Honoring Retiring Trustee, Dr. Nayef Samhat As the year begins to come to a close, the Foundation would like to take a moment to honor Dr. Nayef Samhat, who will be retiring from the Foundation’s Board of Trustees after...

OPEN PHILANTHROPY When Change Is Hard: Caring for Long-Time Partners While Evolving Our Strategies for Greater Impact By Natalia Valenzuela Swanson, Senior Director of Community Impact Impact, collaboration, accountability, respect, and equity are the Mary Black Foundation’s values. These...

In Her Own Words: A Portrait of Our Newby Fellow We asked our 2025 Newby Fellow, Amber Pendergraph, to share her truths, quirks, and reflections on her life and work. Modeled loosely after the famed Proust Questionnaire you may have seen in...

OPEN PHILANTHROPY Building Brains: How and Why We’re Investing in Quality Care During the Early Years By Haley Wicker, Program Director The first 1,000 days of a human being’s life are crucial. Because brain neurons develop so rapidly during...

How We Are Using All of Our Tools to Build a Healthier Future for Children By Dr. Ebony Gaffney, Mary Black Foundation Trustee & Community Impact Committee Chair, Psychiatrist, and Director of Spartanburg Area Mental Health As a psychiatrist...

OPEN PHILANTHROPY Navigating the Fog: How We Are Responding to Nonprofit Uncertainty By Molly Talbot-Metz, President & CEO Driving in fog is often used as a metaphor to represent navigating uncertainty. Fog is a temporary state, meaning that clarity...

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...