MILWAUKEE — Several United Way Organizations across the country received a generous donation, including United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County.
The United Way of Greater Milwaukee and Waukesha County received $25 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott and set aside $10 million to go directly to Black and Brown-led organizations.
"We worked really hard between January and March to say, okay what are we gonna do with this money in a way that has a lasting impact," said Nicole Angresano, Vice-President of Community Impact.
Those conversations led to the making of the Racial Equity Advisory Committee.
The committee is made up local leaders and they are the ones who chose a broad range of organizations that are already doing great work for the community, such as Walnut Way, Metcalfe Community Bridges, Black Arts MKE and the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of Wisconsin.
In a statement the Asian American Pacific Islander Coalition of Wisconsin said in part:
"We appreciate the United Way’s grant as a recognition of making our communities more visible in resource allocation. Since our Coalition is relatively new, this Race Equity Grant will help us formalize our priorities for what and how we can bring the AAPI community together to accelerate our ability to reach more of the AAPI community and effectively serve all of Wisconsin’s communities.
A total of $1.5 million is being invested in 11 organizations over the next three years.
"These first 11 have received three year grants in various amounts depending on how much they applied for," Angresano said.
She also said these funds that have been made available by philanthropist Scott and will allow organizations to keep stepping up for the communities they serve.
"At the end of this year and the next three to four years to come, I think you're gonna see a stronger, more diverse, more equitable non-profit sector," Angresano said.
Angresanso said funds will begin going out soon, but she wants to remind organizations there's more money that will be given out.
More than $3.5 million will be given out the first year, $3.3 million the second and a little over $3 million the third, totaling $10 million.
"We're gonna be making more investments this year and the coming years until we spend at minimum that $10 million," she said.
Angresano believes this funding will support organizations' day to day operations and allow them to grow as they see fit.
To learn more about the Racial Equity Fund, click here.
