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Press Release

13 of the Country’s Top-Performing Nonprofits Join Stand Together Foundation’s Catalyst Program

Beginning September 22, the innovative organizations will participate in a six-month management and leadership training to equip them to break the cycle of poverty in America

ARLINGTON, Va., SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 – Today, Stand Together Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting bottom-up solutions that empower those in poverty, announced the selection of 13 new nonprofit partners to join its Catalyst Program, designed to help top-performing nonprofits deepen their impact and transform more lives. The six-month curriculum includes individualized leadership and management coaching, access to a peer network for advice and partnerships, and a variety of legal services and software tools to increase their effectiveness.

This will be the 14th cohort of nonprofits to join the Catalyst Program, bringing the community to a total of 212 high-impact organizations operating in nearly all 50 states. Participants will kick off the program on September 22, 2021.

“We can’t wait for this remarkable group of 13 nonprofit leaders to join our community of changemakers,” said Evan Feinberg, executive director of Stand Together Foundation. “They were selected because of their innovative strategies that empower people to escape poverty. It’s an honor to help them maximize and expand their impact across the country.”

The Catalyst Program is highly selective. Less than 10 percent of applicants are selected after a rigorous vetting process that includes evaluating each organization’s leadership, culture, demonstrated outcomes, and ability to scale.

For social entrepreneurs who share Stand Together Foundation’s belief in people and bottom-up solutions, this is an opportunity to take their efforts to the next level. The Catalyst Program serves as an on-ramp to long-term partnership with Stand Together Foundation, unlocking access to a community of like-minded nonprofits, influential philanthropists, and business leaders.

The incoming cohort includes one of the most diverse groups of organizations in the Catalyst program’s existence. From storytelling classes for incarcerated individuals, to workforce training for young people who are experiencing homelessness, the newest Catalysts represent the creativity and potential of community-driven solutions. The following is a full list of Stand Together Foundation’s 14th cohort:

  • Black Men Heal (Ardmore, Pa.) – Black Men Heal provides complimentary therapy sessions to Black and Brown men seeking mental health care. Minority men are especially susceptible to mental health conditions yet face a variety of barriers that disallow them from receiving needed care. Black Men Heal helps these individuals overcome these barriers, matches them with Black and Brown mental health clinicians, and encourages the men to openly share their mental health experiences with their peers. This serves to destigmatize the topic of mental health, paving the way for more men in the community to seek care and find their own healing.
  • Brink Literacy Project (Elbert, Colo.) – Brink uses the power of storytelling to help incarcerated individuals reclaim their personal narratives, remove barriers to their personal development, and change public perceptions in the process. The prevailing narrative around incarcerated and marginalized communities focuses on deficiencies and failings, but Brink offers its participants a chance to reclaim their narrative through the creation of short graphic memoirs to improve their social-emotional well-being.
  • HadaNõu Collective (HNC) (Denver) – HNC’s purpose is to transform the social sector so that communities across the country are empowered to lead their own change from within, rather than relying on “big box” solutions that don’t fit. By building a comprehensive pathway of technical infrastructure and organizational support, HNC helps community leaders build the highly effective organizations they need to create deep and lasting impact in their communities.
  • HANDY (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) – HANDY provides individualized life coaching and employment opportunities to neglected youth to help them discover their unique gifts and realize their own version of success. HANDY’s family-like support system empowers youth as they transition into a post-secondary environment and adulthood, providing customized programs focused on education, youth development, and economic self-sufficiency. HANDY transforms the traditional casework approach from adult-led to youth-led, enabling participants to take their future into their own hands.
  • JUMPSTART (Spartanburg, S.C.) – JUMPSTART helps people leaving prison to forever stay out of prison by developing a sense of purpose through Christian discipleship and service. JUMPSTART understands that individuals require holistic support (mind, body, and spirit) before and after their release, as well as access to stable housing and employment, if they are to successfully transition back into society. The program’s unique peer-to-peer accountability and assessment model enables participants to support each other’s personal development.
  • National Angels (Austin, Texas) – National Angels builds a community of support around fostering families to alleviate burnout and reduce instability for kids. In response to the existing foster care system, in which 33% of youth who age out of care have been in 3+ placements, National Angels demonstrates that children and youth with fewer placements and more stability have better long-term outcomes. They have a vision to scale their innovative trauma-informed, holistic wrap-around service model across the nation and help all children experiencing foster care reach their full potential, and they use the local community to do it.
  • One America Movement (Alexandria, Va.) – The One America Movement believes that healthy faith institutions lead to more resilient and prosperous communities. At a time when many congregations are fractured and divided, One America Movement equips faith communities to confront division and work together across political, racial, and religious divides to solve problems that matter. If we work with faith communities to shape positive norms and behaviors within their groups and build cross-cutting identities across religious, racial, and political divides, we will create an America that is more resilient to toxic forms of division and ready to address problems in their neighborhood.
  • Reach University (Oakland, Calif.) – Reach is a nonprofit university that addresses America’s teacher shortage by creating affordable pathways for high-potential individuals to obtain degrees, credentials, and jobs as teachers in their own communities. By focusing on low-income and rural regions, offering online tutorials and classes, and rendering academic credit for on-the-job experience, Reach University is eliminating barriers to entry in the teaching profession and building pipelines of local talent.
  • Serve & Connect (Columbia, S.C.) – Serve & Connect facilitates sustainable police-community partnerships to improve community safety, resilience, and wellbeing. Serve & Connect convenes intentional engagements to identify problems and develop collaborative action plans. By involving community and law enforcement in the process, Serve & Connect is offering an alternative to divisive discourse and one-size-fits-all solutions that negatively impact citizens and police officers alike.
  • Telos Group (Washington, D.C.) – Telos Group works to educate individuals on the deeply rooted issues plaguing our communities. Telos calls those to action that may feel far removed from these issues to wield their influence to enact needed change. Telos organizes immersive trips to areas experiencing conflict, developing teams of peacemakers who can repair relationships and strengthen communities. Telos is working to replace violence, division, and distrust with empathy; training their peacemakers to see others’ struggles as their own; and cultivating the skills that will spark action.
  • The Promise Fund of Florida (Palm Beach, Fla.) – The Promise Fund drives health equity for uninsured and underinsured women who are at risk of or battling breast and cervical cancer. The Promise Fund creates a culture of health by helping women obtain preventative cancer screenings and become more informed agents of their healthcare journey for diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship. The Promise Fund is redefining the care model by advocating for patient-centered care that is high quality, timely, and affordable.
  • Ventures (Seattle, Wash.) – Ventures is a community development financial institution (CDFI) that empowers aspiring entrepreneurs who lack access to traditional employment, particularly women, people of color, immigrants, and people living on lower incomes. Ventures combines training, credit, and asset building, capital products, and coaching to help clients develop microenterprises and achieve financial stability.
  • WeThrive (Los Angeles, Calif.) – WeThrive unlocks opportunities for underestimated young people of color to explore their entrepreneurial potential. Through an interactive app, WeThrive provides innovative curriculum delivered in group study programs as well as self- paced lesson modules. In contrast to existing entrepreneurship programs that emphasize exclusivity, every WeThrive participant gets access to seed funding and support to bring their ideas to life, including connections to business professionals serving as entrepreneurship mentors. WeThrive’s approach also ensures that every student is set up for success in any endeavor, whether running their own venture, pursuing higher education, or joining the workforce.

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About Stand Together Foundation

Stand Together Foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in America by driving change from within communities. We are building a community of social entrepreneurs who believe in people, work from the bottom up, and unite with anyone to do right. Since 2016, we have committed $100 million and counting to fuel the innovation of nonprofits throughout the country to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential. Our goal is to help nonprofit leaders maximize their impact to transform more lives out of poverty. Learn more at www.StandTogetherFoundation.org.

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