TYSONS, Va.—Tegna Foundation and Tegna’s local stations have announced that they have awarded 242 Community Grants to address critical community needs and initiatives.
The Tegna Foundation Community Grants program addresses local community needs by supporting nonprofit organizations in communities served by Tegna. A summary of Tegna Foundation’s 2023 Community Grants is available on the Foundation’s website.
Tegna reported that the majority of 2023 Community Grants support the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs): Good Health and Well-Being (59%); Quality Education (21%); and Zero Hunger (13%).
“Our stations partner with their local communities to help nonprofits build on their mission not only through Tegna Foundation grants, but also through station fundraising efforts and storytelling,” said Dave Lougee, president and CEO, Tegna. “It is a privilege to work with our stations and employees to collaborate with organizations that are making a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals and families within our communities.”
Within the UN Sustainable Goal framework, several grants stand out as areas particularly significant to the local communities served, including:
- Good Health and Well-Being (59%). WUSA in Washington, D.C., focused the majority of their Community Grants on Good Health and Well-Being, including support for STRIPES, an afterschool LGBTQ+ alliance for low-income youth of color at Latin American Youth Center; support for Step Sisters to provide patient care bags to veteran breast cancer patients at Ft. Belvoir; and support for the Dental Service Project at The Arc of Prince George’s County, which allows individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to receive extensive and deferred dental care they are otherwise not able to afford.
- Quality Education (21%). WKYC in Cleveland, the “Education Station,” focused their Community Grants on pressing education needs in their local community. Recent grants include supporting education programs at the Cleveland Public Theatre; supporting the AARP Foundation’s Experience Corps, which provides trained volunteers aged 50 and older to tutor first through third graders in reading with Greater Cleveland Volunteers; and supporting the recruitment and training of tutors to work with students at Seeds of Literacy.
- Zero Hunger (13%). KXTV in Sacramento, focused on making an impact on the hunger crisis in Sacramento by supporting seven area food banks, including: Emergency Food Bank, Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano, Placer Food Bank, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services, Second Harvest of the Greater Valley, Yolo Food Bank, and Yuba-Sutter Food Bank.
- Decent Work & Economic Growth (3%). Several Tegna stations focused grantmaking on Decent Work & Economic Growth. WGRZ in Buffalo supported a workforce development program, providing training and employment to the visually impaired at Visually Impaired Advancement. KUSA in Denver supported Prodigy Ventures' 12- to 18-month paid apprenticeships for young adults at Prodigy Coffeehouse. WFAA in Dallas provided employment reintegration services for individuals recently discharged from the military or released from prison through The Awareness Project.
In addition to Community Grants, the Tegna Foundation Board of Directors also approved two Media Grants, providing support to the ABA Fund for Justice and Education for the First Amendment and Media Law Diversity Moot Court Competition, introducing minority law students to the practice of media law, and a $25,000 grant to Carole Kneeland Project in honor of their 25th anniversary providing leadership development training for local journalists.
Tegna Foundation also approved four grants identified by an employee-led committee through the DE&I Grant program, including support for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, US Committee for Immigrants and Refugees, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund.
These grants represent the final four of 39 grants the employee-led DE&I Grant Committee recommended in 2023, focused on programs including Environmental Justice, LGBTQ+ youth and seniors, and Disability Pride Awareness, the company said.
A selection of special grants were also approved by the Foundation Board of Directors, including general support for T. Howard Foundation and IRTS Foundation and support for Freedom of the Press Foundation’s journalist cybersecurity trainings.
Tegna Foundation Community Grants are vetted by a committee of employees at each station, including the station general manager, and approved by the Tegna Foundation Board of Directors. To learn more and/or apply for a Tegna Foundation Community Grants, visit https://www.tegnafoundation.org/.
