Bloomington, Ind. – Indiana University Foundation (IUF) Affinity Giving is excited to announce the funding of over $456,000 to 31 projects affiliated with seven Indiana University (IU) campuses. Grants were awarded in Indianapolis on June 7, 2023. Each affinity giving area, Black Philanthropy Circle (BPC), Queer Philanthropy Circle (QPC), and Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council (WPLC) heard from the 31 finalists on why their project will best support student success, research and creative impact, and service to IU and its communities.
“With this year’s inaugural Grants Day, the BPC, QPC, and WPLC collectively infused hundreds of thousands of dollars in philanthropic support to projects with innovative, world-changing ideas and to those serving crucial needs across the IU system.” - Rebecca Resetarits,Associate Vice President, Affinity Giving
This year’s awards range from $4,000 to $50,000 and support projects that promote replacing obstacles with opportunities for students and communities of IU, the state of Indiana, and the world.
IU Foundation’s Black Philanthropy Circle Grants
Since the program's inception in 2018, the Black Philanthropy Circle (BPC) has committed $316,150 in funding to Indiana University projects. This year’s grant awards support a range of university initiatives that aim to make IU more welcoming, equitable, and accessible for the Black community. For more information on the BPC, please visit this webpage.
“The BPC strives to be an example in higher education of how collective action can enhance engagement and philanthropy in support of Black students, alumni, faculty, staff, donors, and allies within the Indiana University and IU Foundation communities. We were impressed with the quality and breadth of programming occurring across the IU system and are delighted to provide over $89,000 in grant support and award fully or partially 11 of the 21 grant applications we received this year. We look forward to continuing to increase support and positively impact future grant cycles.” - Pamela Miller Hatcher and Kevin Gay, BPC Awards Committee Co-Chairs
The 2023 BPC grant recipients are:
Project Title | Project Synopsis | Project Contact for Media |
Steel City Black Knowledge Bowl | The program is designed to demonstrate academic knowledge of the African Diaspora and its accomplishments in human history and engage youth scholars in the IU Northwest area in recalling pertinent historical information. | Emily Banas 219-980-6536
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Explore My Success | This project will provide an opportunity for students from partnering K-12 schools to visit IU Northwest to participate in postsecondary learning and career exploration interactive workshops aligned to the Next Level Programs of Study (NLPS) implemented by the state of Indiana to include education, health sciences, communication, business, and criminal justice. | Emily Banas 219-980-6536 |
Business Plus Program 2023–2024 | This project is aimed at recruiting students to the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis by providing scholarships to admitted underrepresented minority students after the completion of an inaugural 5-day orientation, setting the stage for an environment of belonging, community, academic support, and professional development needed for business degree success. | Melissa Thomas |
Revealing Black Indianapolis: Making the History, Heritage, and Significance of Black Communities Visible Through Community-Engaged Student Research | This project highlights the research of graduate and undergraduate students working within IUPUI's Africana Studies Programs by bringing students, faculty, program staff, community members/experts, community organizations, and funders together. | Loretta Good goodlr@iu.edu |
IU Fort Wayne Healthcare Career Exploration Academy (Gr. 7–12) and Summer Camp 2024 | In conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Northeast Indiana, this project will introduce high school and middle school students to health careers and provide opportunities for hands-on experiences in a variety of healthcare disciplines taught by faculty and staff from IU Fort Wayne. | Marissa Lewis 260-257-6764 |
Association of Black Culture Centers Annual Conference | The Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center (NMBCC) will host the Association of Black Culture Centers (ABCC) annual conference where attendees including culture center staff, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and community organizers from across the country will convene in interactive workshops, think tanks, speaker forums, networking sessions, and performances. | Gloria L. Howell, Ph.D. 812-855-2139
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Africa Business Week | The second annual Kelley Africa Week will create awareness about African businesses, opportunities and potential challenges of doing business, emerging business trends, and the role of Africa and African students in global business. | George J. Vlahakis II 812-855-0846 |
Facing the Façade in the 21st Century | In consultation with the original Facing the Façade Director, Jerald Harkness, the IU Libraries’ Moving Image Archive seeks to leverage faculty, staff, alumni, and Black student expertise to provide a clear and compelling perspective on Black student experience at IU Bloomington. | Michelle Crowe 812-856-4817 |
The 2023 BPC & WPLC grant recipients are:
Project Title | Project Synopsis | Project Contact for Media |
Civil Rights Heritage Center-Clemente Course in the Humanities Project (CRHC-CCH)
| This project will support a year-long course of study in the Humanities on the IU South Bend campus to support people living on low incomes and who have not been able to pursue higher education opportunities due to life circumstances or have been marginalized by inequities in society. | Rob DeCleene 574-520-4679 |
