BLACK EMPOWERMENT WORKS COMMUNITY REVIEWERS

Black Empowerment Works promotes Black self-determination, social mobility and economic prosperity by providing resources and funding to grassroots/community-based, Black-led work (ideas, programs and projects). Since its inception in 2020, the program has invested over $5 million into 130 ideas and their leaders.   

This work exists for two reasons:   

1. There is an over-representation of Black families experiencing poverty and an underinvestment in community-based, Black-led work and expertise to address it.   
2. We are compelled to hold spaces and provide resources to imagine and bring to life unencumbered, self-determined Black futures.   

This work would not be possible without the 116 community reviewers who, since the program’s inception in 2020, have invested over 3,000 hours reading applications, speaking with applicants and selecting grantees each cycle.  
 

We believe those closest to any opportunity or challenge are closest to the solution. This belief is foundational to the Black Empowerment Works program, both in terms of who receives investment and who has the power to make the investment decisions.

Community Reviewers are community members who are passionate about and invested in Black futures. They work collaboratively to decide what work gets funded each grant cycle.

Community Reviewers will work in small teams of three to five, evaluating a subset of the applications submitted. Through written application reviews and conversations with grant applicants, they will work to identify applicants in their pool they wish to fund. Final funding decisions will be made following the assessment of information collected from all review teams.

No prior experience is required.

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Each facet of the Black Empowerment Works grant cycle is intended to build solutions and align systems to help families in our community thrive, with a specific focus on Black families and individuals. The grant cycle is not solely about investing dollars into great, Black-led work, but also investing in the people who raise their hands to make the decisions.  

• Through our training program, we envision that all Community Reviewers will gain a deeper understanding of the following topics:
• How racial inequity impacts our community from a historical and current-day lens.
• How power and inequity show up in philanthropy and strategies to address it through community-building and relationships.
• How your individual strengths manifest, and the power of radical candor to navigate disagreements.

All reviewers will take the VIA Character Strengths Assessment.

By taking part in the decision-making process, Community Reviewers will experience the following:

• A deeper understanding of Black-led, grassroots work happening in Greater Cincinnati.  
• Connections with other community members passionate about providing resources to and funding Black work.
• Ongoing opportunities to engage in Black Empowerment Works.

We appreciate the time that our community members put into this process. While this is a volunteer opportunity, there are monetary tokens of appreciation offered.

In general, we are looking for people who are:   

• Active listeners, empathetic and relatable.   
• Active in their communities (however you define them, and preferably in support of Black people).
• Passionate about and/or connected to the mission of advancing the well-being of Black people. 
• Able to commit to fully participating in the process, including attending and completing trainings, application reviews and meetings.
• No prior experience is required! You do not have to identify as Black to apply to be a reviewer, though we will seek our selected reviewer panel to be majority Black.

The following is a timeline for the most recent BEW funding cycle. Grants for that period were awarded in 2023, but you may reference the outline below to understand Community Reviewer expectations. Reviewers committed about 30 hours to training, independent application review, decision-making meetings and grant applicant conversations.

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Click or tap below to watch recordings of each Black Empowerment Works Cycle 4 Workshop or watch on YouTube.

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• EMAIL US at black-led@uwgc.org
• CALL US at 513-762-7233