The Enterprise Holdings Foundation has announced grants totaling $7 million in support of efforts to advance social and racial equity in communities around the globe.

Inaugural local grants awarded through Enterprise Holdings ROAD Forward — a five-year, $55 million initiative launched in November 2020 with the goal of increasing respect, opportunity, achievement, and diversity (ROAD) — will support nearly seven hundred nonprofits working to address equity gaps facing youth and families in communities where the company operates. The company is allocating $35 million over five years to more than seventy global Enterprise operating teams that, in turn, identify local organizations best equipped to drive change in their own communities in three key areas: early childhood development, youth health and wellness, and career and college preparation.

Grant recipients include Brotherhood Crusade, which works to address unmet needs and health disparities, including poverty-associated public health conditions, of low-income, underserved, underrepresented, and disenfranchised individuals in South Los Angeles; Young Men United, which aims to close racial disparities in education and earnings by providing young men of color with mentoring opportunities, guidance throughout the college search and application process, financial and educational support, and internships and job experiences; and Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a Cleveland-based organization focused on helping local youth become economically self-sufficient through mentorship, skills and credentials training, career exploration, and internship and job searches.

"A commitment to the communities where we operate has been fundamental to our company since its founding in 1957," said Enterprise Holdings Foundation president Carolyn Kindle Betz. "ROAD Forward’s local grants will support the many outstanding organizations that are leading efforts to advance equity in their communities — and ultimately strengthen the areas where our employees live and work, one neighborhood at a time."

(Photo credit: Brotherhood Crusade)