IU Auditorium Presents: Step Afrika! & Auditorium Kids on Campus | IU Auditorium welcomes Step Afrika! to the Bloomington campus for a residency including a public performance, engaging community programs such as Auditorium Kids on Campus, designed to highlight their work as the country’s preeminent multi-ethnic ballet company and their mission to provide access, opportunity, and empowerment through dance. | Ryan Sheets 812-855-0640 |
Get Ready for Your Close-Up: Providing the IU Community with Free Access to Professional High-Quality Headshots | Support of the Iris Booth project, a self-service digital photo booth located on the IU Bloomington campus, will allow the IU community to create professional, digital, high-quality headshots for use in employer networking, professional development, and other career planning activities. | Steve Barnes |
IU Foundation’s Queer Philanthropy Circle Grants
Since 2019, the Queer Philanthropy Circle (QPC) has committed $629,088 in grants for projects throughout the university. This year, QPC reviewed applications from across IU campuses on projects that demonstrated how efforts would facilitate comprehensive and practical support for the IU LGBTQ+ community. Proposed projects spanned a spectrum of support, including mental health, the creation of safe spaces aimed at increasing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, student scholarships, and support for the fine arts. For more information on the QPC, please visit this webpage.
“The QPC is honored to support a wide variety of innovative initiatives touching six IU campuses. Gathering for the inaugural Affinity Giving Grants Day gave us the privilege to hear from and connect with finalists who strive to provide all individuals in the IU community with a true sense of belonging and equity. The QPC’s mission to replace obstacles with opportunities for the IU LGBTQ+ community remains crucial through the support we are committed to providing in grants and beyond. “- Ann Sciortino, Chair, QPC Advocacy and Community Investments Committee
The 2023 IU QPC grant recipients are:
Project Title | Project Synopsis | Project Contact for Media |
LGBTQ+ DENTALliance at IU School of Dentistry | This project will create an accepting, safe, inclusive, and informed school community for better treatment of all patients and members of the IU School of Dentistry community and beyond. | Sydney Reynoso sydmking@iu.edu
Terry Wilson 317-278-4844
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Cultural Humility and Competence Training for Dental Students at IUSD with an Interprofessional Approach | The project assesses cultural competency gaps in the pre-doctoral dental curriculum exploring oral health access issues among LGBTQ+ individuals. Specific training modules will be developed to educate students about significant prejudices towards the LGBTQ+ patient population. | Anubhuti Shukla, BDS, MHA |
IU Auditorium Presents: Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo | Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo comes to IU Bloomington in 2024 for a residency including a performance on IU Auditorium’s stage along with a series of engagement events throughout the communities we serve. | Ryan Sheets 812-855-0640 |
Pedagogical Partners: Increasing Equity in the Classroom
| This project will focus on developing IU Kokomo undergraduate students as paid pedagogical consultants to faculty to share life experiences that can improve an inclusive environment in the classroom. | Erin Witt 765-455-9468 |
IU LGBTQ+ Alumni Association Scholarship Program | This project provides emergency and academic scholarship support for students across IU campuses. | April Wason 812-855-5700 |
Billie Tadros and Saul Lemerond: Creative Writing in the 21st Century | This project hosts authors Billie Tadros and Saul Lemerond for a day-long event at IU Kokomo to include classroom guest teaching and a book reading/discussion open to the public. | Erin Witt 765-455-9468
Danielle Rush 765-455-9414 |
Queer Student Housing for Intensive Freshman Seminar | The project will provide two and a half weeks of summer housing and move-in support for incoming IU Bloomington freshmen who will be living in the dorms and are enrolled in the Intensive Freshman Seminar (IFS) entitled Queer Activism & Public Issues. | Tanya Koontz Orbaugh tkoontzo@iu.edu |
In-House LGBTQ+ Center Counseling | In collaboration with IUPUI's School of Social Work, the LGBTQ+ Center will host a second year Master of Social Work student for an academic year to provide in-house, walk-in counseling and case management to IU students visiting the LGBTQ+ or Multicultural Centers. | Li Pietruszka |
Titan Center for Identity and Inclusion | Designing an inclusive campus center for students, faculty, and staff that will be a safe place where IU South Bend Titans can create opportunities, support, and education for all campus stakeholders, lifting voices, and engaging all. | Rob DeCleene 574-520-4679
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The 2023 IU QPC & WPLC grant recipients are:
Project Title | Project Synopsis | Project Contact for Media |
Engaged Artist in Residence (EAIR) | This project supports semester-long IU Bloomington campus residencies to groundbreaking artists with diverse experiences and backgrounds to support emerging artists’ work and activate campus resources in new, creative ways to highlight voices, values, and ideals of diversity. | Natalia Almanza 812-856-0963 |
IU Foundation’s Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council Grants
Since the program's inception in 2012, the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council (WPLC) has awarded over $1.8 million across IU. This year’s grant awards support a range of university initiatives that aim to improve public health, support leadership initiatives, promote STEM disciplines, and provide global or service-learning experiences for students at IU. For more information about the WPLC and Women’s Philanthropy at IU, please visit this webpage.
