2022 Annual Report
2022
Our Journey
2022 ANNUAL REPORT
We’re the ones
we’ve been
waiting for.
We began 2022 cresting through a time loop somehow. Suddenly the Covid numbers were skyrocketing again, higher in many cases than before. Work and school switched back in time, too. Remote work, remote learning, teachers afraid of exposure in the classroom, students frustrated to be learning at home.
How could we be two years into a pandemic and still standing in what feels like the eye of the storm?
And now, a year later, the pandemic seems to be fading from public consciousness. Some just want to get back to the way things were. But enough of us know that the status quo was not working.
The world changed.
So did we.
The Skillman Foundation has invested in youth and education for more than 60 years. We operate responsively, listening to what’s needed most and looking for the best opportunities to invest and act in the interests of Detroit youth.
From 2017-2022, we worked a strategy dubbed the Opportunity Agenda for Detroit Children (transition grants from this strategy began in 2023). At the start of this timespan, there was a great deal of revival happening in Detroit. We wanted to ensure Detroit youth were prepared for and connected to the economic opportunities it promised. Staying true to our historic lanes, we pursued this by supporting educational equity in the K-12 and afterschool systems as well as onramps to college and career.
Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. We moved swiftly to alleviate immediate needs, supporting massive community efforts like providing tablets for at-home learning, safe spaces for kids to learn under the careful eye of loving adults, and mental wellness supports for youth and the adults who serve them.
2022 Grantmaking
In 2022, we began sunsetting a grantmaking strategy named the Opportunity Agenda for Detroit Children.
Grants supported efforts that provided Detroit children and youth with equitable opportunities to learn and to lead, falling under three areas: K-12 education, the afterschool system, and college and career pathways.
K-12 Education
$6.6M
29 grants supported:
Recruitment and development of racially diverse educators and principal wellness
Student attendance efforts
Classroom instruction and interventions
Out-of-school literacy programs
K-12 policy and advocacy
Afterschool System
$6.5M
75 grants supported:
Advocacy for increased investment in the afterschool system
Afterschool and summer programs for Detroit youth
Capacity building across the afterschool system and for individual organizations
College & Career Pathways
$5.1M
90 grants supported:
Youth employment and career readiness
College access and preparation
Youth leadership and voice; young people’s ability to be change agents
Other Grants
Enabling Communities
$2.5M
17 grants
Fostering leaders at every level—in schools, neighborhoods, city, region, and state—who are committed to working alongside others toward youth-centered education systems change. We supported community leadership, research and data about Detroit/youth well-being, and public policy and advocacy for child well-being.
President’s Discretionary
$1.1M
103 grants
A $1M annual fund for small, one-time grants that support 501c3 nonprofits and public entities that serve Detroit youth but fall outside The Skillman Foundation’s grantmaking priorities. $305k of this was directed by our President’s Youth Council.
Legacy Grants
$550,000
5 grants
Other
$356,000
77 grants (matching gifts, memberships)
Total 2022 Grantmaking
Grants paid in 2022
$22.7M
396 grants
View all grant details here, searchable by year and category.
Our grantmaking areas are changing. For the most up-to-date information about The Skillman Foundation’s grantmaking, visit our grants page.
2022 Financial
Statement
Our Team
Annual Report
Artists
On This Page
In order of appearance
“Who Am I” by Daria Stanley (@ladysimone_d), 20, Illustrator and Photoshop collage
“Eshara” by Rahmyza Muhammad (@rahmyzas_gallery), 18, photography
“The Thought” by Dejuan McCurrie (@shamarshots_), 16, digital photography
“JOYFUL” by Michael Isaiah Johnson (@originalbluboi, @michael_wasnotfound), 21, poster design
On Linked Pages
In order of appearance
“Self Love, The Best Love” by James Alexander (@jaydachon), 25, pen and marker on bristol
“Build New Things” by Dylan Key, 11, mixed media
“Youth Power” by Miranda Kyle (@cupcakebombb), 25, digital illustration
Design and Development by Meliora Creative
The Skillman Foundation
The Skillman Foundation is a grantmaking organization established in 1960 by Rose Skillman. We have granted out more than $730 million and have served as a vocal advocate to strengthen K-12 education, afterschool programming, child-centered neighborhoods, youth and community leadership, and racial equity and justice.
We are in the process of developing a new strategic framework, co-designed with Detroit youth and their champions.