I recently wrote about The Rise of Black Educators in Indianapolis. The rise continues thanks to a considerable amount of funding given to education organizations that support Black children, Black teachers, and Black families.
Thanks to a $100 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, The Indianapolis Urban League has partnered with the African American Coalition of Indianapolis and other organizations to launch the Indianapolis African American Quality of Life Initiative . The initiative was announced in August 2020 by National Urban League President Marc Morial. The purpose will be to create place-based initiatives that improve the quality of African Americans in the city and Marion County. The initiative is a historical and monumental opportunity for the city to provide resources and supports to help overcome the impact COVID-19 had, particularly on Black urban committees.
The initiative has five goals:
- Make changes in critical issues such as health, education, housing, and economic development, where African Americans have measurable disparities compared to other citizens.
- To convene people and institutions to envision innovative strategies for addressing destabilizing conditions and life-sapping issues such as homicide, decreasing homeownership, and lack of engagement with available health care services.
- To strengthen and address relationship-building approaches such as reintegrating institutionalized citizens into their families and communities and mending broken relationships and social contracts between African Americans, which work to break social barriers affecting strong family and community life.
- To develop the leadership skills and capacity of all age groups, including churches and community, civic, service, and social organizations.
- To reinvigorate the cultural, spiritual, and value-based foundations of the African American community that have inspired emotional, spiritual, and artistic expression, as well as a sense of identity and self-worth throughout the African American experience.
The summative report highlights the prioritized pillars to justify the investments. Those areas include:
- Business and Entrepreneurship
- Education
- Employment
- Health and Wellness
- Housing and Homeowner
- Leadership and Civic Engagement
Organizations supporting Black children’s education and the Black teachers’ training received funding to advance their work. These organizations, in total, will receive roughly $4 million in funding. The organizations focus areas included professional development, teacher of color recruitment/retention, early childhood education. Some organizations overlap in multiple areas.
Professional Development Focus:
- Teach Plus
- SBC Development Corporation/Purpose of Life Academy
- Eclectic Soul VOICES Corporation
- MelanatED Leaders
- Indiana Council on Educating Students of Color
- New Beginning Indianapolis
- Judah Ministries Inc
- MSD Washington Township
- Educate ME Foundation
- A Learning Bee Academy
- Children’s Policy and Law Initiative of Indiana
Teachers of Color Recruitment/Retention:
- A Learning Bee Academy
- Educate ME Foundation
- MSD Washington Township
- Judah Ministries Inc
- Teach for America
- New Beginning Indianapolis
- MelanatED Leaders
- Indiana University Foundation Inc
- Indiana Black Expo
Early Childhood:
To learn more about the organizations funded outside of education and how much all recipients received visit the website.