The Chicago-based Joyce Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $14.4 million to seventy-two nonprofit organizations working to reduce poverty and violence in the Great Lakes region and provide area residents with access to good schools, decent jobs, a vibrant democracy, and a diverse and thriving cultural life.

Awarded in the areas of democracy, education, employment, environment, gun violence, culture, and special opportunities, the grants include $60,000 over two years to New York City-based NEO Philanthropy, Inc. in support of a program designed to help the philanthropic sector prepare for the 2020 Census and the organization's 2016 annual convening in Minneapolis; $250,000 over two years to Editorial Projects in Education in Bethesda, Maryland, to underwrite news coverage of education policies affecting the teaching profession in Education Week, on the edweek.org website, and in a special report for edweek.org's Education Week Teacher channel; $325,000 over twelve months to the National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies (Digital Promise) in Washington, D.C., to promote and support the creation and effective adoption of digital learning tools that help adults acquire essential basic skills; and $300,000 over two years to the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council to protect and improve the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

The foundation also awarded $30,000 over twelve months to the City of Minneapolis Police Department for a project that will address youth gun violence through enhanced community engagement; $250,000 over twelve months to New Profit Inc. in Boston to conduct the design phase of a prize competition that will identify and reward the most effective programs for teaching personal success skills; $300,000 over two years to Civic Consulting Alliance in Chicago to provide strategic consulting to the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois in the areas of education, employment, public safety, and culture; and $35,000 over twelve months to Independent Curators International in New York City in support of curatorial scholarships for curators of color.

For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the Joyce Foundation website.