Michael Jordan and the Jordan Brand are continuing the next steps in their $100 million commitment to the Black community.
According to CNBC, the basketball legend and his company will offer social justice organizations funds from a $1 million community grant program. The money will go towards helping the organizations fight issues that negatively affect the Black community. Only businesses with budgets of $3 million or less will be considered to receive the grants. The first Community Grants Program cycle will open beginning March 31 until April 30. The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors will facilitate the program.
“Since announcing our commitment to the Black Community in June of 2020, we’ve been focused on two things – action and impact,” Craig Williams, Jordan brand president, said in a statement. “I’m excited about the impact these grants will have in the Black Community. We know that when we create positive change for the Black Community, there is a benefit for almost every other group.”
Last summer, Jordan and his company made a pledge to donate $100 million over the next 10 years to organizations that were dedicated to promoting racial equality and social justice. Their pledge came at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was reignited following the death of George Floyd.
“Black lives matter,” the Jordan Brand previously said in a statement. “This isn’t a controversial statement. Until the ingrained racism that allows our country’s institutions to fail is completely eradicated, we will remain committed to protecting and improving the lives of Black people.”
The Jordan Brand also donated $2.5 million to fight Black voter suppression. A donation of $1 million each was given to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and the Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM). Another donation of $500,000 was given to Black Voters Matter. The organizations were chosen based on their “ability to take action that can create impact now” prior to the 2020 presidential election.