Texas non-profits receive Goldman Sachs Grants

Two Texas-area non-profit organizations have been chosen to receive Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women Impact Grants. Black Mamas ATX, led by Kelenne Blake-Fallon, and South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation, led by Diane  Ragsdale, were the two non-profits selected to receive grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 over two years.

Black Mamas ATX’s mission is to ensure that Black women survive and thrive before, during and after childbirth. We envision a world without maternal health disparities. Therefore, our goal is to reduce and ultimately eliminate the alarming maternal mortality and morbidity rates among Black mothers in Central Texas. With effective collaborative partnerships and through culturally-congruent programs, training, outreach, and research, BMATX is leading the charge in Central Texas to improve Black maternal health and wellbeing over the childbearing spectrum.

South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation’s mission is to create a stable, safe and vibrant South Dallas/Fair Park community by building partnerships that provide homeownership opportunities, job training, economic development, community education and advocacy.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) recently announced 50 recipients of the Black Women Impact grants program, part of its One Million Black Women initiative, to fund Black women-led and Black women-serving nonprofits. 

The 50 organizations were selected from over 800 applicants based on their established efforts to deliver innovative and transformative solutions to narrow opportunity gaps faced by Black women. Each grantee will receive two years of general operating funding, ranging from $50,000-$250,000. A total of $10 million will be invested through the multi-year program. 

“We know one of the best ways to create a more inclusive economy is to invest in Black women,” said David Solomon, Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO. “From our listening sessions, we’ve learned just how transformative Black women-led nonprofits have been for communities, and now we’re going to spotlight these organizations and give their leaders the resources they need to increase their impact.”

Goldman Sachs’ research Black Womenomics cites limited access to capital as one of the largest barriers for Black women starting businesses and organizations. 

Through a series of 50 listening sessions with over 20,000 Black women, a lack of access to unrestricted, multi-year funding was cited as a persistent challenge facing nonprofit leaders. The Black Women Impact grants program is designed to directly address this need.

“We have listened and learned that Black women-led nonprofits need access to general operating, multi-year funding to scale their nonprofit organizations,” said Asahi Pompey, President of the Goldman Sachs Foundation. “We were inspired by the work of these 50 dynamic leaders and are thrilled to deliver funding as they continue to build sustainable organizations, driving lasting change within their communities.”

“For over a decade, our approach to driving market based solutions focuses on allocation of capital in all forms and funding to address root causes of income inequality to drive opportunity,” said Dina Powell McCormick, Global Head of Sustainability and Inclusive Growth at Goldman Sachs. “The Black Women Impact grant recipients have demonstrated, through data and direct insights, that they have developed solutions to narrow opportunity gaps and positively impact communities across the country. 

The following organizations will receive grants and represent organizations across the country:

