Foundation Awards $1.6M+ in Support of Entrepreneurship
At the September Board Meeting, Burton D. Morgan Foundation Trustees approved grants totaling more than $1.6 million in grants to support entrepreneurship initiatives in Northeast Ohio.
The majority of approved funding was for youth entrepreneurship grants. Regional Junior Achievement organizations, including Junior Achievement of Eastern Ohio (formerly Junior Achievement of Mahoning Valley), Junior Achievement of Greater Cleveland, and Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio received a total of $490,000 for entrepreneurship programming and operations over a two-year period. Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio also received $50,000 to support the capital campaign to improve its headquarters in Canton. Morgan Foundation dollars will be used specifically to support the build out of a student collaboration space.
“Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio is committed to sustained growth in the high school entrepreneurship space,” commented Lori McCleese, the organization’s president. “As we continue to deepen the entrepreneurial experience for our students, we recognized the need for a space in our building dedicated to students. We could not do what we do without the support of Burton D. Morgan Foundation and hope to have the Burton D. Morgan Student Collaboration Zone open for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.”
Also receiving grants for youth entrepreneurship are:
Buckeye Local School District - $45,000 to support implementation of the Korda method
National Inventors Hall of Fame - $343,200 to support Camp Invention and Invention Project programming (two years)
Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship - $75,000 to support the Aspiring Entrepreneurs Program
University School - up to $211,285 to launch EntrepreNEW nationwide and explore integration into Ohio Career Technical Education
Western Reserve Historical Society - up to $177,750 for YEE for CLE entrepreneurship programming
Foundation Trustees also approved a grant of $44,650 for Kent State University Foundation to support the fourth biannual SkyHack hackathon, which invites students from across the U.S. to participate in team-based challenges to innovate solutions to critical needs in the aviation and aerospace sectors.
To benefit adult entrepreneurship, a grant of $70,000 was awarded to Ideastream to support the Making It video series and augmented regional business storytelling, and a grant of $124,000 to University of Akron Research Foundation to support Northeast Ohio community teams participating in I-Corps over a two-year period.
Foundation President and CEO Dan Hampu commented, “It is awesome to see the impact of these initiatives on entrepreneurs of all ages at a local and national scale. We are really excited to see what entrepreneurs can do with continued support of these programs”.
Other grants made by Morgan Foundation in the interim period between meetings to support entrepreneurship include:
Baldwin Wallace University - $20,000 for a pilot program to connect students involved in entrepreneurial experiences to industry credentials
Bounce Innovation Hub - $10,000 for sponsorship of the Startup Showcase
Cleveland State University Foundation - $20,000 for a pilot program to connect students involved in entrepreneurial experiences to industry credentials
East Liverpool Community Partnership for Revitalization - $20,000 for a challenge grant for initiatives that will bolster entrepreneurial activity in East Liverpool
Effective Leadership Academy - $5,000 for the Chamber Leadership Academy and Camp LEAD
Emmanuel Christian Academy - $20,000 for entrepreneurship programming
JumpStart - $20,000 to support Northeast Ohio students interested in pursuing tech-focused businesses
Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio - $8,000 to support three teams selected to compete in the national competition
Lorain County Community College Foundation - $20,000 for a pilot program to connect students involved in entrepreneurial experiences to industry credentials
Woodridge Local School System - $20,000 to support the EntrepreNEW initiative
The Foundation accepts applications for grants to benefit the Hudson community twice per year, on May 1 and September 1. Recent grants awarded for Hudson initiatives include:
Case-Barlow Bicentennial Farm - $1,500 for event support
City of Hudson - $1,200 for production of A Good Day in Hudson
EMS Outreach of Hudson - $1,000 for operating support
First Congregational Church of Hudson - $10,000 for operating support
Hudson City School District - $15,000 to support Hudson High School clubs
Hudson Farmers Market - $5,000 for operating support
Hudson Heritage Association - $250 for a Preservationist Membership
Hudson Job Search - $7,500 for video production
Hudson Rotary Foundation - $1,000 to support the scholarship fund
Seton Catholic School - $4,000 to support the Habits of the Heart youth philanthropy program
Western Reserve Academy - $4,000 to support the Student Philanthropy Program
The Foundation also made a recent proactive grant to American National Red Cross in the amount of $20,000 to provide disaster relief in response to recent flooding in Kentucky.