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Nissan Foundation Grants Announced

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It’s the month of June, which means it’s time for the Nissan Foundation to announce its annual list of grant recipients. For 2018, the foundation selected 29 organizations from the states of California, Michigan, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, Tennessee, and New York to receive a piece of a $730,000 pie.

Every year the Nissan Foundation focuses on assisting nonprofits that promote understanding and the value of ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity. Over the past 26 years it has distributed over $10 million to about 120 organizations based in the areas of the United States that Nissan does its manufacturing or corporate business.


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Diversity and respect between races is especially important for the foundation because Nissan created it in response to the unrest in Southern California following the Rodney King trial verdict. At the time, the Japanese automaker had its North American headquarters in the area, and after the events of that year it committed itself to supporting the work of organizations that strive to heal rifts in our communities.

“These organizations do extremely important work in our communities,” said Vicki Smith, executive director, Nissan Foundation. “Many grantee organizations are bringing cultural diversity to life in compelling ways, while others focus on the challenges of eliminating prejudice and discrimination. Each organization is making a valuable contribution to building respect and greater understanding among people – not just in their communities, but often on a national level.”


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This year some of the standout grant recipients include the Nashville Public Library Foundation, which Library Journal named the best library of the year for 2017. Its grant will be funding the “Civil Rights and a Civil Society: Critical Dialogues in Equity, Race and Identity” program which works to train law enforcement so that they may better serve diverse communities. In Michigan, the Arab American National Museum will use its funding to continue its Friday outreach curriculum.

For the complete list of award recipients, check out the original Nissan press release. If you think you know a non-profit that would be a perfect fit for the Nissan Foundation, entries will open up for 2019 on Friday, Oct. 26.