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We are Honored to Present Our 2022 KABF Grant Recipients!
Get Out The Vote
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“You wouldn't let your grandparents pick your playlist. Why would you let them pick your representative who's going to determine your future?" — Barack Obama, Former U.S. President KABF continues its efforts to empower the disenfranchised. We wanted to support not only Equality Arizona again, but the following organizations who are doing their best to get out the vote: Pennsylvania Alliance Foundation, Law Forward, New Georgia Project, and Rural Arizona Engagement. We applaud all their hard work and are grateful for all they do! For more information on these vital organizations, click on their names above. |
Equality Arizona at Phoenix Pride, 2019
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5 Gyres
SEAChange 2015, Marcus Eriksen, Photo By Sergio Izquierdo
"Industrial pollution and the discarding of plastic waste must be tackled for the sake of all life in the ocean.” — Sir David Attenborough
KABF was happy to once again support 5 Gyres, whose mission is to “empower action against the global health crisis of plastic pollution through science, education, and advocacy.” We are grateful to 5 Gyres for their efforts to educate about the alarming amount of plastics produced from oil and gas that contribute to climate change and end up in our oceans.
For more information on 5 Gyres, click here.
Global Giving Foundation Ukraine Relief
“It's a victory when the weapons fall silent and people speak up.” — Volodymyr Zelenskyy
After Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, KABF wanted to support the Ukrainian people and chose to give a grant to the Global Giving Foundation, a nonprofit that connects donors and companies to nonprofits that work in local communities doing good throughout the world.
They have been making a global impact for over 20 years. As they explain on their website: “Since 2002, we've helped trusted, community-led organizations from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (and hundreds of places in between) access the tools, training, and support they need to make our world a better place.”
For more information on Global Giving Foundation Ukraine Relief, click here.
Central Valley Workers Center
Pedro Ramirez, CVWC President and Co-Director
"Su Voto Es Su Voz" ("Your Vote is your Voice") — Willie Velásquez, voting rights activist, posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1995
When Trump won the 2016 presidential election Democrats realized that sitting on the sidelines and hoping elected officials would do what’s best for ordinary Americans was no longer an option. Many, like our friend Janie Frank, took it upon themselves to do as much as possible to elect competent, caring people to public office. She organized parties and invited friends and neighbors to eat, drink and write postcards reminding people to vote. She made hundreds of calls and sent thousands of texts. It paid off with the White House, House of Representatives and the US Senate turning blue in 2020.
Fast forward to 2022. In addition to her ongoing Get-Out-The-Vote efforts, Janie joined a group of like-minded others who came together to work in California’s Central Valley, two hundred miles from her San Francisco home. They met Pedro Ramirez, president and co-director of the Central Valley Workers Center (CVWC) and learned how to doorbell and canvass with undecided voters. Janie told us that a major focus of CVWC is to organize your community to do person-to-person outreach. She learned from Ramirez that that is the most effective way to build an inclusive society and an empowered democracy.
Click here to read more about Central Valley Workers Center.
Somos Votantes
Somos Votantes members participating in Latino Lobby Day in Nevada
“If people don’t vote, everything stays the same. You can protest until the sky turns yellow or the moon turns blue, and it's not going to change anything if you don’t vote.” — Dolores Huerta
The Kelly Ann Brown Foundation’s focus in 2022 continues to be helping organizations with voter engagement in underrepresented communities. KABF was excited to learn about the nonprofit Somos Votantes, which means We Are Voters. Melissa Morales is the founder and president. She recently sent KABF an update to let us know that her organization is now, “THE largest independent Latino voter engagement program in the country!”
Morales credits her organization’s success to their realization that voters want more than to see political candidates right before an election asking for their votes. Somos Votantes builds lasting relationships to engage continual voter turnout.
Click here to read more about Somos Votantes.
Origin ReGroup
“The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.” — Wilma Mankiller, activist, community organizer, social worker, Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation
KABF learned of Origin reGroup, an Indigenous activist nonprofit located in Arizona from our friend TJ of the Navajo Nation’s Rural Utah Project.
We were honored to award Origin reGroup a grant in 2022.
Origin reGroup’s purpose is to reconnect with and organize Indigenous communities according to their own traditions. As we learned from their co-executive directors, Eric Descheenie and LivA’ndrea Knocki, “Indigenous Peoples since the origins of time have lived by way of kinship systems as conveyed from origin stories. For many, kinship identity or clanship was central to virtually every aspect of life – including planting, raising a family, governance, or defending life. This was a significant source of our power, until colonial arrangements in certain areas of life took precedence.”
Click here to learn more.