

Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People, and Families Movement

Mi Familia Vota Education Fund

Mosaic Changemakers

New Disabled South

Poder Latinx

Progressive Black Men Inc.

Students Learn Students Vote

Urban Strategies

Vot-ER

For more information about the grant recipients and their initiatives, please visit .

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The IJʿ is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.  For more information, visit .

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta inspires and leads the Atlanta region toward equity and shared prosperity for all who call it home. is the Foundation’s strategic ethos, working through a collaborative approach with community stakeholders, donors, nonprofits and others to examine complex challenges the region faces and create solutions that build a thriving region. Started in 1951, the Community Foundation shepherds approximately $1.4 billion in current assets through its 1,000+ donor funds, while simultaneously raising and deploying more than $120 million annually to thousands of nonprofit organizations. For more information visit: or connect with the Foundation via , , and .