Grants Awarded for 2017

$33,000 – City of Cincinnati – Seasongood Summer Internships

Purpose: To provide six college students with the opportunity to intern full-time in Cincinnati municipal government, including in the Department of Economic Inclusion, the Citizen Complaint Authority, the Planning Department, the City Manager’s Office, the Office of Budget & Evaluation, and the Human Resources Department

 

$30,000 – Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition – Community Education on Poverty Solutions

Purpose: To advance community empowerment and citizen organizing initiatives, including affordable housing advocacy, organizing tenant associations, public education about the causes and symptoms of housing instability, and other efforts

 

$25,000 – Urban League of Greater Southwest Ohio – Community Police Partnering Center

Purpose: To build relationships and foster trust between police and the communities they serve, and to develop an understanding of equity, transparency, and shared accountability in police community relations

 

$25,000 – Cincinnati Public Radio, WVXU – Local Political and Governmental Reporting

Purpose: To provide accurate, in-depth, nonpartisan coverage of government in the Cincinnati metropolitan area

 

$20,000 – Peaslee Neighborhood Center – Building a Grassroots Movement for Equitable Development

Purpose: To submit to City of Cincinnati government officials a community-based development plan for the use of public space at Main and Schiller, and to cultivate leadership skills and organizing capacity among residents to continue to advocate for just and equitable development in Cincinnati neighborhoods

 

$16,000 – Applied Information Resources – Promoting the Need and the Potentials for Political Reform Part III

Purpose: To continue and build on work to educate and organize diverse groups of citizens in Southwest Ohio on the need for political reform, especially congressional redistricting reform and campaign finance reform

 

$15,000 – Fair Elections Legal Network – Cincinnati Campus Vote Project

Purpose: To combat misinformation and voter disenfranchisement on college campuses in Southwest Ohio, and to strengthen civic involvement among first-time voters by enlisting the support of faculty and student organizers within local universities and community colleges

 

$12,500 – Ohio Citizen Action – Engaging Citizen Advocates in Public Utilities Commission Decisions

Purpose: To organize Southwest Ohio ratepayers to advocate for energy efficiency and fair pricing before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) through mailings, public comments, and citizen lobbying

 

$10,000 – The Women’s Fund of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation – Appointed

Purpose:  To promote equal representation and accountability in government by educating and encouraging women to serve on governmental boards and commissions in Hamilton county

 

$10,000 – Beyond Civility – Communication for Effective Governance

Purpose: To educate citizens and train policymakers on how to engage in more functional and less polarizing political discourse

 

$10,000 – League of Women Voters – Nonpartisan Voter Guide

Purpose: To create and distribute more than 100,000 printed copies of a nonpartisan guide to the November 2017 election issues and candidates in Hamilton County, and also to circulate this guide online in digital form

 

$10,000 – Cincinnati Neighborhood Summit – Invest in Neighborhoods

Purpose: To convene active citizens, public officials, and community organizations for a day-long series of seminars, workshops, and presentations where Cincinnatians can learn, network, and collaborate to solve problems and improve their neighborhoods

 

$10,000 – The Sierra Club – Promoting Public Participation in Cincinnati’s Green Plan

Purpose: To educate and empower Cincinnati residents, especially those most affected by the cost and health hazards of unsustainable practices, to engage in the review, planning, and implementation of the Cincinnati Green Plan’s 2018 update

 

$10,000 – The Ohio Innocence Project

Purpose: To examine and work towards exoneration in the criminal cases of inmates where new evidence supports an inmate’s claim of innocence, and to educate law students as well as the general public about flaws in the criminal justice system

 

$6,000 – Woman’s City Club – National Speaker Forum

Purpose: To bring journalist Maria Hinojosa to Cincinnati to speak on issues of Latino immigration from her personal and professional perspective, and generate revenue to support the League’s other activities and projects throughout the year

 

$6,000 – Northern Kentucky University – Future Leaders Internship Program

Purpose: To provide the opportunity for 10 NKU students to work in various governmental capacities, including in the offices of State Representatives in the Kentucky General Assembly

 

$5,500 – The Buckeye Institute – Criminal Justice Reform Legal Internship

Purpose: To provide a law student with the opportunity to perform legal research related to over-criminalization in Ohio’s justice system

 

$5,500 – Hamilton County – Office of the County Administrator Internship

Purpose: To provide an opportunity for a college student to gain first-hand experience working with the County Administrator’s Office of a large urban county

 

$5,500 – Colerain Township – Planning and Zoning Department Internship

Purpose: To provide an opportunity for a college student to assist professional staff in the preparation of the Colerain Comprehensive Plan, especially by facilitating public engagement in the Plan’s creation

 

$5,500 – YMCA of Greater Cincinnati – Youth in Government

Purpose: To promote public service and civic engagement among local high school students through hands-on political and governmental simulations and through regular interactions with local and regional elected officials

 

$3,500 – Kenton County – Planning and Development Services Internship

Purpose: To provide an urban planning student the opportunity to learn about comprehensive planning, zoning, building, and engineering as an intern with Kenton County Planning and Development Services

 

$3,000 – Kids Voting Kentucky – Educational Programming

Purpose: To provide grade-tailored curriculum to middle and high school students in Northern Kentucky about local government and elections

 

$2,500 – Law and Leadership Institute – Summer Lunch & Learn

Purpose: To provide rising 9th graders with the opportunity to explore a possible future in law by meeting with public sector attorneys and legal professionals

 

$2,500 – League of Women Voters – Naturalization Ceremony Voter Registration

Purpose: To produce and circulate up-to-date, multilingual voting information to new United States citizens at bimonthly naturalization ceremonies, and to be a resource for these first-time voter

 

$600 – Public Service Recognition

Purpose: To recognize the talent and hard work of select civil servants and other public sector employees, as well as to recognize the outstanding service and commitment to community of high school and college students