Hosted by Lisa Ling, the event
provided over $1M in grants and
wraparound support for nonprofits creating innovative solutions for
women and BIPOC small businesses owners
CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 21,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Foundation today
announced Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative as the top recipient
of the inaugural Inspire Awards grant, a program inviting
nonprofits that support Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color-
(BIPOC) and women-owned small businesses across the country to
submit innovative solutions to address the complex challenges
facing small businesses. The inaugural event was hosted by TV
personality and author Lisa
Ling.
After each nonprofit finalist pitched their solutions to a panel
of expert judges, Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative was named the
recipient of a $250,000 grant to
bring its project to life. Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative is
addressing Atlanta's racial wealth
divide with a solution focused on bolstering Black businesses
through research and data, growth and scale, workforce development
and retention, and anti-displacement.
"It's an honor to accept the inaugural Truist Foundation Inspire
Award on behalf of the entire Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative
community," said Jason Hudgins,
director of Strategic Programs for Atlanta Wealth Building
Initiative. "This initiative is not just about business solutions.
It really is about looking down the street and seeing Black
business owners – and the children they are raising – and
understanding how one investment changes that family, the next
generation and a community for generations to come."
"Our first Inspire Awards has been an intensive but incredibly
rewarding experience. Reviewing submissions from over 127
nonprofits has shown us the breadth of good being done by
organizations to address the key issue of systemic barriers facing
small business owners," said Lynette
Bell, president of Truist Foundation. "Atlanta Wealth
Building Initiative is a truly inspiring and deserving grant
recipient, and we are so excited to see the change that will be
made possible by this capacity-building funding."
Truist Foundation partnered with Solve, an initiative of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), to help identify nonprofits with
the most innovative ideas to help support, grow and develop small
businesses in underserviced communities and create lasting
change.
A second-place grant of $150,000
was awarded to Synergies Work, which developed a solution that aims
to bridge the gap between entrepreneurs with disabilities and the
business community to foster growth through a long-term commitment
to success. Synergies Work also was selected as the Audience
Favorite by attendees of the event, earning another $75,000 grant.
"Leaving the Truist Foundation Inspire Awards with both second
place and the audience favorite awards means the world to Synergies
Work because of the light it is shining on the disability
community," said Aarti Sahgal,
founder of Synergies Work. "We are confident that the work we are
doing makes a difference for entrepreneurs with disabilities. For
us to now have Truist Foundation and MIT Solve as part of our
support system is huge– we are so grateful for the avenues this
experience and this funding will open for our community."
Beautiful Ventures, Black Wall Street AVL, Change Labs,
Democracy at Work Institute and Quality Care for Children also
received $25,000 grants to support
their projects. Additionally, all finalists participated in a
wraparound support program over the past several months and will
have the opportunity to attend a capacity-building retreat at the
Truist Leadership Institute in 2023.
To learn more about the Inspire Awards, visit
Truist.com/InspireAwards.
About Truist Foundation
The Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial
Corporation's (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives
and communities. Established in 2020, the foundation makes
strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the
communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality
of life. The Truist Foundation's grants and activities focus on
building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening
small businesses. Learn more at Truist.com/Foundation.
About MIT Solve
Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT)
with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges. Solve
is a marketplace for social impact innovation. Through open
innovation challenges, Solve finds incredible tech-based social
entrepreneurs all around the world. Solve then brings together
MIT's innovation ecosystem and a
community of members to fund and support these entrepreneurs to
help them drive lasting transformational impact. Solve has
catalyzed over $50 million in
commitments for Solver teams and entrepreneurs to date. Join Solve
on this journey at solve.mit.edu.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/truist-foundation-announces-atlanta-wealth-building-initiative-as-top-recipient-of-the-inaugural-inspire-awards-grant-301655991.html
SOURCE Truist Foundation