California

The Santa Barbara Foundation has announced the launch of a Community Grants Opportunities program in support of conservation, environment, and public trails projects in Santa Barbara County (with preference given to projects in the South Coast area). Grant amounts will range up to $25,000, and the deadline to apply is May 17.

The San Diego Unified School District and San Diego Foundation have announced the launch of a summer learning and enrichment program designed to help thousands of students prepare for the upcoming school year. Level Up SD, a Summer of Learning and Joy will feature in-person classroom instruction with San Diego Unified teachers in the morning and enrichment activities in the afternoon offered through local nonprofits. There is no cost to families for the classroom instruction or enrichment programs, thanks to a San Diego Unified Expanded Learning Opportunities Grant.

Florida

The Community Foundation of Collier County has awarded a grant to the Marco Island Historical Society, Coastal Breeze News reports. Awarded through the foundation's Marco Island Community Fund, the grant will underwrite the cost of directional signage and interpretive panels.

Kentucky

The Community Foundation of Louisville is accepting applications for the 2021 Vogt Awards, which provide startups in the Louisville area with non-dilutive funding, dedicated mentorship, workshops, and other kinds of support. Vogt Award winners receive $25,000 along with a ten-week program of coaching, mentoring, strategic introductions, and public recognition. The deadline to apply is May 30.

Louisiana

The Greater New Orleans Foundation has announced the appointment of Kenneth St. Charles as its new vice president for philanthropy. Currently the president and CEO of St. Augustine High School, where he will finish out the school year, St. Charles also has served as vice president for institutional advancement at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia, and at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Michigan

The Impact Investment Committee at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation has approved its first loan, to the LIFT Foundation, a community resource for the development, preservation, and maintenance of affordable housing in west-central Michigan. The loan will enable LIFT to repurpose the Knights Inn motel in the Vine neighborhood as a shelter for community members experiencing homelessness. The need for emergency shelter in the region has increased as the COVID-19 pandemic has limited access to day shelters and prompted people to seek shelter in tent encampments, where lack of access to bathrooms, running water, and food put individuals and families at risk. In the long term, LIFT plans to create affordable studio apartments for community members with low incomes.

Minnesota

The Minneapolis Foundation has announced that the Jay and Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota has awarded grants totaling $321,000 and will award a second round of grants totaling $422,000 in July. With a focus on economic empowerment and educational equity in North Minneapolis, grants were awarded to the Phillips Scholars Program through the Minnesota Private College Council and the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at Saint John's University and Saint Thomas University.

New Hampshire

The Greater Rochester Community Health Foundation (formerly known as the Frisbie Foundation) has signed an agreement with the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation to establish a formal collaboration between the two organizations. Under the agreement, GRCHF, which was established with proceeds from the sale of the nonprofit Frisbie Memorial Hospital to HCA Healthcare, will become a supporting organization of NHCF.

New Mexico

The Los Alamos Community Foundation has announced that the Paul A. and Susan E. Bombardt K-12 Music Education Endowment for Los Alamos Public Schools funded a virtual masterclass and performance by the San Francisco string quartet Del Sol for students at Los Alamos High and Middle schools. LAHS alumnus Charlton Lee (class of '83) founded the quartet, and the group's recent album, Kooch-e Khaman, currently occupies the fifth spot on the Billboard Classical Charts.

Rhode Island

The Rhode Island Foundation has raised $3.1 million for an initiative to increase the number of teachers of color in Providence public schools. Students of color represent 80 percent of enrollment in the district, while only 20 percent of teachers are members of a minority group. The funding will be used to offer teacher candidates a college loan-repayment incentive totaling up to $25,000 over the first three years of their employment, in addition to the standard compensation package. Through the program, the district, which typically hires a hundred and seventy-five teachers or so every year, aims to hire more than a hundred and twenty-five minority teachers over the next five years.

Washington

The Seattle Foundation has announced the addition of Amy Banovich to its board of trustees. The managing partner of KPMG's Seattle office, Banovich currently serves on the foundation's audit committee.