SPLC and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta Announce Recipients of Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening Grants

ATLANTA — Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (Foundation) announce 68 organizations selected to receive grants through the Vote Your Voice initiative. These grants, called field strengthening grants, are designed to enable organizations in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi to expand their voter outreach, civic engagement and leadership development activities in communities of color.

The Foundation and SPLC launched Vote Your Voice in 2020 as a $30 million initiative to help ensure full voter participation and fair representation for Black communities and other communities of color across the Deep South. The program was later expanded to a 10-year, $100 million initiative, which also includes support for civic engagement activities, leadership development, and organizational capacity building. Grant amounts are based on each applicant's organizational capacity, demonstrated outcomes, proposed scope of work and budget. Typical awards range between $50,000 to $500,000, with a duration of one to three years based on the organization's request. 

During this cycle of grant funding, Vote Your Voice focused on organizations working to engage young adults of color across the five key states as well as voters of color in non-metro areas. Among the 2023 grantees are Florida Student Power Alliance, which is building a people-powered Florida, centered through the leadership of young people; Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable, which advances the civic engagement of Black women voters; and Poder Latinx, which is mobilizing the Latinx community to become decision-makers in our country's democracy and win on economic, immigrant and environmental issues. A full list of 2023 Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening grantees can be found below. 

“We are deeply grateful to the Southern Poverty Law Center for the generous support to scale our nonpartisan civic engagement program across Georgia and Louisiana,” said Leah Qusba, executive director, Action for the Climate Emergency. “This critical funding will allow our organization to reach tens of thousands of our nation's youngest, most diverse voters—and ensure they have everything they need to participate fully in our democracy.” 

“We are so excited about this powerful investment which will allow us to continue to build power and a bench of leaders to sustain that power,” said Ashley Shelton, president, founder and CEO of The Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. “This funding is so powerful because it supports the hardest thing to raise money for which is infrastructure. Infrastructure is critical to growing and sustaining the work and we now have the resources to do just that.”

“Full voter representation means just that—widening the net so that everyone, those who live outside our major cities or hail from communities that historically were prevented from exercising their right to vote—is brought into the democratic process,” said Ayana Gabriel, vice president of Community Impact for the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. “The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta is proud and excited to partner with the SPLC in supporting these very worthy organizations, who are dedicated to ensuring that all of us have a seat at the table in this democracy.” 

“Voting is foundational to our democracy – and that foundation is under attack across the Deep South,” said Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “The work of these grantees is paramount to ensuring that the voices of voters of color are heard in the 2024 local and national elections and beyond. Together, we will build a stronger, more inclusive democracy where everyone can thrive.” 

2023 Vote Your Voice Field Strengthening Grantees 

Alabama 

Alabama A&M University Foundation 

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice 

Alabama Institute for Social Justice 

Destiny Driven Inc 

Foot Soldiers Park Inc. 

Friends of the West End 

Limestone County NAACP 

The Ordinary People Society 

United Women of Color 

Florida 

904WARD 

Alianza Center Inc. 

Dream Defenders 

Emgage Foundation, INC. 

Engage Miami Civic Foundation 

Equal Ground 

Faith in Florida 

Florida For All 

Florida Justice Center 

Florida Rising Together 

Florida Student Power Alliance

Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters Corp. 

Hope CommUnity Center 

NALEO Educational Fund 

Real Women Radio Foundation 

State Voices Florida 

Georgia 

9to5 Georgia 

A Better Glynn 

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta 

Barred Business 

Coalition for the People's Agenda 

Cobb Collaborative, Inc. 

Collective Renaissance Georgia 

Common Defense Education Fund 

Delta Research and Educational Foundation (Southern Region Delta Sigma Theta Sorority) 

Fair Count 

GALEO 

Georgia Justice Project 

Georgia Muslim Voter Project 

Latino Community Fund Inc. 

Migrant Equity Southeast 

Peach Concerned Citizens, Inc 

ProGeorgia 

RestoreHER US.America 

Women on the Rise GA 

Louisiana  

Operation Restoration 

Power Coalition for Equity and Justice 

Together Louisiana 

Urban League of Louisiana 

Voice of the Experienced (VOTE) 

Mississippi 

Children's Defense Fund 

Mississippi Black Women's Roundtable 

Mississippi Center for Re-entry 

Mississippi NAACP 

The Parents' Campaign Research & Education Fund 

We Must Vote, Inc 

Multi-state 

Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote 

Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) 

Boat People SOS 

Civic Nation 

Formerly Incarcerated, Convicted People, and Families Movement 

Mi Familia Vota Education Fund 

Mosaic Changemakers

New Disabled South 

Poder Latinx 

Progressive Black Men Inc. 

Students Learn Students Vote 

Urban Strategies 

Vot-ER 

For more information about the grant recipients and their initiatives, please visit www.splcenter.org/vote-your-voice.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.  For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta inspires and leads the Atlanta region toward equity and shared prosperity for all who call it home. TogetherATL is the Foundation’s strategic ethos, working through a collaborative approach with community stakeholders, donors, nonprofits and others to examine complex challenges the region faces and create solutions that build a thriving region. Started in 1951, the Community Foundation shepherds approximately $1.4 billion in current assets through its 1,000+ donor funds, while simultaneously raising and deploying more than $120 million annually to thousands of nonprofit organizations. For more information visit: cfgreateratlanta.org or connect with the Foundation via Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.