20 Brooklyn nonprofit organizations have been announced as finalists for this year's Spark Prize. The announcement was made by the Brooklyn Community Foundation — a local foundation that partners with donors and community leaders to support vital nonprofits.
The Spark Prize, which is now in its sixth year, awards monetary prizes to local nonprofits that spark change for a fair and just Brooklyn, said the Brooklyn Community Foundation.
Out of the 20 finalists selected for this year's Spark Award, five of them will ultimately be chosen to receive a $100,000 award respectively.
To qualify for the Spark Prize, the nonprofits were picked based upon four established criteria. Those criteria were: "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", according to the Brooklyn Community Foundation.
In addition, eligible nonprofits were also required to have a minimum budget of $250,000 and had to be an established organization for a minimum of five years.
This year's nonprofit organization finalists are:
- Arab-American Family Support Center
- Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
- Bridge Street Development Corporation
- Brownsville Community Development Corporation
- Carroll Gardens Association
- Envision Freedom Fund
- Family Legal Care
- Green City Force
- HousingPlus
- Jeremiah Program Brooklyn
- Kings Against Violence Initiative
- Mixteca Organization
- Neighborhood Housing Services of Brooklyn (NHS Brooklyn)
- New York State Youth Leadership Council
- Power of Two
- READ 718
- Seeds of Fortune Inc.
- STEM From Dance
- Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center
- Worker's Justice Project
All of the finalists were selected by a 34-person committee, simply called the Spark Prize Committee.
The next step for the committee will be to interview each respective nonprofit to decide which five will be selected to receive $100,000.
While just five nonprofits will be awarded the six-figure prizes, all 20 nonprofits will be receiving $5,000.
The $5,000 award given to each finalist is a donation match from the Brooklyn Community Foundation's #BrooklynGives on Giving Tuesday campaign.
The campaign — which takes place during Giving Tuesday on Nov. 29, 2022 — aims to raise $1 million for local, grassroots nonprofits that reside in the Brooklyn borough.
The five winners for the Spark Award will be selected sometime in January 2023. After the winners are chosen, there will be a Spark Breakfast event to celebrate all of the winners and finalists.
The Spark Breakfast is scheduled to take place on March 14, 2023, at the Brooklyn Museum.
