$3M partnership to support Indy neighborhood nonprofits

The Indianapolis Foundation, city of Indianapolis, and Columbus-based Cummins Inc. (NYSE: CMI) are teaming up to launch a new $3 million program aimed at strengthening communities. The three-year Neighborhood Empowerment Pathways program aims to support local nonprofit organizations that are working to solve community challenges.

The program will include executive mindset, strategic planning, and budget training opportunities that will ultimately help strengthen the infrastructure of the participating organizations. The trainings will also be supported with mini-grants, which the partners say will enable the nonprofits to close gaps in infrastructure while learning sustainable processes.

“The goal of this collaboration is not typical capacity-building,” said Pamela Ross, vice president of community leadership and equitable initiatives for The Indianapolis Foundation. “This work is rooted in the foundation’s equity mission and belief in anti-racism. Our primary target is to honor and support the agency and assets of Black and Brown residents and neighborhoods in Indianapolis.”

The partners cite a report by New York-based Echoing Green, which found that Black- and Latinx-led nonprofits receive significantly less funding and support than their White-led peers. Ross says the partnership will work to specifically address these inequities.

“Through this partnership, Cummins wanted to build a program to help smaller, Black-led neighborhood organizations that provide essential community services,” said Mary Titsworth Chandler, vice president of community relations at Cummins. “We think this innovative partnership will do just that.”

The program will prioritize organizations with annual operating budgets of $250,000 and less, as well as those led by Black, Indigenous and other people of color.