Ballmer Group Welcomes New Grantees for February and March 2025

Ballmer Group is pleased to share some of our recently announced grants:

Partnership for Los Angeles Schools: Partnership for Los Angeles Schools is one of the largest, in-district public school transformation organizations in the U.S. It manages 20 LA Unified schools that serve 13,500 students and builds the capacity of school leaders, teachers, families, and community partners to enable long-term progress and student achievement.

United Way for Southeastern Michigan: Powered by the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Summer Discovery gives students and families in Southeast Michigan greater access to learning and activity opportunities during the summer break. Summer Discovery provides free, high-quality educational and enrichment experiences that enhance academic outcomes, enable youth career exposure, strengthen the ability of parents to work, and keep children safe and engaged in learning.

City Year Detroit: City Year improves student and whole school outcomes through partnering with AmeriCorps and placing young adults to serve as tutors, coaches, and mentors in schools with high needs populations. Our grant supports City Year Detroit's expansion to more Detroit Public Schools Community District schools to deliver interconnected services in grades 3-9 so that students reach the 10th grade on track and on time.

LeaderIn: LeaderIn creates space and community for purpose-driven executives from the business, public, and social sectors to improve their overall resilience and wellbeing. LeaderIn is a membership community formed to address leadership burnout and to provide the holistic leadership development needed to successfully navigate a rapidly changing environment.

Digital Harbor Foundation: Digital Harbor Foundation unlocks opportunities and access by disrupting the root causes of the digital divide in our communities. Our grant supports Digital Harbor's management of the Safety Net Product Studio, which seeks to source, support, and scale AI tools that improve access to and delivery of public benefits programs.

Ownership Works: Ownership Works fuels the movement to establish employee ownership as the new standard of socially responsible business and investing. Ownership Works provides technical assistance and hands-on guidance to implement shared ownership programs within large corporations, which can help millions of lower-income workers and people of color build savings and wealth, often for the first time, at businesses that are more dynamic, resilient, and successful.

The Marshall Project: The Marshall Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that, through journalism, seeks to create and sustain a sense of national urgency to make the U.S. criminal justice system more fair, effective, transparent, and humane.

Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy: A project of the University of Chicago Crime Lab, the Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy (CVILA) is a pioneering program designed to strengthen organizations that reduce violence. CVILA trains CVI leaders in program management, staff development and retention, data literacy, and evaluation, so they ultimately can make a greater impact at scale and enhance overall public safety.

Detroit Life is Valuable Everyday: Detroit Life Is Valuable Everyday (DLIVE) is a hospital-based violence intervention initiative that provides evidence-based, long-term, holistic aftercare for youth and young adults who have sustained acute, intentional violent trauma. DLIVE's transformative interventions make communities safer by preventing re-injury and retaliation and breaking the pervasive cycle of violence.

The Detroit Regional Talent Compact: The Detroit Regional Talent Compact is led by Detroit Drives Degrees, the Detroit Regional Chamber’s collective impact initiative that brings together business, philanthropy, government, and education to accomplish two goals: increase Detroit's postsecondary attainment rate to 60% and reduce its racial equity gap by 50% by 2030. Our grant strengthens regional talent preparation by better connecting students to career exposure, work-based learning, and credentials that lead to good jobs.

Purpose Built Communities: Purpose Built Communities partners with local leaders to unleash the power and promise within neighborhoods, opening pathways to prosperity and opportunity for all. Our grant helps create and implement a data system across their national network of 27 Place Based Partnerships, which will drive more data-informed decisions and better outcomes for communities.

Educare Los Angeles at Long Beach: Educare Los Angeles at Long Beach increases access to high-quality early learning across southern California and serves as a hub to model how early learning programs can provide quality early education, partner with families, and advocate for education practice and policy.

King County Promise: A program under King County’s Children, Youth, and Young Adults division, King County Promise provides services that support young people from high school through postsecondary acceptance and completion. Our grant enables a comprehensive evaluation of King County Promise to identify learnings and shape strategic direction to optimize the program's next phase of growth and scale.

Imagine Institute: The Imagine Institute supports affordable, high-quality care for every child in Washington State by building a development system that elevates and improves the lives of child care providers and professionals. Our grant bolsters Imagine Institute's trainings, resources, professional development, and mentoring programs - all designed to help people start and expand their child care businesses.

State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO): Michigan's Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity launched the Community & Worker Economic Transition Office (CWETO) in February 2024 to support the state's workers, communities, and employers as they navigate the clean energy transition. Our grant will support CWETO's foundational work in conducting research on the magnitude and nature of the impact of the transition, building community coalitions to manage the transition, and developing scalable playbooks of transition strategies.

Lever for Change: Lever for Change connects donors with problem solvers to provide large-scale, long-term funding and accelerate social change. Lever for Change builds the knowledge base of the philanthropy sector by identifying and vetting outstanding but under-recognized leaders and organizations, raising their visibility, offering them ongoing support, and increasing their funding opportunities to grow their impact.

Education Service District 105: In Washington, educational service districts (ESDs) support school districts and communities. ESD 105, located in Yakima, WA, serves almost 70,000 students across 25 school districts located in four counties. Our grant will build ESD 105's capacity to universally assess students' social, emotional, behavioral, mental health and well-being; provide critical data for the early identification of students who may require additional support and intervention; and strengthen behavioral and mental health supports and referrals.

GirlTREK: With more than one million members, GirlTREK is working to ensure Black women can live longer, healthier lives. Energized by the discipline of daily walking, GirlTREK aims to sustain and scale behavior change and improved health outcomes while healing intergenerational trauma, fighting systemic racism, mobilizing community members, and advocating for health justice.

LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment: The LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment (PECI) invests in and promotes innovations that advance the lifelong health and well-being of LA County children, age 0-5. Our grant supports PECI's efforts to involve, include, and amplify perspectives and voices of parents and child care leaders to help inform the region’s early childhood policies and programs.

The Washington School-Based Health Alliance: The Washington School-Based Health Alliance (WA SBHA) advances health equity for youth by supporting the state's school-based health centers. School-based health centers offer integrated physical, mental, dental, and other health services, aiming to meet the healthcare needs of a diverse population of students directly on campus. WA SBHA brings together students, schools, and families; strengthens existing healthcare connections; provides care for students who may not have access otherwise; and keeps students healthy and ready to learn.

Share Our Strength: Share Our Strength is dedicated to ending childhood hunger in the US by partnering with schools, community groups, and local governments to improve access to meals, provide nutrition education, and advocate for policies that strengthen food programs. A new, permanent benefits program called Summer EBT has the potential to radically reduce childhood hunger by providing families with money for groceries during the summer months. Our grant will bolster Share Our Strength's critical role supporting the successful launch and implementation of Summer EBT, working closely with state agencies administering the program and centering the perspectives of eligible kids and families.