Independence Public Media Foundation Announces $6.1 Million in Grants for 2024

PHILADELPHIA, December 12, 2024 —The Independence Public Media Foundation (IPMF) announces $697,453 in its final grants for the year. The foundation has awarded a total of $6.1 million in grants for 2024 in support of community storytelling, media for movement building, and internet for all.

This final group of grants provides ongoing support for current grantees and includes a funding collaboration between Democracy Fund and IPMF. Through this partnership, three local organizations were awarded $247,000 to expand access to internet that is collectively owned and managed by local communities and strengthen community organizing for digital equity. The grants are:

• Technology Learning Collaborative and Philly Community Wireless ($40,000) — to support a partnership between the Technology Learning Collaborative and Philly Community Wireless in providing technological assistance to organizations that want to create community internet networks throughout the region.
• Keystone Internet Coalition ($170,000) — to support the Keystone Internet Coalition as it advocates for statewide community-led digital equity initiatives.
• Digital Literacy Alliance ($37,000) — to support digital equity initiatives throughout the city of Philadelphia.

In addition to these grants, IPMF is partnering with the Samuel S. Fels Fund and United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey to support the Regional Pooled Wellness Fund. The initiative offers opportunities for nonprofit staff to prevent burnout by fostering community connections and engaging in wellness practices that promote personal and interpersonal well-being.

The foundation is also providing matching dollars to four newsrooms as part of its annual participation in the NewsMatch campaign which raises funds for nonprofit newsrooms across the country.

Below is the full list of grants:

Community Storytelling

“Affordable Housing” directed by Wi-Moto Nyoka
$10,000
Post-production support for "Affordable Housing." The film delves into the hardships—taking moments for comic relief—that come with the continued rise of the cost of living, nationwide evictions and subsequent protests.

“Barrio Television” directed by Christina DiPasquale
$20,000
Post-production support of "Barrio Television," a documentary that seeks to energize and inspire Black and brown-led grassroots media organizing in Philadelphia and beyond.

DayOneNotDayTwo
$40,000
To support the Community Apprentice Fellowship as it provides community-centered journalism training to North Philadelphia residents.

“Della Can Fly!” directed by Jasmine Lynea
$9,553
Post-production support for "Della Can Fly," a supernatural sci-fi film about an eccentric 80-something-year-old man who needs to prove his long-lost sister can fly, to preserve family history and rectify a family myth.

“Fox Chase Boy” directed by Gerad Argeros 
$10,000
Post-production support for "Fox Chase Boy," a documentary that engages comedy and memoir to acknowledge and confront deep personal and communal traumas inflicted within a close-knit Catholic parish in Northeast Philadelphia.

Just Media
$86,000
Continued support for the Philly Movement Media Fellowship that provides comprehensive journalism training to young storytellers from marginalized communities impacted by the criminal legal system, teaching them to reframe the media narrative around policing.

Obscured Journalism Initiative (Kouvenda Media)
$7,000
To support Obscured Journalism Initiative's podcast which aims to raise the profile of, and introduce audiences to, underreported, complex issues missed by the daily news cycle.

Research for Action
$8,500
To support a digital archive and podcast that centers and amplifies the voices of Black educators in Philadelphia.

Telling Our Stories Exhibit
$14,000
To support the "Telling Our Stories" exhibit in City Hall, which features and celebrates 15 Years of PhillyCAM's work as a public access television in Philadelphia.

“To Springfield with Love” directed by Tatiana Bacchus
$15,000
To support "To Springfield with Love," a digital docu-series aimed at fostering solidarity and offering a sense of belonging for recently arrived Haitian immigrants, while addressing growing xenophobic rhetoric in local and national media.

“Wisdom Gone Wild” directed by Rea Tajiri
$7,900
Post-production support for "Wisdom Gone Wild," a personal documentary following a 16-year caregiving journey into dementia for Rose Noda, a Japanese-American woman and her filmmaker-daughter Rea. The film follows a non-linear structure going between hospice, early onset, and mid-term dementia; mirroring Rose's own erratic "travels through time."

YES! (Your Empowered Sexuality) 
$10,000
Continued support for the “What is Sex?” podcast.

Internet for All

Digital Literacy Alliance (DLA)
$37,000
To support DLA's digital equity initiatives throughout the city of Philadelphia.

Keystone Internet Coalition
$170,000
To support the Keystone Internet Coalition as it advocates for statewide community-led digital equity initiatives.

Media, Inequality, and Change (MIC) Center
$97,500
To support MIC Center's Pennsylvania Broadband Research Institute.

Technology Learning Collaborative and Philly Community Wireless
$40,000
To support a partnership between the Technology Learning Collaborative and Philly Community Wireless in providing technological assistance to organizations that want to create community internet networks throughout the region.

Media for Movement Building

Movement of Immigrant Leaders in Pennsylvania (MILPA)
$50,000
To support Radio MILPA and the creation of a bilingual radio series about the struggles of poor and working-class communities across Pennsylvania.

Philly Palestine Coalition
$30,000
To produce a multimedia archive showcasing the movement for Palestinian liberation in Philadelphia since 2023.

Field Building

Newsmatch
$15,000
To provide matching funds for four nonprofit newsrooms: The Objective, Resolve Philly, Spotlight PA and Documented.

United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey
$20,000
To support the Regional Pooled Wellness Fund, facilitated by the Samuel S. Fels Fund, which provides opportunities for nonprofit staff to prevent burnout by building community and engaging in wellness practices that promote personal and interpersonal wellbeing.

For more information, contact Enni Aigbomian, enni@independencemedia.org

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 community-owned and -led media and internet projects in the Greater Philadelphia area. The foundation envisions a local media landscape that truly reflects the diverse and complex lived experiences of its residents by moving resources to communities historically harmed by systems of oppression and media erasure.