News

Racial equity fund awards $200K to 29 Alexandria nonprofits and leaders

By James Cullum
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ACT for Alexandria’s Fund for Racial Equity has awarded more than $200,000 in grants to 29 local organizations and individuals, the organization announced in a new report.

The nonprofit created the fund in 2020 and established a resident community advisory board to lead grantmaking in 2024. The advisory board led three rounds of grantmaking over the next two years, awarding flexible, unrestricted grants to the organizations and individuals, according to ACT for Alexandria’s A Journey in Hope report.

“The Fund for Racial Equity wasn’t just about making grants, it was about sharing power,” said Heather Peeler, CEO of ACT for Alexandria. “By trusting community members to make funding decisions, we demonstrated that the strongest solutions emerge when residents have a meaningful voice in shaping investments in their own community. The lessons from this work continue to influence how ACT partners with the community and how we pursue lasting change.”

The grants were distributed amid “increased urgency and challenge amid sustained attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion, reductions in nonprofit funding, unprecedented reductions in the federal workforce, and increased targeting of immigrant neighbors,” ACT for Alexandria said.

ACT for Alexandria is now looking to raise $75,000 for the Fund for Racial Equity’s next round.

“We invite everyone who shares this vision to join us in supporting The Fund, so every member of our community has the opportunity to thrive, feel a sense of belonging, and shape a more just and equitable Alexandria for generations to come,” Peeler said.

ACT for Alexandria Fund for Racial Equity grant impacts (via ACT for Alexandria)

Grantees of the fund include:

  • Alexandria City High School Athletics
  • Alexandria NAACP
  • ALIVE!
  • Charles E. Beatley, Jr. Central Library
  • Carpenter’s Shelter
  • Casa Chirilagua
  • Center for Alexandria’s Children
  • Community Lodgings
  • Concerned Citizens Network of Alexandria
  • Friends of Guest House
  • Hispanics Against Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Inspira Dance
  • Maria Rodriguez
  • Marsha Banks-Harold
  • Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid
  • Muslims for Just Futures
  • National Community Pharmacists Association Foundation
  • Northern Virginia Family Service
  • NOVA Community Spelling Bee
  • Parent Educational Advocacy Training Center (PEATC)
  • Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington
  • Restoration Immigration Legal Aid
  • Senior Services of Alexandria
  • Tenants and Workers United
  • The Campagna Center
  • Together We Bake
  • Wesley Housing

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.