From helping single parents get their degrees to tackling homelessness, these Black-led nonprofits are transforming their communities. Support them this Black History Month and beyond!
Photo: H.O.P.E.
Kenita Smith started H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People be Empowered) based on her life story. Despite wanting to be a doctor from the age of 6, Kenita faced roadblock after roadblock on her journey to becoming a nurse practitioner as a single mother. Now, Kenita is helping other single parents access the resources she couldn’t through H.O.P.E. The black-led nonprofit offers Black single parents in Atlanta supportive services like financial assistance for childcare and life skills training to ensure they can graduate with college degrees.
Photo: The National Coalition for the Homeless
Most people of color living in the United States, especially Black and Indigenous people, experience homelessness at higher rates than white Americans. Why? Most experts point to the lingering effects of historical and structural racism as the primary explanation. That’s why The National Coalition for the Homeless takes an advocacy-based approach to end homelessness. Donations help strengthen their movement led by people who have experienced homelessness, including their current Executive Director, Donald Whitehead Jr.
Photo: Pointters Community Initiative
Pointters Community Initiative, led by Dimeji Tomori, was formed to build a more inclusive, equitable community in Wisconsin’s Fox Valley. They stepped up in huge ways during the COVID-19 pandemic—which disproportionately impacted Black communities across the US—by providing job training, mental health support, and financial assistance to 250 single Black mothers.
Photo: CAN I LIVE, INC
CAN I LIVE’s mission is to advance affordable housing, economic inclusion, and personal responsibility through education, civic engagement, and entrepreneurship. Formed by Racquel Williams-Jones, who speaks openly about the emotional wounds the welfare system left on her, CAN I LIVE addresses those challenges through research, education, career training, and policy changes.
Photo: Legacy Institute for Financial Education
Legacy Institute for Financial Education (L.I.F.E.) works to empower economically disadvantaged minority communities by teaching financial literacy, creating economic stability, and building generational wealth. The social enterprise LIFE Tech, which trains the next generation of IT technicians in Deep East Texas, operates under L.I.F.E. to provide apprenticeship programs, training, and digital services. LIFE Tech is a member of The Rural Digital Equity Network, a network of more than 20 community-based organizations, which allows L.I.F.E. to increase capacity and meet the IT needs of its community.
Photo: Career Girls
Career Girls is one of the largest girl-focused online career knowledgebases in the world that equips girls with inspiration and resources to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, math, and beyond. Their project, Close the Imagination Gap for Girls Worldwide, provides girls—primarily BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color)—with resources to help prepare for and reach the career of their dreams. Executive Director Aisha Ali and her Career Girls staff are dedicated to youth empowerment and inclusivity, promoting collaboration among students from various backgrounds.
Photo: IlluminXation Inc
IlluminXation Inc is illuminating the minds of the next generation of students through engaging experiential learning. Its project, Help 500 USA Students Excel in STEAM, utilizes IlluminXation’s award-winning programs to help marginalized and underserved students who are struggling in school. IlluminXation organizes programs and events that enhance students’ education in the STEM and STEAM fields, including special events led by Dr. Nadine S. James, President and CEO of IlluminXation.
Photo: Ms. Foundation for Women
The Ms. Foundation for Women was formed as a vehicle to build women’s collective power in the US by investing in women-led movements, particularly those by women of color. The foundation was one of the first funders of domestic violence shelters and sexual assault hotlines in the 1970s. Today, this Black-led nonprofit continues to support organizations working to end all forms of gender-based violence and works at the intersection of race and gender with Teresa C. Younger as President and CEO.
When you support organizations like these Black-led nonprofits, you support the work that is constructing a better tomorrow for communities.
Featured Photo: Support Black Lives in Atlanta Through Education by H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People be Empowered)Find exactly what you're looking for in our Learn Library by searching for specific words or phrases related to the content you need.
