If you haven’t taken a look at the Center for Civic Innovation, they are worth taking a look. Read on for some great events, learning opportunities and so much more in their weekly update.
#DoinTheWork Community Conversations:
We’re looking forward to our June community conversations and will be sharing announcements with you soon. In the meantime, check out our recent conversation with Rebecca Serna, the Executive Director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition on our blog post here.
Events Worth Checking Out:
There are a lot of amazing conversations and events taking place online. Here are a couple on our radar. Know of any other upcoming events we should call out? Email us at community@civicatlanta.org
- Weekly, Tuesdays at 12:00pm: the Wellbeing Project is hosting a weekly WELLbinar series called “Wellbeing for Changemakers” which focuses on self-care for changemakers during these unprecedented times: Register here.
- Tuesday, June 2 at 12:00pm: Ceres presents Powering Past Coal: How Investors are Partnering with Governments to Lead the Energy Transition. This is a part of Ceres’ 2020 virtual Investor Summit on Climate Risk. Learn more and register.
- Tuesday, June 2 at 2:00pm: The Stanford Social Innovation Review is hosting a webinar on Overcoming the Racial Bias of Funding: Breaking Down Barriers to Capital.
- Thursday, June 4 at 6:30pm: Atlanta Beltline will be hosting an online meeting to discuss updates to Bill Kennedy Way SE Interim Safety Improvements. Register here.
- June 8 – 12: The Points of Light Conference, which is a “global convening of nonprofit, government, business and civic leaders who connect, collaborate, gain and share the knowledge and resources needed to galvanize the power of people to create change”,
is hosting over 30 different sessions over the course of 5 days. You can choose what and how many sessions you sign up for. Learn more and register here.
- Tuesday, June 9 at 9:00am: The Lola, a workspace and community for women in Atlanta, is hosting Cathrine Cates who will be talking about Getting a Grip on Your Business. Register here.
- Tuesday, June 9 at 11:00am: Atlanta Business Chronicle is hosting Women Who Lead: Transformational Storytelling: Register here.
- June 9 – 11: SOCAP is going virtual this year, and is partnering with SPECTRUM, a virtual gathering of multicultural changemakers dedicated to creating an inclusive impact economy, June 9-11. SPECTRUM will bring together the foremost leaders of color across business, technology, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, nonprofit, and investment sectors. Save $25 when you register with our code, 25CCE, and join the SPECTRUM community for three days of interactive conversations about access, inclusion. Learn more & register for SPECTRUM
- Wednesday, June 10 at 9:30am: Atlanta Regional Housing Forum is hosting Metro Atlanta’s Affordable Housing Sector: COVID-19 Impact and Response. Register Here.
- Thursday, June 11 at 5pm: The Farm, which is a startup accelerator focussed on innovation, is hosting its 2020 Virtual Demo Day. Register Here.
- Thursday, June 11 at 6:30pm: Join Atlanta Beltline as they host their Second Quarterly Briefing of 2020. Register Here.
- Tuesday, June 16 at 11:00am: Atlanta Business Chronicle is hosting Defining Atlanta Q2: A Look at Atlanta’s Economy Amid COVID-19. Industry leaders will speak to how COVID-19 has impacted the Atlanta economy and where they see opportunities for Atlanta to rebound. Register here.
Policy Updates:
A full debrief of policy updates from CCI are available here: CCI Policy Updates: [May 25, 2020 – May 29, 2020]
- On Friday evening, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms held an emotional press conference alongside Killer Mike, Bernice King, and others encouraging protestors to go home. On Sunday, Mayor Bottoms announced that two Atlanta Police Department Officers had been fired for excessive use of force in the arrest of two young African Americans.
- Early voting ends Friday, June 5th, and it’s also the deadline to request an absentee ballot. So far, nearly 17,000 people have voted early in-person in Fulton and DeKalb counties and over 93,000 absentee ballots have been received.
- The Atlanta Board of Education (Atlanta Public Schools) holds public budget hearings on Monday and Tuesday and the City of Atlanta. The Atlanta City Council continues departmental budget hearings this week and holds an interactive community budget session on Tuesday.
NPU Overview:
Tuning in to your NPU meeting is an awesome way to stay connected to what’s happening in your community — this week, Neighborhood Planning Units (NPUs) A, B, C, E, H, P, and R will meet remotely (see the agendas here). Don’t know your NPU? Find your NPU here! NPUs typically meet in-person on a monthly basis, but many of them have shifted to meeting virtually.
