Category: What’s Up

The Black Opportunity Fund is seeking volunteer Adjudicators to review and adjudicate applications for its upcoming granting program, which is provided through funding from the TD Ready Commitment. The upcoming BOF grant program launching in March of 2023, will have the following two program streams:

1) Arts and Culture
2) Criminal Justice

You should consider a nomination if:

– You are a Black individual, living in Canada, with an understanding of anti-Black racism and systemic racism and its effects on Black communities in Canada
– You can apply funding criteria and make fair, unbiased recommendations
– You have a deep sense of understanding barriers facing Black not-for-profits and charities in Canada
– You have previous experiencing reviewing or adjudicating grant applications, OR previous experience in Black community focused organizations
– You are bilingual (an asset!)

Self-nominations are accepted, please only consider nominating someone else with their consent! As this is a national grant program, BOF encourages applications from all regions of Canada.

BOF is committed to the fulsome inclusion of the Black Canadian experience through diverse representation; it is strongly encouraged that individuals from all backgrounds and identities consider applying.

What to Expect:

Adjudicators will be required to participate in a mandatory virtual orientation. Individuals should expect to volunteer up to 30 hours of their time before April 30th, 2023.

To apply, visit [Link]

The Grant Program will be open for applications in early March.

Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) is pleased to have recently submitted its proposal to administer the Government of Canada’s Black-Led Philanthropic Endowment Fund — a sustainable pool of capital to fund Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused (B3s) non-profits and charities across the country. Through this fund, the Government will provide one organization with stewardship of over $190M dedicated to improving socio-economic outcomes for Black Canadians.

Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) pleased to announce our newest launch of our grant program for Black Restaurant Entrepreneurs. This program is made possible through funding support from DoorDash.

With their ongoing commitment to helping level the playing field for Black Entrepreneurs, DoorDash is partnering with Black Opportunity Fund to provide #BlackFoodEnergy grants of $10,000 to Canadian Black-Owned Restaurants who are focused on innovation within the food industry.

Black Opportunity Fund partners strategically with community organizations, businesses, philanthropic organizations, and government to provide Black-led community organizations, and government to provide Black-led community organizations and Black-led businesses with the capital and other resources they need to build capacity and to fulfill their their mandates.

#BlackFoodEnergy is an extension of the DoorDash Entrepreneurship & Access Program, which offers additional support for restaurants on the DoorDash platform owned by women and people of colour.

#BlackFoodEnergy specifically celebrates, amplifies, and supports Black Chefs and Black-Owned restaurants and the amazing things they are serving up in neighbourhoods across Canada.

For more information about the program, please visit:.

https://blackopportunityfund.ca/funding-programs/blackfoodenergy-restaurant-grant/

Black Opportunity Fund (BOF) is pleased to have achieved the milestone of 2 years. We have made significant progress in fulfilling our mandate in a relatively short time, and positively impacted the communities we serve. BOF has provided philanthropic grants to Black led and Black serving non-profits and charities across the country, and provided capacity-building support and funding to Canadian Black businesses. We are proud to highlight some of our key partnerships and programs as well as the Black led organizations that have benefited from our support.

Eradicating the impacts of systemic anti-Black racism will take many years, but we are dedicated to continuing to do our part to help shorten the journey.

On June 29, 2022, Walmart Canada announced today a partnership with Black Opportunity Fund and SickKids Foundation’s Black Experience @ SickKids Strategy, supporting health equity for the Black community, their families and in particular to improve health outcomes for Black Canadian children affected by and living with Sickle Cell Disease across Canada.

A powerfully insightful conversation on the Dr  Vibe Show with Dr. Isaac Odame , Head of Haemotology at Sick Kids, BOF Executive Director, Craig Wellington and Ingrid Wilson, CHRL, CMS  , Director of Diversity Inclusion & Culture at Walmart Canada, discuss the impact this partnership will have on Canada’s Black communities.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend our virtual townhall last Wednesday! We were so pleased with the turnout and the feedback from our community members and thrilled to have shared some updates on our Sickle Cell Disease partnership with SickKids and Walmart Canada, some of our recipients of our Education and Health Grant program with TD and the work we do with BMO, National Bank and the Canadian Black Chamber of Commerce to support Black Entrepreneurs.

If you missed our townhall, you can watch the recording in full here: https://youtu.be/MCRP8_DDPIw

As always, our commitment is to serve and empower Canada’s diverse Black communities and we look forward to our progress ahead.