• Aurora St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, led by Dr. Deborah Mitchell (Minnesota)
• Bethesda Center for the Homeless, led by Ashley Martin (North Carolina)
• Black Education for New Orleans, led by Adrinda Kelly (Louisiana)
• Black Girl Health Foundation Inc., led by Porcha Grigsby (Maryland)
• Black Girls Smile Inc., led by Lauren Carson (Georgia)
• Black Mamas ATX, led by Kelenne Blake-Fallon (Texas)
• Black Women Build – Baltimore, Inc., led by Shelley Halstead (Maryland)
• Build in Tulsa, led by Ashli Sims (Oklahoma)
• Butterfly Dreamz, Inc., led by Joy Lindsay (New Jersey)
• Chicago South Side Birth Center, led by Jeanine Valrie Logan (Illinois)
• Cohort Sistas, led by Ijeoma Kola (Indiana)
• Cool Girls, Inc., Tanya Egins (Georgia)
• Cornerstone Corporation, led by Monique Thomas (Missouri)
• Custom Collaborative, led by Ngozi Okaro (New York)
• Drive Change, Inc., led by Kalilah Moon (New York)
• Educating Young Minds, led by Angeles Echols (California)
• Fifth Star Funds, led by Stella Ashaolu (Illinois)
• Finance Savvy CEO Foundation, led by Marguerite Pressley Davis (Georgia)
• Garwyn Oaks Northwest Housing Resource Center, led by Mereida Goodman (Maryland)
• H.O.P.E, Inc. (Helping Other People be Empowered), led by Kenita Smith (Georgia)
• Habitat for Humanity DeKalb, led by Sharon Steele (Georgia)
• Hannibal Square Community Land Trust, Inc., led by Camille Reynolds Lewis (Florida)
• HeartSmiles, led by Joni Holifield (Maryland)
• Hope for Youth, Inc. (HYPE), led by Kristina Newton (Georgia)
• Inspiring Minds Greater Philadelphia, led by Andrea Garner (Pennsylvania)
• Increasing H.O.P.E. Financial Training Center, led by Dorothea Bernique (South Carolina)
• ICE Mentors (Eryn PiNK Girl Empowerment), led by Eryn Hathaway (Ohio)
• LEAD Girls of NC, led by Joy Nelson Thomas (North Carolina)
• Mama Glow Foundation, led by Latham Thomas (New York)
• MOMCares, led by Ana Rodney (Maryland)
• Narrative Nation Inc. led by Kimberly Seals Allers (New York)
• Okionu Birth Foundation, led by Jacquelyn Clemmons (Colorado)
• Paradigm for Parity, led by Sandra Quince (New York)
• Partners In Equity, led by Janice Sherman (Georgia)
• PIVOT Inc., led by Veronica Jackson (Maryland)
• Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program, led by Kelly Fair (Illinois)
• Pursuit of Innovation (Pi515), led by Nancy Mwirotsi (Iowa)
• Seeds of Fortune Inc., led by Nitiya Walker (New York)
• SistasCaring4Sistas, led by Cindy McMillan, Wakina Robertson, and Nikita Smart (North Carolina)
• Soul 2 Soul Sisters (S2SS), led by Rev. Tawana Angela Davis, MDiv., MA, PhD and Rev. Dr. Dawn Riley Duval (Colorado)
• South Dallas Fair Park Innercity Community Development Corporation, led by Diane  Ragsdale (Texas)
• The Aux (fiscal agent: The Growing Season), led by Tosha Wilson (Illinois)
• The BRidge Agency, INC, led by Nicole Scott (Louisiana)
• Therapeutic Play Foundation, led by Nakeya  T. Fields (California)
• TOPPS – Targeting Our People’s Priorities with Service, led by Annette Dove (Arkansas)
• TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance, led by Ricki Fairley and Valarie Worthy (Maryland)
• Upton Planning Committee, led by Wanda G. Best (Maryland)
• Village of Healing, led by Tenisha Gaines and Da’na M. Langford (Ohio)
• We2gether Creating Change, led by Gloria Dickerson (Mississippi)
• YesSheCanCampaign, led by Zaniya Lewis (New Jersey)

“Black women have always been core to driving social change to support and elevate their communities; and they have done so with limited financial resources,” said Melanie Campbell, President and CEO of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable. “This grant program not only supports these 50 dynamic Black women leaders, it sends a signal to the broader business and philanthropic community that it is long overdue for Black women’s leadership to be invested in and have more seats at the tables of power and influence, which is a smart business decision to grow and strengthen the economy for our nation.”

Of the selected organizations, all are led by a Black woman and have multiple Black women in significant positions of leadership. Grantee organizations are directly focused on advancing One Million Black Women pillar areas including: healthcare, job creation and workforce development, education, affordable housing, digital connectivity, financial health, and access to capital. 

Learn more about the Black Women Impact grants program and the 50 recipients.

About One Million Black Women 
In partnership with Black-women-led organizations, financial institutions and other partners, Goldman Sachs has committed $10 billion in direct investment capital and $100 million in philanthropic capital over the next decade to address the dual disproportionate gender and racial biases that Black women have faced for generations, which have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. The initiative, One Million Black Women, is named for and guided by the goal of impacting the lives of at least one million Black women by 2030. Goldman Sachs’ research Black Womenomics has shown that sustained investments in Black women will catalyze economic growth, making for not only a fairer, but also a richer society. 

About Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services across investment banking, securities, investment management and consumer banking to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.