Do you know about NPU University? Last year the City of Atlanta started a community engagement curriculum to educate, empower, and equip community leaders with training to help solve the challenges neighborhoods face. Check out the course catalog for upcoming classes.
Active Financial Opportunities:
- Monday, June 1: The Craft Futures Fund will support craft communities throughout the United States and their creative responses to COVID-19. These one-time, unrestricted grants of $5,000 will be disbursed to craft-based education projects that seed resilience, foster community, and amplify impact.
https://www.centerforcraft.org/grants-and-fellowships/craft-futures-fund
- Friday, June 5: The Booz Allen Foundation has created the Booz Allen Innovation Grant. This $1 Innovation Fund has been established for entrepreneurs, non-profits, thought leaders and innovators who are working on solutions for challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis.
https://boozallenfoundation.org/innovationfund/
- Monday, June 15: The City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs’ Contracts for Arts Services (CAS) program for granting public funding to arts and cultural activities, has opened its proposal submission process for the upcoming FY 2021 grant cycle for non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations, individual artists, and creative projects.
- Rolling until June 15 (or until 100 applications received): Grants available from Next Day Animations for a two-minute whiteboard animation at no cost, including messaging consultation, scripting, professional voiceover, and custom artwork.
https://www.nextdayanimations.com /nonprofit-grant/
- Rolling Submission until September 25: Apply for grants up to $50,000 to support business growth, including $10,000 emergency COVID-19 Business for All Grants to help small businesses in crisis. $10,000 COVID-19 Business for All Grants are awarded on a rolling basis. General Business for All Grant applications are due September 25.
https://businessforall.helloalice.com/
- Rolling Submission: Promise All Atlanta Children Thrive (PAACT) and Quality Care for Children are partnering to help child care programs in the City of Atlanta sustain their businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. Tiered grant awards of up to $20,000 will be made available to provide immediate relief to eligible child care programs operating in the City of Atlanta.
https://www.qualitycareforchildren.org/stabilizationgrants
- Rolling Submission: Atlanta Artist Relief Fund is delivering free home-cooked, nutritious meals to the doorsteps of artists who are unable to leave their home or out of work.
https://airtable.com/shrP4gF706OvJbW9V
- Applications opening soon: Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the creATL Relief Fund to facilitate private philanthropic grants to the independent creative industry workers.
https://www.investatlanta.com/creatl-relief-fund
Additional Resources and Opportunities:
- Resource guide for state and local COVID-19 emergency responses from New American Economy: https://www.newamericaneconomy.org/uncategorized/15553/
- Bridgespan has a great nonprofit resource center around strategy and business planning in light of COVID-19: https://www.bridgespan.org/insights/library/strategy-development/covid-19-coronavirus-for-nonprofits.
- Pro Bono Partnership has some great webinars and tools around legal considerations: https://www.probonopartner.org/covid-19-resources/
- The LIFE School is offering a 6-week Virtual Innovators Camp for Teens age 13-17: http://thelifeschool.co/event/summer-passion-projects-coaching-for-teens
From the CCI Staff:
This week our team was fixated on what happened in Minneapolis and how its impact has been felt back here in Atlanta and around the globe. We are indeed “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” So this week’s update is from all of us:
What we’re reading:
- Our House is on Fire – “When a house burns down it is rebuilt to be stronger.” – Rachel Willis (ED of Elevating Equity and CCI Fellow)
- How to Make this Moment the Turning Point for Real Change – “If we want to bring about real change, then the choice isn’t between protest and politics. We have to do both.” – Barack Obama
- Violent protest puts spotlight on ‘Atlanta Way’ of peaceful marches – “The appearance of peaceful power sharing ‘has always left some African Americans behind… For many, it has never felt like enough.’” – Dr. Calinda Lee
What we’re inspired by:
- Your voices, your actions, your fighting. We stand with you.
- Today, local journalist and CCI Fellow, Max Blau, launched The Canopy Project. The new, digital publication will tell unforgettable stories about metro Atlanta—in partnership with communities looking for more thoughtful, nuanced news coverage.
Click here to see the resources and opportunities we shared last week – May 25, 2020. If there are additional resources or opportunities we should add, please email us at community@civicatlanta.org.The Center for Civic Innovation created a relief fund for Atlanta-based civic entrepreneurs and organizations. 100% of this fund will support the work of people and organizations affected by COVID-19: https://buff.ly/33P580m
NPU-W - City of Atlanta 