After a yearâs hiatus with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brooklyn Community Foundation SPARK Prize has returned for 2021 â" and the organization has announced the 20 nonprofit finalists for the $100,000 prize.
The SPARK Prize was launched in 2015 honoring long-standing nonprofits that have sparked change across Brooklyn, with previous winners including The Brownsville Community Justice Center, The Noel Pointer Foundation, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Cypress Hills Child Care Corporation and VOCAL-NY.
The 2021-22 finalists were chosen by a 35-member Spark Prize Committee, which will now undertake interviews with the finalists and select five winners to each receive the $100,000 âno strings attachedâ award in January 2022.
Finalists and winners are chosen based upon their embodiment of the Prizeâs four criteria: commitment to equity and racial justice, track record of impact in Brooklyn, strong institutional values, and a dynamic vision for the future of their organization, BCF said in a press release.
To be eligible, organizations must have a minimum annual budget of $250,000 and have been in operation for at least five years. Of the 20 finalist organizations, 80% are led by people of color, 100% are led by women, trans, or gender nonconforming individuals, and 80% have annual operating budgets under $2 million.
This yearâs finalists are:
- Arab American Association of New York
- Arab-American Family Support Center
- Black Women's Blueprint
- Brownsville Community Culinary Center
- Brooklyn College Community Partnership
- Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A
- Brooklyn Movement Center
- Center for Community Alternatives
- Center for NuLeadership on Human Justice and Healing
- Extreme Kids & Crew
- The F.A.R.M.
- Girl Be Heard
- Good Call NYC
- Grow Brooklyn
- Groundswell Community Mural Project
- Mixteca Organization
- Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn
- New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives
- Weeksville Heritage Center
Each finalist organization will receive a $5,000 donation match from the Foundation during the #BrooklynGives on Giving Tuesday campaign, which launches November 9 and culminates on Giving Tuesday, November 30.
