You Spoke, We Listened: Changes Inspired by Our Grantee Survey (And What Still Needs Work) By Amy Page, Grants Manager This year, I celebrated my 25th anniversary working at the Foundation, and I have been the grants manager for...

Foundation Awards Fellowship to Local Nonprofit Leader The Mary Black Foundation is proud to announce that Amber Pendergraph, executive director of BirthMatters, has been named the 2025 George Newby Community Health Fellow. Under Pendergraph’s leadership, BirthMatters is transforming maternal...

Mary Black Foundation Awards Over $1 Million in Grant Funding Where you live and the opportunities you have in childhood shape your future – impacting education attainment, the risk of chronic disease, and even how long you live. In...

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...