The New Commonwealth Racial Equity and Social Justice Fund at the Boston Foundation has awarded grants totaling $1 million in support of efforts to fight systemic racism, the Boston Globe reports.

Launched in July by a coalition of nineteen Black and brown business executives in the wake of nationwide protests following the police killing of George Floyd, the fund aims to create more equitable ways to steer money to nonprofits headed by people of color. The fund's initial focus areas include policing and criminal justice reform, healthcare equity, economic empowerment, youth education, and civic engagement. According to the Globe, the fund has raised about $25 million in seed money and pledges from, among others, Eastern Bank, State Street, Denta Quest Partnership for Oral Health Advancement, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation,

Initial awards include grants of $50,000  to twenty organizations in Massachusetts, including Elevated Thought, a nonprofit in Lawrence that uses art to drive social justice and will use the funds to hire a youth organizer; Brockton Interfaith Community, which will use its grant to bring on another staffer; and Martin Luther King Jr. Family Services in Springfield, which will use the funds to offset the cost of running a remote learning center for low-income families and subsidize child care for essential workers. Other recipients include Chelsea Collaborative, Lawyers for Civil Rights, and the Boston branch of the NAACP.

Brockton Interfaith Community executive director William Dickerson II told the Globe that the money is a game changer. "That's everything," said Dickerson. "We are going to do big things because of it." 

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