Current Grants

The Skillman Foundation grants $17-18 million per year to organizations championing Detroit children. See a list of our current grants below.

Grants

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Impact Area
Initiative
Year

Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation

This grant will continue support for Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation (DHDC) to provide year-round STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) exposure programming, holistic support, and mentorship to 90 middle school youth as an introduction to high school career pathways. It will fund programming while strengthening the long-term goal of more equitable access to STEAM in Detroit’s college and career ecosystem. This program includes partnership with the College for Creative Studies, LIFT Advanced Manufacturing, a mix of corporate partners including General Motors and Ford, and the following schools in Southwest Detroit: Cesar Chavez Academy, Academy of the Americas, Western International, Cristo Rey, Earhart, Neinas, and Voyageur

2021

$125,000

InsideOut Literary Arts Project

This grant will provide continued funding for InsideOut Literary Arts Project’s Citywide Poets program, which will offer creative writing arts and leadership to at least 100 teens in grades nine-through-12 at in-person and virtual sites across Detroit. Programming will increasingly incorporate social-emotional learning and support. This grant includes partnership with Detroit schools, the Youth Development Resource Center (YDRC), and the Detroit Creativity Project

2021

$100,000

BookNook

This grant provides continued support to BookNook, a technology-based literacy tutoring support, to provide in-school and out-of-school literacy services to 800 K-8 students during summer 2021 and the 2021-22 school year. BookNook will train and support 200 mentors to support a 1:1 and small group (one mentor to three youth) programming format. To execute this work, BookNook will partner with thirteen in school and community partner sites, with in-school partners such as Cornerstone Schools, McDowell K-8, and out-of-school partners like Brilliant Detroit and Healthy Kidz. This grant expands access and engagement to high-quality individualized literacy supports for Detroit students, during and after the school day

2021

$175,000

Detroit Public Schools Foundation

This grant will continue to support of a dedicated project manager position at Cody High School (CHS) to accelerate strategic priorities for Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) and foster strategic community partnerships at the school. The project manager provides critical coordination, alignment, and insights to the Cody Rouge Partnership (CRP) and alleviates burden of outreach and external partner management on the principal and school staff; this is not a position routinely staffed at each high school but may provide lessons for scale.

2021

$60,000

Soar Detroit

This grant enables SOAR Detroit to deepen organizational capacity to advance tutoring services and to provide expanded literacy intervention support services to students attending 10 Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) schools and three Cornerstone charter schools. As schools develop robust recovery intervention plans that will reach all students, SOAR will continue to serve as invaluable to school partners in providing complementary in-school K-3 literacy interventions

2021

$200,000

Hope Network

This grant continues support and expansion for Hope Network Michigan Education Corps (MEC), to provide reading tutoring for students in grades K-3 at 11 Detroit Public Schools Community District schools and enables a new partnership with three University Prep (UPrep) elementary charter schools. As schools develop robust recovery intervention plans that will reach all students, this funding will support expanded access to individualized in-school literacy interventions for students who have been identified as partially proficient, supporting them to reach proficiency

2021

$160,000

Allied Media Projects, Inc.

This grant will advance and deepen People in Education (PIE) programming capacity and offerings to Detroit youth, teachers, and education leaders to meet the growing demand of PIE. The organization will continue to offer teacher professional learning through The RIDA Institute and deepen youth-led learning through the Artist in Residence (AIR) program. The organization will launch Radical Wellness for PIE Leaders Program, a new program centered on the wellness and leadership development for Detroit educational leaders.

2021

$175,000

College for Creative Studies

This grant will provide continued support to the College for Creative Studies (CCS) to deliver the Saturday Arts Academy at Detroit School of Arts (DSA) for 100 middle-school youth across Detroit, while strengthening progress towards more equitable access to the DSA Pathway within the District. This grant includes a partnership with Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD), Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit, the Carr Center, and the Youth Development Resource Center

2021

$107,500

Urban Neighborhood Initiatives, Inc.

This grant continues support to Urban Neighborhood Initiatives (UNI) to stabilize and expand its school partnerships with schools (DPSCD and charter) in Southwest Detroit to provide 400 K-12 students with individualized academic resources, social-emotional well-being supports, activities that increase academic outcomes and student and family engagement during the 2021-22 school year and summer 2022. This grant will also support a learning community of six school principals in partnership with Every School Day Counts-Detroit (ESDCD) to increase school leader commitment and connectivity to existing efforts to improve student attendance.

2021

$275,000

Learn Fresh Education Co.

This grant enables Learn Fresh Education Company to distribute, develop capacity, and support citywide implementation of the NBA Math Hoops numeracy game for students grades 3-8. This will occur through a multi-pronged approach including wide distribution of 1,000 NBA Math Hoops board games over summer 2021; citywide access to the new NBA Math Hoops mobile platform starting in 2021-22; and pilot of the new Math Hoops Live on-court learning experience at two schools in Detroit. The Math Hoops curriculum is tied to Common Core State Standards and 21st-Century Learning Skills.

