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,...

Purpose & Progress This past year was significant as we reflected on our past successes, learned from challenges, and looked for ways to be even more impactful in the future. We invite you to explore the 2023 annual report...

Nurturing Early Literacy Quality Counts is an early-care initiative that creates high-quality learning environments and promotes best practices for teachers that help prepare our youngest students for success in school and life. All Quality Counts centers promote early literacy...

Partner Highlight: Nora Curiel, Vida y Salud Nora Curiel is the program coordinator of Vida y Salud (formerly PASOs Spartanburg). In collaboration with Upstate Family Resource Center, Vida y Salud offers diverse services to support the Latino community in...