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 .