2021

$125,000

Wayne County Community College District

This grant enables Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) to implement Kids’ College (KC), a virtual system of out-of-school opportunities and experiences for students K-12 to take place during Summer 2021 and the 2021-22 school year. In partnership with Grand Valley State University (GVSU) staff, WCCCD will implement thrice weekly, STEAM-based programming for 500 charter students. KC will promote positive school attendance, support academic and social-emotional growth, and increase parent and community awareness of school attendance

2021

$200,000

Developing Kingdoms in Different Stages

This grant will allow Developing Kingdoms in Different Stages (KIDS) to serve the whole child needs of at least 180 Detroit children, providing academic and social-emotional supports in the wake of the 2020-21 pandemic school year, and to provide leadership to the Black Executive Directors Alliance of Detroit (BEDAD) as well as other coalitions and collective impact efforts for ways in which afterschool providers can assist in moving academic outcomes and fulfilling the needs of Detroit children.

2021

$220,000

Center for Success Network

This grant continues support to Center for Success (CFS) to provide literacy services to 230 students, virtually and/or in-person, during summer 2021 and the 2021-22 academic year. In partnership with various Detroit organizations, CFS will support kindergarten through fifth-grade students through individualized and small-group literacy interventions that accelerate proficiency. This grant contributes to the social emotional stability of participants, as they expand access to high-quality, individualized literacy supports in and out of school.

2021

$175,000

Wellspring

This grant continues support Wellspring to provide virtual and/or in-person literacy and math services to 400 kindergarten through eighth grade students with a focus on students in the Brightmoor/Cody Rouge communities. This will occur through a multi‐pronged effort including serving more students in its traditional on-site model, and partnerships with Old Redford Academy (K-8) and the Brightmoor Quality Initiative, a neighborhood collaborative of early childhood centers

2021

$175,000

Eastern Michigan University Foundation

This grant enables Eastern Michigan University (EMU) to activate a Principal Wellness Professional Learning Community (PWPLC) project that will provide support to Detroit Black women principals. Specifically, Dr. Rema Vassar, an Associate Professor at EMU, in partnership with Black Male Educators Alliance (BMEA), will lead an authentic professional learning series and provide individualized coaching supports centered on personal wellness, belonging, and connection that will support principals and foster capacity and supports for teachers and staff at the schools they lead.

2021

$150,000

Black Male Educators Alliance

This grant enables Black Male Educators Alliance (BMEA) to deepen its organizational capacity to continue to be a leading expert and voice for Black men educators through the deepening of their leadership work. Specifically, BMEA, in partnership with Dr. Rema Vassar of Eastern Michigan University (EMU) will develop and facilitate a Principal Wellness Professional Learning Community (PWPLC) for Black men principals in Detroit that includes a professional learning series and individualized coaching supports centered on personal wellness, belonging, and connection

2021

$150,000

Midnight Golf Program

This grant will continue support to the Midnight Golf Program (MGP) to provide holistic programming, mentorship, and support to 130 Detroit high-school youth, maintaining a structured, aspirational framework to guide their college access and success journey to and through postsecondary. Additionally, it will continue to provide access to the vast networks of peers, near-peer and career professionals who offer guidance to students working toward career success

2021

$100,000

The Institute for College Access and Success, Inc.

This grant will support The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS)’s efforts to research and promote state policies to increase equitable postsecondary access for low-income, first generation and students of color. TICAS will continue building coalitions with policymakers, researchers, nonprofit organizations, and other partners like the Michigan College Access Network and Detroit College Access Network (DCAN) to identify and advance state financial aid policies that center student needs and increase racial and economic equity.

2021

$100,000

Downtown Boxing Gym Youth Program

This grant will support Downtown Boxing Gym (DBG) to provide COVID response support to 150 youth, ages 6-17, through a safe sand supportive environment that provides full day academic support, social, emotional, and basic need resources through school year 2020-21 and summer 2021. Additionally, this support will enable DBG, in partnership with Boys and Girls Club of Southeast Michigan (BGCSM) and the Youth Development Resource Center (YDRC), to document best practices and recommendations to build capacity in others around safe spaces for youth during COVID.

2021

$200,000

Council of Michigan Foundations, Inc.

This grant continues support for Launch Michigan, an important policy collaborative of cross-sector leaders and organizations of influence. The organization has adopted a commitment develop a shared education agenda for Michigan that prioritizes equity to improve outcomes for all children. While there is a long-term agenda for this transformation, the most urgent priorities focus on accelerating a structural reform that accelerates equitable funding.

2021

$150,000

Local Circles

This grant will provide funding for Local Circles to conduct an afterschool and summer Youth Leadership Research Program (YLRP) for 36 youth to prepare them for deeper leadership and community engagement. This funding supports Local Circles and its youth leaders in playing a greater role in influencing the community, including a partnership with Detour Detroit to help youth leaders publish their work. Local Circles will also partner with Grow Detroit’s Young Talent to offer a paid summer experience.

2021

$50,000