$2 Million Gift From the Yield Giving Open Call Awarded Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts
Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 19, 2024 – Today, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts as one of the Yield Giving Open Call’s awardees working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. Keshet Dance & Center for the Arts received $2 million.
Rooted in dance, mentorship, and a welcoming space for the arts, Keshet activates community and fosters unlimited possibilities through education, engagement, innovation, and the pursuit of justice. The core of our organization is the Keshet Dance Company, who feed and are fed by three intersecting program areas: Education and Engagement, Arts and Justice Initiatives, and the Ideas and Innovation Community.
In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources.
The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause, and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.
“We at Keshet are thrilled and honored to receive this transformative gift from the Yield Giving Fund!” says Shira Greenberg, Keshet Founder and Artistic Director. “We are full of gratitude to Mackenzie Scott for her belief in the power of trust-based philanthropy and investing in those who invest in community! And to the Yield team for bringing this vision to fruition so graciously and intentionally. We are also so grateful to the Keshet Board for their thoughtful stewardship, and the Keshet Staff for the ongoing passion and compassion they bring to their work and our community! Further, we are grateful to our vibrant Keshet community for their continued belief in the power of dance at its many intersections of healing, justice, and beauty. We are honored to share this experience with so many other incredible organizations across the country impacted by the 2024 Yield Award!”
“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”
More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.
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Yield Giving
Established by MacKenzie Scott to share a financial fortune created through the effort of countless people, Yield Giving is named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. To date, Yield’s network of staff and advisors has yielded over $16,500,000,000 to 1,900+ non-profit teams to use as they see fit for the benefit of others. To learn more, visit www.yieldgiving.com.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change connects donors with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized challenges and other tailored funding opportunities. Top-ranked teams and challenge finalists become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding, amplify members’ impact, and accelerate social change. Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change has influenced over $1.7 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 145 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.