Happy summer, my friends!
We hope you will take a few minutes from time with family and friends to read this short update on LZF. And in just two months, we’ll help make your transition from summer back to reality a whole lot more fun with great music, food, drinks, and more at our September 7th Light the Night event at Alcove in Boston, with the brilliant Leonard P. Zakim Bridge as our beacon for a joyful evening.
If you are interested in being a Light the Night sponsor or don’t have your tickets yet, please click here! Or simply contact me at 617-406-6036 or apicott@thelennyzakimfund.org.
We can’t wait to see everyone with your summer glow and your dancing shoes on. Come celebrate and help support social change in eastern Massachusetts!
Best,
Allison E. Picott
Executive Director
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LZF's 2025 Grant Cycle Now Open! | |
LZF is currently accepting applications for our 2025 Grant Cycle, open to all Eastern Massachusetts-based nonprofit organizations with an IRS 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor. Proposals are due by 11:59 pm on Sunday, September 1, 2024.
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LZF focuses on small, under-the-radar grassroots organizations with budgets less than $350,000 that work to advance social, racial, and economic justice in one or more of our 7 primary funding areas. Prospective new applicants MUST attend one of our upcoming info sessions or schedule a call with an LZF staff member before applying. Our info sessions are scheduled for:
• Wednesday, July 17th at 10:00am [registration link]
• Wednesday, August 14th at 2:00pm [registration link]
Current grantee partners will receive details on how to apply for continuation funding within the 5-year cycle separately.
For questions, please contact Madelyn Vining, Grants Administrator, at mvining@thelennyzakimfund.org.
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It’s likely you’ve never heard of this impressive Gloucester arts nonprofit, even though they organize a free, all-ages, annual group art project that is wildly popular. Click here to read how Cape Ann Art Haven has evolved from the brainchild of two teenagers into a creative center that inspires hundreds of North Shore residents from all walks of life. And be sure to catch up on other grantee partner spotlights by clicking here. | |
Thank you, Babson Board Fellows | |
From September 2023 through April 2024, LZF participated in the Babson Board Fellows Program and had the good fortune of working with Moris (Mo) Castillo (MBA student) and Randy Miller (MBA grad), who served as non-voting LZF board members.
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Pictured (L to R): Aditi Dholakia, Mo Castillo, and Allison Picott | |
"Board membership isn't just about making decisions in formal settings," says Mo. "It's about active engagement. It's about embracing diverse perspectives, diving in, and contributing to a larger purpose. At LZF, it's about building bridges, empowering grassroots organizations to effect real change, and ultimately, fulfilling Lenny Zakim's visionary dream.”
“Actively engaging with The Lenny Zakim Fund board, leadership team, and grantee partners has been a remarkable experience,” comments Randy. “The LZF board works tirelessly to build bridges across communities, foster understanding, and nurture our grantee partner organizations with the tools they need to drive meaningful change.”
Thank you to Randy and Mo for sharing your talents with us, and to Babson College for empowering your students and alumni to give back to the community. We’re excited to announce that Mo Castillo will continue to serve LZF as a full member of our Board of Directors, for a 3-year term that began in June. Mo is a Senior Solution Enterprise Architect Manager at Oracle, where he has worked for nearly 18 years. He lives in Jamaica Plain with his wife, Haide.
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Celebrating Union of Minority Neighborhoods | |
For 22 years, Union of Minority Neighborhoods (UMN), an LZF grantee partner from 2021 to 2024, worked to engage and train Massachusetts citizens of color to be active participants in rebuilding their communities and ending discriminatory policies and practices. | |
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Among their many accomplishments, UNM trained over 3,500 people of color, raised funding for schools in need of repairs, organized a statewide campaign for CORI reform, held the first ever Black Advocacy Day at the statehouse, and formed and coordinated the Many Voices One Message Coalition of 60 organizations that fought and restored critical state funding for people of color.
In May, UMN announced its plans to close its doors effective June 30, 2024. From all of us at LZF, we thank UMN staff and constituents for your dedication and perseverance and celebrate your remarkable achievements. We know that the impact of your work will reverberate for generations to come.
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LZF Welcomes Madelyn Vining and Claire Molinich! | |
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LZF’s new Grants Administrator, Madelyn (Maddy) Vining, recently graduated from St. Lawrence University, where her academic work focused on gender inequality, LGBTQIA rights, criminal justice reform, and structural racism in her psychology major and gender studies minor. She is passionate about applying her knowledge and skills to advocate for social, economic, and racial justice at LZF. In her spare time, Maddy enjoys practicing yoga and spending time with animals. |
Program and Development Intern Claire Molinich joins us from Northeastern University, where she is a senior majoring in Human Services and Political Science with a minor in Law and Public Policy. In previous roles, she has worked to support advocacy campaigns, and she holds several years of experience in both research and event planning. Outside of work, her interests include live music, independent bookstores, and nature.
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About The Lenny Zakim Fund
Established in 1995 by the late civil rights leader Lenny Zakim, The Lenny Zakim Fund continues to reflect his work and ideals by providing financial support, education, technical assistance and networking opportunities to small, community-based organizations and individuals who are passionate about social, racial, and economic justice and determined to become vehicles of critical change.
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The Lenny Zakim Fund knows grassroots leadership is integral to ensuring that programs are successful, culturally relevant, effective, and meet the needs of affected people. Social justice at The Fund is about more than just grantmaking – it is about coming together in partnership to support leaders and the grassroots in their work against systemic oppression and their fight for equity.
LZF is a 501(c)(3) public, nonprofit organization that relies 100% on the generosity of our donors to support our annual operating budget, which includes our annual grants program. Over the past 29 years, The Fund has awarded $13 million in grants to nearly 400 grassroots organizations throughout eastern Massachusetts.
For more information about The Lenny Zakim Fund, visit www.thelennyzakimfund.org.
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