News and Press

Independence Public Media Foundation Announces $2.4 million in First Grants of 2023

March 30, 2023

a group of people seating in a circle having a discussion

PHILADELPHIA, March 30, 2023—The Independence Public Media Foundation (IPMF) announces $2.4 million, in its first grants of 2023, for ongoing support of community-centered and -led journalism and media-making.

The grants include a three-year, $1.6 million grant to Resolve Philly, for continued operating support. Resolve’s vision is for collaborative, equitable, and solutions-focused journalism that centers communities’ needs and voices in reporting. IPMF and Resolve’s years-long partnership reflects a deep commitment to community-first news and information that is useful and meaningful to people’s lives, and that accurately and carefully represents people’s lived experiences.

IPMF also awarded a three-year, $600,000 grant to the Leeway Foundation for continued support of their Media Artist-in-Residence Program. This program pairs media artists with nonprofits to work collaboratively on media projects important to their communities. Past projects have included creating a digital archive with the Paul Robeson House; short videos about the “Care, Not Control” campaign to end youth incarceration in Pennsylvania; and a short film detailing the successes and learnings of an immigrant justice rights organization. The grant also includes additional funds for media artists through other Leeway programs.

“As a foundation, we believe it’s critical to provide ongoing support and multi-year grants to build and strengthen community storytelling and media-making for justice movements,” said IPMF Program Officer, Nuala Cabral. “We are paying attention to who is represented and what narratives get told.”

This group of grants also includes a partnership with the Lenfest Institute for Journalism and the Knight-Lenfest Local News Transformation Fund to support the Philadelphia Media Founder's Exchange (PMFE). IPMF contributed $150,000 toward the second year of PMFE, an accelerator program supporting BIPOC media entrepreneurs through training, one-on-one coaching, and grantmaking.

IPMF also awarded $50,500 to three organizations for community storytelling and archive, and film projects:

YallaPunk ($10,000) for a weekly morning talk show that highlights the accomplishments of and current events relevant to the Southwest Asian & North African community, with a focus on LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Cultural Justice Project ($31,000) for a community-owned multimedia archive that highlights arts and culture work for social change by Latinx communities in Philadelphia.
Palestine Writes Literature Festival ($9,500) for the production of a short documentary of the first in-person Palestinian literature festival in North America, to be held in Philadelphia.

IPMF expects to share on its website in April the details and deadlines for its Community Voices open call, as well as details for film and small project grant requests for 2023.

Click here to see a full listing of our grants.

Contact Enni Aigbomian for more information, enni@independencemedia.org

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About Independence Public Media Foundation
Formerly known as WYBE Channel 35, Independence Public Media Foundation was founded in 2018 when WYBE sold its broadcast license as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s Broadcast Incentive Auction and received a one-time payment of $131.5 million. With these funds, IPMF supports Black-led, Indigenous-led, and people-of-color led media organizations and media making projects that help communities build their narrative power for equity and justice.

Author

Enni Aigbomian

Enni uses storytelling and visual media to advocate for disenfranchised communities in the U.S. and abroad. Her work focuses on the African diaspora and Indigenous communities in the Americas, as well as the socio-economic rights of women and children. A communicator for social change, Enni has collaborated with international community media and nonprofits such as World Young Women’s Christian Association, Fundación CEDESOCIAL, Vokaribe Radio, and HOPE Worldwide, Bolivia.

Enni has worked with Philadelphia community media and nonprofits such as the American Friends Service Committee, FunTimes Magazine, and Philatinos Radio. She also served as the first head of communications at Read by 4th, Philadelphia’s grade-level reading campaign managed by the Free Library of Philadelphia. She sits on the board of Shelterforce Magazine, an independent publication that covers the worlds of community development, affordable housing, and neighborhood stabilization.

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