We’re ending the year on a high note! Our board of directors approved $18 million in grants for the month of December, bringing the foundation’s fourth-quarter grantmaking total to $30.7 million and the 2016 total to $91.2 million to date.* Here are a few highlights:

Empowering youth through education

Our December grantmaking includes more than $2.4 million for education, with $1.65 million going to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) for planning, design and start-up of new schools within the district. Get the details here.

In addition, several grants benefit efforts for teacher training and enhanced curriculum in the community, including:

• $350,000 to Teach for America (TFA) to continue the foundation’s support of this program, with the goal of bringing new teachers to Cleveland and developing a pool of potential future education leaders for our city.

• $431,250 in grants to Cleveland State University Foundation supporting two separate initiatives: $171,210 for the Cleveland Foundation Teaching Fellows Program, which aims to be a pipeline for CMSD in attracting and retaining promising teachers in our area, and $260,040 for CSforAll, which aims to provide computer science classes to all CMSD high school students within three years.

• $50,000 to Envision Excellence in STEM Education to fund the creation of a portfolio of computer science curriculum tools and materials to be integrated into CMSD’s K-8 classrooms. 

Promoting community violence prevention efforts

The foundation is continuing its efforts to curb youth violence in our community through two separate grants, totaling nearly $1 million:

• $800,000 to Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland (BGCC) to support the work of the Cleveland Peacemaker’s Alliance (CPA), which BGCC took over management of last December with foundation grant support.

• $180,000 to Partnership for a Safer Cleveland to implement its Impact 25 youth violence prevention strategy, targeting the most at-risk group – youth and young adults ages 15 to 25.

“This month’s grants exemplify the foundation’s ongoing focus on young people and ensuring they are equipped to realize their full potential,” said Ronn Richard, President & CEO of the Cleveland Foundation. “Throughout the past year, and in partnership with our donors, we’re pleased that more than $91 million in grants enhanced the safety, health and overall well-being of all in our community.”

You can learn more about our December grants here.

*Unaudited total. Official total to be announced in the first-quarter of 2017.