MetLife Foundation has announced grants totaling $10 million to 24 nonprofits for efforts to address the income and wealth divide.

Grants were awarded through the Accelerating Commitment to Equity (ACE) Innovation Fund, which aims to democratize access to capital for nonprofit organizations addressing income and wealth inequality in communities that have been historically and systemically disinvested. Grantees will receive $250,000 over two years to address areas such as financial security and longevity, small business growth and job creation, narrative change, homeownership, affordable housing and community revitalization, and good jobs. Recipients include Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative, which will work to accelerate the capacity building and technical assistance programming of business-serving organizations to prepare Black-owned businesses to receive capital; La Casa de Don Pedro, which will work to implement healthy homes and community empowerment programs in Newark, New Jersey; and The Laundromat Project, which will accelerate programs that build stronger community connections, promote cultural preservation, and facilitate generational wealth building for longtime residents of Brooklyn, New York.

“We are living in a dynamic environment that requires us to address the most pressing issues of today head on, while advancing our work for the future,” said Tia Hodges, MetLife Foundation president and CEO and MetLife’s head of corporate giving and employee volunteerism. “Our vision for the ACE Innovation Fund is to address the growing income and wealth divide and instill confidence for the future by investing in the visionary, bold, and forward-looking solutions of today’s leaders and nonprofits.”

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