The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced its first round of Racial Equity Grants with Clark Atlanta University’s Executive Leadership Institute being one of the organizations included in the grant dissemination to receive $1 Million.
The effort supports organizations leading the way to advance racial equity, diversity and inclusion. The grant recipients are led by, or work in support of, communities of color and focus on cultivating leaders, tackling outcome disparities, shaping policies, and advancing institutional change. These grants are part of a five-year, $500 million investment CZI announced in December 2020.
“The Executive Leadership Institute at Clark Atlanta University is at the forefront of addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. Gifts like this help to sustain the future of HBCUs which depend on the quality and training of those who will lead them,” said President George T. French Jr., Ph.D. “The grant will support the Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) at Clark Atlanta University (CAU), which in turn develops strong executive leaders who serve as change agents ultimately preparing African-American students to leave their respective HBCUs educated, and equipped to be globally competitive and change the world.”
“I want to commend Dr. Priscilla Chan and Ms. Belinda Stubblefield of CZI for their work to provide equitable opportunities for Historically Black Colleges and Universities,” said Dr. Phyllis Worthy Dawkins, former President of Bennett College and Project Director of the HBCU ELI at CAU. “The funds will be used to implement the HBCU Executive Leadership Institute at Clark Atlanta University, which is uniquely designed to provide competencies, skills, and dispositions that aspiring Presidents and executive-level administrators need to be successful.” Some scholarship dollars are now available.
While CZI has made key investments since its founding five years ago, the organization has embarked on an enterprise-wide effort to more consistently and systematically apply a racial equity lens to its grantmaking.
“Embedding a racial equity lens across CZI’s philanthropic areas of focus will help us drive the impact and results that we are all working to achieve,” said Belinda Stubblefield, CZI’s Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. “As part of this critical work, we are engaging changemakers, community members, and movement builders with deep expertise and lived experience as partners, helping to shape our strategies and actions. We are dedicated to this work for the long term.”
By the end of this year, CZI will award $30 million in grants to organizations working to advance racial equity, diversity and inclusion. The initial grantees are:
The Anti-Racism and Intersectional Justice Fund
Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC
Borealis Philanthropy
Echoing Green
Futuro Media Group
Grantmakers for Girls of Color
HBCU Executive Leadership Institute housed at Clark Atlanta University
Othering & Belonging Institute
Pew Research Center’s new national study – Giving Voice to a Changing America: Chronicling the Immigration and Integration Experiences of Asian-Americans
Seventh Generation Fund
For more information about CZI’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, visit here.
