News and Press

Independence Public Media Foundation Announces $9.8 Million in Total Grants Awarded in 2023

December 12, 2023

three members of a Philly drumline dancing and performing

PHILADELPHIA, December 12, 2023—The Independence Public Media Foundation (IPMF) announces $490,000 in its final grants for the year. The foundation has awarded a total of $9.8 million in grants for 2023.

The final group of grants are a mixture of new grants identified through IPMF's letter of inquiry process, continued support for current grantees, and emergency grants in support of shifting harmful media narratives about Palestinians.

IPMF board and staff released a statement of solidarity with Palestine in November, joining thousands around the country calling for a ceasefire and an end to the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. As part of the statement, the foundation committed $50,000 in emergency support towards local resistance efforts that aim to contest and shift harmful narratives. The following projects received support through the emergency fund:

The Philly Palestine Coalition ($25,000) to support the coalition’s media organizing, which focuses on countering harmful mainstream narratives of Palestine through different means of media. This grant will support the creation of messaging that tells the story about Palestine, push for a ceasefire and the end of U.S. aid to Israeli occupation of Palestine.
La La Lil Jidar Collective ($25,000) to support the continuation of “La La Lil Jidar” (“no no to the wall”), a multimedia project that uses interactive photography storytelling to showcase 20 years of the Apartheid Wall in Palestine, disrupting mainstream narratives about Palestinians due to Israeli media bias, thus building a larger global solidarity movement with a local community focus.

In addition to these grants, IPMF is providing matching dollars to six Greater Philadelphia area newsrooms as part of its annual participation in the NewsMatch campaign which raises funds for nonprofit newsrooms across the country.

Click here for the full list of grants.

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

Click here to explore our grants database.

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.

File Attachments

2023 Year-end Grants List (147.52 KB)

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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