Bank of America today announced The Literacy Lab and The YWCA of Greater Atlanta as the 2023Neighborhood Builders® awardees for their work advancing economic mobility and building up underserved neighborhoods in Atlanta. Through this multi-year grant funding and extensive leadership training for the nonprofits’ leadership, programs and services addressing workforce development and job skills training will be able to expand. 

The Neighborhood Builders program is one of the largest philanthropic investments into nonprofit leadership development in the nation, providing comprehensive leadership training for an executive director and an emerging leader on topics ranging from increasing financial sustainability, human capital management and strategic storytelling, and the opportunity to join a national network of peer organizations. Each Builder is also awarded a $200,000 grant over two years.

“Nonprofits are vital to solving social challenges, improving communities and promoting economic advancement,” said Al McRae, president, Bank of America Atlanta. “Providing these nonprofits with flexible funding and leadership training not only positions these nonprofits for sustainable, long-term success, but demonstrates our commitment to creating real change in the places where we live and work.”

The Literacy Lab is a national nonprofit organization that provides children from age three through 3^rd grade in communities experiencing racial and economic inequities with evidence-based, culturally responsive literacy instruction. This new grant funding will ensure The Literacy Lab’s Leading Men Fellowship in Atlanta continues to build a strong, sustainable foundation in the region to serve Atlanta students with early literacy instruction for personal success.

The Leading Men Fellowship recruits, trains, and employs young men of color, ages 18-24, who have graduated from high school but have not yet enrolled in or completed college to serve as full-time literacy tutors in pre-K classrooms in their communities. Each Fellow supports a single pre-K classroom for the entire school year by implementing a multi-tiered instructional strategy and providing one-on-one, small group, and whole group literacy interventions to help students become ready for kindergarten.

“This recognition and funding will help strengthen and expand our Leading Men Fellowship in Atlanta to better meet the evolving needs of the students, schools and communities we serve in this amazing city,” said Heather Jenkins, CEO, The Literacy Lab. “Our Leading Men Fellowship is unique in putting young men of color at the center of change in our education system. Support from Bank of America allows us to deepen our investment in this historically marginalized pool of talent and engage them in the work of supporting students in their communities. Together our Fellows will have a positive and measurable impact, while also discovering or igniting a personal sense of purpose and a pathway for achieving their goals.”

The YWCA of Greater Atlanta is the leading community voice for advocacy, support, and empowerment of women and their families in the community since its founding on the campus of Spelman College 121 years ago. This grant will go toward the revitalization campaign to reopen the historic Phillis Wheatley YWCA in the Westside of Atlanta. This facility will offer programming that includes health services, digital reskilling and affordable childcare for many women who may not have previously had access.

“This award will provide us with the resources and exposure to elevate our existing programs focused on the needs of women and their families in the city of Atlanta,” said Danita V. Knight, president and CEO, YWCA of Greater Atlanta. “We are also excited about building collaborative networks and partnerships that allow us to expand our reach and impact.”

The invitation-only Neighborhood Builders program is highly competitive. Nonprofits are selected by a committee comprised of community leaders and past Builders awardees. In Atlanta, 40 nonprofits have been selected as Neighborhood Builders since the program’s inception, with the bank investing $8 million into these local nonprofits.

Since 2004, Bank of America has invested more than $300 million in nearly 100 communities across the U.S., partnered with more than 1,600 nonprofits, and helped more than 3,000 nonprofit leaders strengthen their leadership skills through the Neighborhood Builders and Champions program.

Bank of America has contributed more than $6.7 million across the state of Georgia to provide resources to vulnerable and underserved communities in 2023.