Walmart announces $14.3 million in grants to 16 nonprofits

Walmart and its foundation last year pledged to give $100 million over five years through the Center for Racial Equity to address U.S. racial disparities. On Monday (Feb. 1) the retail giant announced $14.3 million in grants to 16 nonprofit organizations to begin meeting the pledge.

The mission of the center is to complement and extend the societal impact of Walmart business initiatives to advance racial equity in the nation’s financial, health, criminal justice and education systems. The first grant distributions will be awarded to the following organizations that focus on health, education and cross-cutting.

American Heart Association, Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund
$5 million that will go to loans and grants to community-based organizations in Atlanta and Chicago who are working to increase access to affordable and healthy food in communities of color.

U.S. Vaccine Adoption Grants
$2.75 million to support organizations working on interventions in and with diverse communities around the United States to increase education, outreach and awareness of COVID-19 vaccines.

Student Freedom Initiative (SFI)
$1 million to provide alternative financing for historically Black college and university (HBCU) juniors and seniors majoring in STEM to help reduce their student loans/debt.

Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ)
$500,000 grant will enable two key components of the HCZ race to connectivity by providing 1,250 low-income students with remote learning equipment and internet access and providing resources to HCZ for policy work that will support sustainable solutions to the digital divide.

Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (The King Center)
$100,000 will help support two programs designed to help participants understand and apply their lives to Dr. King’s six steps and principles of nonviolence as well as the Camp NOW Leadership Academy, a multi-year program that helps low-income youths ages 13-19 experience and prepare for academic and career success.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC)
$2 million will support LISC’s Chicago Project 10X work, a strategy to greatly advance racial equity across health, wealth and opportunity.

Echoing Green (EG)
$1.5 million will help support social entrepreneurs in communities across the U.S. to grow the organizations they lead and to advance their work to address issues related to racial equity.

Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE)
$1 million will strengthen ABFE’s capacity to coordinate people, information, investments and practices that advance racial equity.

PolicyLink
$500,000 will help support the launch of the Racial Equity through Corporate Actions Initiative, which will drive the creation and adoption of corporate standards on racial equity that will be freely available to companies.