FBB announces new procedures for small grant awardees

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Our current small grant awardees were announced along with our first quarter slate in January. We are thrilled to feature two fantastic organizations that are often looking for funds to keep their programs running. Here are our Q1 2014 small grant awardees:

Women’s Leadership Project (WLP) is a feminist humanist college prep mentoring program for girls of color in South L.A. high schools. WLP fills a vacuum in a school district that has few programs that specifically address the intersection of sexism, racism, misogyny, and heterosexism in the lives of young women of color. The majority of their students will be first-generation college students. The WLP college-prep curriculum sends girls of color to four-year colleges and universities at above-average rates.

Leo Igwe Research Project: Many women in Ghana accused of witchcraft by their community have also endured torture and beatings. Stripped of their belongings and shunned by family and friends, they are often unable to get medical treatment for their injuries or to ensure their own safety from further harm. Nigerian humanist Leo Igwe, who is currently fighting witchcraft accusations in Ghana, has created a victims’ fund to provide initial support for these women. Foundation Beyond Belief is proud of its ongoing commitment to supporting this fund.

The funds to support small grants come from our members who mark greatest need when allocating their donations. This amount is distributed to both small grant awardees and to beneficiaries in our five giving categories.

When we started announcing small grant awards with our quarter launches, we heard criticism that we were moving away from our mission to feature five beneficiaries every quarter. In a review of this program, Foundation Beyond Belief staff agreed. Therefore, we set a new procedure to recommend and evaluate organizations for small grants.

At this time, potential small grant awardees will be nominated by Foundation Beyond Belief staff and our Board of Directors. Recommendations will be made to the board for final selection when a strong candidate is identified. Some quarters, we may give one or two awards, while other quarters we will give no awards. By the end of each calendar year, we will distribute the small grant allotted funds to phenomenal small organizations.

Small grants awards will now be announced at the end of each quarter (when there are small grant awardees to announce). In the meantime, we congratulate Women’s Leadership Project and the Leo Igwe Research Project for receiving the Q1 2014 small grant awards.