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Community Foundation Receives $20K Consumers Energy Foundation Grant

[Photo credit: Inland Seas Education Association // Image description: Four individuals on an Inland Seas ship, with an Inland Seas representative standing to the right of them, wearing a pirate hat and also smiling.]

The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation has received a $20,000 grant from the Consumers Energy Foundation to support diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across the region. Grant funds will be allocated to the Community Foundation’s DEI Fund, which primarily provides support for organizations led by Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+, immigrant, neurodiverse, and/or disabled community members.

This grant is part of $100,000 awarded by the Consumers Energy Foundation to support five community foundations across Michigan who are directly working with local organizations actively engaged in DEI initiatives.

“The Consumers Energy Foundation is committed to creating equitable, sustainable change by supporting social justice initiatives throughout Michigan, and we’re excited to partner with the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation to advance DEI initiatives in the area,” said Carolyn Bloodworth, Secretary/Treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation.

Since its inception in the summer of 2021, the Community Foundation’s DEI Fund has awarded more than $40,000 in grants to organizations across Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, and Leelanau Counties. The Foundation continues to accept donations to the DEI Fund and gifts can be made online: www.gtrcf.org/supportDEI.

“Receiving the Consumers Energy Foundation’s support for our DEI Fund shows us that equity and inclusion are a priority across sectors,” said Alison Metiva, Chief Operating Officer at the Community Foundation. “With this grant, we will be able to continue awarding up to $10,000 per upcoming DEI Fund grant cycle, including this fall and winter.”

In addition to donations, DEI Fund grant applications are currently being accepted, with grant awards up to $2,500 per organization available. Nonprofit, educational, governmental, and Tribal entities across the five-county region are eligible to apply by submitting an online application at www.gtrcf.org/grants/apply by 11:59 pm on September 1, 2022.