The Prince Charitable Trusts is accepting proposals for The Aya Initiative centers around the professional and personal development of Black Chicagoans who are committed to and are nourished by nature and the environment.
Donor Name: Prince Charitable Trusts
State: Illinois
City: Chicago
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/28/2022
Size of the Grant: $2,500-$7,500
Grant Duration: 1 year
Detail:
The grants awarded through the Aya Initiative therefore seek to support Black-led and Black-serving organizations that are actively engaging Chicago neighborhoods/communities and the people who thrive in them. They want to contribute to organizations and their staff whose work is aligned with at least one of the following strategic focus areas:
- Healing the Village: They seek to encourage Black people to engage in self-care/soul-care practices and acquire lifelong skills while moving their bodies in and around nature. Potential activities include but are not limited to: archery, biking, bird watching, camping, fishing, floral arrangement, hiking, ice skating, kayaking, ceremony, running clubs, sailing, and skiing.
- Strengthening the Village: They seek to support activities that help Black-led and Black serving environmental organizations and their staff to connect with opportunities, learn new things that can be shared, remain resilient, and realize their short- and long-term goals. Potential activities include but are not limited to: seek training or other capacity-building opportunities, host workshops, technology upgrades, mentorship, fundraising, intentional collaborations and learning cohorts.
- Amplifying Village Voices: They seek to foster dialogue, build bridges between Black and Brown communities, shape, uplift, and advance our narratives/porch stories, and hold our own accountable. Potential activities include but are not limited to: joint gatherings, informal conversations, advocacy and activism, social media efforts and strategies, print and broadcast journalism, and partnerships between individuals and organizations, and intergenerational dialogues.
- Fostering Village Creativity/Imagination: They seek to celebrate endeavors that envision a future in which water, land, and air nourishes instead of harms Black neighborhoods and people, transforms and transmutes past environmental trauma, and encourages the practice of environmental stewardship across the diaspora. Potential activities include but are not limited to: research innovative ways to increase urban agriculture, performance, art installations, comic books with a special intersectional focus on Afrofuturism, photography exhibits, curriculum development
Funding Information
- Grants are for one year. An organization may only submit one request for funding per year.
- Grants can range in amounts of $2,500 to $7,500.
Eligibility Criteria
- Organizations that are Black-led and Black-serving, responsive to and rooted in a Chicago community, and whose work aligns with at least one of the four focus areas are eligible to apply. If your organization does not have its own 501(c) 3, please provide information for your fiscal agent.
Please note: Current Prince Charitable Trusts grant recipients are not eligible to apply.
For more information, visit Aya Initiative.
