No More Guesswork: Inside Our Grantmaking Decisions By Rochelle Williams, Chief Strategy Officer I work at a foundation, but in the past, I had a love/hate relationship with philanthropy. I had spent over two decades working in the nonprofit...

Welcoming Our New Trustees We are excited to welcome two new members to our board of trustees. Spartanburg native Brandi Gist has dedicated 23 years of her 26-year career to education, with a focus on supporting local students and their families....

A New Year’s Message from Foundation President & CEO The staff and board of trustees of the Mary Black Foundation would like to wish you a happy and healthy 2025! We are excited about the opportunities ahead and grateful...

A Grateful Goodbye: Highlighting the Foundation’s Retiring Trustees As the year comes to a close, the Foundation prepares to bid a fond farewell to two dedicated members of its board of trustees: Anna Converse, who has served for 11...

Mary Black Foundation announces new strategies to guide investments in children and families By Rochelle Williams, Vice President of Strategy and Programs Last year, our team at the Mary Black Foundation announced that we were evolving our grantmaking priorities...

Did you know that we offer loans? In addition to traditional grantmaking, the Mary Black Foundation offers low-interest loans for projects in our community.  The Foundation makes regular investments in the stock market but also invests up to 7%...

What We Are Learning About Trust-Based Philanthropy Over the past several years, the Mary Black Foundation has moved towards more trust-based, unrestricted grantmaking. This means, the Foundation relies on input from our partners and the community to inform our...

Catching Up With Antiwan Antiwan Tate is the founder and executive director of My Brother’s Keeper-Spartanburg. He is the 2024 recipient of the Dr. George Newby, Jr. Health Equity Leadership Award and we recently had the opportunity to catch...

Responding to Feedback How We’re Improving the Grant Application Process Natalia Valenzuela Swanson | Senior Program Director The Mary Black Foundation values the input of our community to inform our work. This happens at various points, including an annual...

Foundation Increases Emphasis on Policy and Advocacy Rochelle Williams | Vice President, Strategy and Programs For many decades, the Mary Black Foundation has invested grant dollars in improving the health and well-being of young people, but in late 2023,...