“The Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council has set the standard for impact making grants in the Indiana University community for over 12 years. We are honored to continue this proud tradition and award grants to 14 diverse and inspiring recipients in this year’s cycle. We have funded requests from many campuses and academic units, continuing our commitment to the entire Indiana ecosystem. In addition, we were proud to partner with our fellow affinity giving circles and participate in the first-ever joint grants presentation day, where you could see, hear, and feel the tangible impact of our mission and philanthropy. We are confident these grants will enrich the IU community for many years.” -Jim Fielding, Chair, WPLC Grants Working Group
The 2023 WPLC grant recipients are:
Project Title | Project Synopsis | Project Contact for Media |
2023 Eileen and Harvey Bender Lecture Series: Professor Kim TallBear | Dr. Kim TallBear, professor and Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples, Technoscience, and Society at the University of Alberta will serve as the 2023 IU South Bend Bender Scholar-in-Residence to share her work on issues affecting Indigenous communities. | Rob DeCleene rdecleen@iusb.edu 574-520-4679
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Indiana University Student Outreach Clinic (IUSOC) Prenatal Clinic | The IUSOC Prenatal Clinic is a free, not-for-profit clinic located in east Indianapolis focused on improving healthcare and accessibility for underserved communities by offering services such as contraception, infertility workup, prenatal care, gynecological care, and more. | Jessica Kurrasch 317-278-0350
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The Need for Normal: Men Get Breast Cancer Too | The Komen Tissue Bank is recruiting healthy men to provide breast tissue samples to be used by the greater research community and gain access to hand-held ultrasound units to extract tissue samples from men. | Michael Schug 317-278-0953
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IU Fort Wayne Multicultural Health Careers I AM Health Care Roundtable Series 2023–2024 | IU Fort Wayne underrepresented students will be matched with health professionals representing diverse and minoritized individuals, and allies by using group gatherings, formal and informal mentoring designed to strengthen relationships between students and multicultural and intergenerational professionals. | Marissa Lewis 260-257-6764
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McKinney Climate Fellows | Through this program available across all IU campuses, undergraduate and graduate students are working with local governments, businesses, and nonprofits to advance climate action and sustainability projects. | Jonathan Hines 812-856-3610
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INSPIRE Living-Learning Center: Scholarship Fund for Future Teachers from Underrepresented Backgrounds | The project provides financial support for students to participate in the INSPIRE Living-Learning Center, a residential learning community at IU Bloomington for future teachers, and enhance students’ sense of belonging in the field of education by connecting them with practicing teachers. | Scott Witzke
Catherine Winkler chageman@indiana.edu |
Cultivating Intellectual Capital | This project will provide transportation to/from the IU Bloomington campus for educational and cultural enrichment to historically underrepresented populations creating pipelines to college for pre-college students. | Elizabeth Blevins 812-855-9772
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Expanding Access to Undergraduate Research Experiences in Biology at IU East | Biology students at IU East will have the opportunity to participate in a course-based undergraduate research experience and share findings with a wide audience. | John Dalton jodalton@iue.edu 765-973-8450
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ServeDesign Center Summer Studio, 2023, Development of an Operational Prototype and Specific Projects | Funding will be used towards an established studio to offer paid internships for Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture, + Design students with academic disciplines to focus on projects in service to Indiana communities and organizations. | Yael Ksander
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Forensic Scientists and Criminal Investigators Summer Camp | Students who aspire to become Forensic Scientists from communities near IU Northwest will attend a week-long forensic summer camp which will include solving crime scenarios, field investigations, case-studies, and trips to crime lab facilities. | Emily Banas 219-980-6536 |