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BW will use the funding to provide microgrants to help students bring their community initiatives to life in the spring 2025 semester.
Daisjah Brown '25 used a mini-grant to create the Buzzin' Black Friday fair in 2023, bringing vendors of color to campus to serve BW's diverse student population. BW will use The Allstate Foundation funds to facilitate other student-led social change projects.
Baldwin Wallace University has new fuel for student-led service and leadership projects.
In recognition of BW's commitment to youth-driven service and development, The Allstate Foundation, in collaboration with the Center for Expanding Leadership & Opportunity (CELO), has awarded the University's David & Frances Brain Center for Community Engagement a $10,000 grant.
The 2024-25 College Service Grants are part of The Allstate Foundation's national strategy to transform how young people are engaged, equipped and prepared for community service. To date, the foundation has granted over $1 million to youth-led service programs at campuses across the country.
"The Allstate Foundation believes that empowering youth to lead service is key to improving our communities and creating lasting change. These grants catalyze youth service opportunities by increasing access, deepening quality, and putting dollars behind young people's innovative and transformational ideas about how to strengthen their communities," said Greg Weatherford II, director of The Allstate Foundation and Social Impact.
The grant for BW is part of the foundation's "A Return to Service" initiative designed to catalyze change while positioning youth-led, youth-driven service as essential for improving communities.
BW will use the resources to power community engagement projects led by students or student organizations in the spring 2025 semester.
"I am grateful to The Allstate Foundation and excited for our students to have this unique opportunity to tap resources to bring student-led initiatives to fruition," said Marsita Ferguson, director of BW's Brain Center. "BW students are invited to apply for a mini-grant to support impactful community development projects, leadership initiatives, or youth-focused endeavors within the BW Community or the Greater Cleveland area."
Grant applications are due January 6, 2025, with project completion expected by May 2, 2025. Students will receive support at regular check-ins with Brain Center staff and by attending BW's annual Social Change Summit.
The Allstate Foundation empowers people and communities so they can thrive. Established in 1952, The Foundation takes bold actions and inspires people to act by empowering youth to serve and improve communities, working to close the racial wage gap, and disrupting the cycle of relationship abuse. The Foundation also supports nonprofit leaders through the Nonprofit Leadership Center.
CELO is a nonprofit committed to a world where high-quality youth development opportunities are distributed as equally as the abundance of talent in our communities. Emerging from nearly two decades of groundbreaking research and incubated at The Aspen Institute, CELO bridges the gap between academia and practice to accelerate youth development and deliver on the promise of greater impact.
The BW David & Frances Brain Center for Community Engagement plays a central role in fulfilling the University's mission of empowering students to become compassionate, contributing citizens. Through service learning and community engagement, students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of leadership roles that contribute to local, national and global communities.
