Awarded Grants | November 2026

We awarded 8 additional grants in the Democracy and Civic Initiatives program: 

• Census Participation
  • Pennsylvania Policy Center, working with PA Partnerships for Children, for research, data, and planning for a 2030 complete count strategy ($176,250 over 24 months)
     
• Fair Redistricting
  • Fair Districts PA (fiscally sponsored by League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Citizen Education Fund)  to provide outreach and planning for marginalized communities to participate in legislative redistricting. ($105,000 over 12 months)
     
• Regional Funder Collaboration
  • Kensington Community Resilience Fund (fiscally sponsored by Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation) to strengthen and sustain supportive services in Kensington. ($200,000 over 24 months)
  • Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia for general operating support. ($110,000 over 24 months)
     
• Regional Funding
  • Philadelphia Energy Authority to catalyze clean energy investment in southeast Pennsylvania. ($1,800,000 over 37 months)
  • Safe Routes to School National Partnership to support a Greater Philadelphia regional active transportation initiative. ($749,076 over 36 months)
     
• Voter Participation
  • Public Rights Project to support the Election Protection Hub. ($100,070 over 5 months)
  • The Organizing Center (fiscally sponsored by Movement Alliance Project) to support the center’s Resilient Organizers of Tomorrow (ROOT) Fellowship in collaboration with PA Voice. ($110,000 over 12 months)

Environment and Public Space

Protecting and improving natural areas and community spaces. 

We awarded 7 grants totaling $3.1 million to advance Green Stormwater Infrastructure objective. The proposed projects will meaningfully advance approximately 60 acres of Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) in Philadelphia and Camden.

• Friends of the Wissahickon Inc. to provide stormwater restoration in the Pachella Gully of Wissahickon Valley Park. ($101,554 over 24 months)

• Lighthouse, Inc. to implement Isla de Luz: Stormwater and Climate Resiliency Project. ($697,000 over 18 months)

• Multiplier to support the WaterNow Alliance in greening Philadelphia's urban spaces by leveraging private properties, co-funders, and public financing. ($365,468 over 12 months)

• New Jersey Future, Inc. to launch the Camden GSI Maintenance and Restoration Initiative to rebuild capacity for long-term stewardship. ($436,630 over 24 months)

• Philadelphia Housing Authority for the Raymond Rosen Homes stormwater retrofit. ($696,100 over 24 months)

• Trust for Public Land to support green stormwater infrastructure at the James Logan community schoolyard. ($272,000 over 20 months)

• Zoological Society of Philadelphia to support rain gardens in managing stormwater, supporting wildlife, and engaging communities. ($500,000 over 12 months)

We awarded 7 grants totaling $2 million to advance Investment in Parks objective. The projects below will advance the William Penn Foundation's objective of increasing average annual per capita park spending from $86 to $95 by 2035 (as calculated by the Trust for Public Land's ParkScore) through a combination of public funding feasibility research, private fundraising capacity building, advocacy, and community-rooted stewardship.

• Delaware River Waterfront Corporation to support the Penn's Landing Park & Philadelphia Waterfront Fundraising Capacity Initiative. ($402,250 over 24 months)

• Friends of Schuylkill River Park to support The Schuylkill River Park Fund and build a development engine for a flagship Philadelphia park. ($172,500 over 24 months)

• Hunting Park United Association to support community stewardship and programming to increase investment in parks. ($200,000 over 24 months)

• Independence Historical Trust to build the Stewardship Investment Initiative, including campaign planning and community engagement. ($180,000 over 15 months)

• Philadelphia City Fund to support a new funding feasibility study for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation. ($736,987 over 24 months)

• Roxborough Conservancy to increase investment in Roxborough and Manayunk's public spaces through enhanced community stewardship. ($254,425 over 24 months)

• Sunrise Movement Philadelphia (fiscally sponsored by Environmentalism Through Inspiration & Non Violent Action) to implement an investment in parks campaign. ($51,250 over 12 months)

We awarded 7 additional grants in the Environment and Public Space program:

• Circuit Trails

  • Camden Community Partnership Inc. to advance community engagement, planning, and implementation of priority Circuit Trails in Camden, NJ. ($437,039 over 24 months)

  • New Jersey Future, Inc. to advance Circuit Trails development through statewide advocacy and Trenton trail planning. ($249,706 over 24 months)

     

• Improvement of Public Spaces

  • John Bartram Association to support storm recovery at Bartram's Garden and the Woodlands. ($110,000 over 11 months)

     

• Green Stormwater Infrastructure

  • Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future to conduct research to protect Philadelphia’s investments in stormwater infrastructure. ($648,283 over 24 months)

     

• Urban Gardens

  • Center for Land Reform Inc. to support scholarships for organizations to attend the 2026 Reclaiming Vacant Properties conference. ($110,000 over 4 months)

     

• Urban Trees

  • National Arbor Day Foundation to support attendance at the Partners in Community Forestry Conference. ($81,633 over 16 months)

  • Public Health Management Corporation for responsive grant funding for storm impacts. ($110,000 over 16 months)

Workforce Training and Services

Helping Philadelphians to access and keep better paying jobs.  

In partnership with four co-funders, we awarded 10 grants totaling nearly $6.6 million to advance our Workforce Training Supports objective. The grants below are expected to directly impact 3,157 jobseekers and support their successful completion of job training, placement in employment, and retention in employment. In addition, these grants will engage hundreds of employers and other partners to ensure workforce training supports remove or reduce barriers for the job seekers they serve.  

• Community Integrated Services to support Model for Change, which bridges gaps, mitigates barriers, and creates a simpler path to employment for jobseekers with a disability. ($605,529 over 36 months)

• Congreso de Latinos Unidos Inc. to continue implementation of Breaking Barriers, Congreso's workforce barrier removal project. ($603,750 over 36 months)

• Drexel University to support DREAM (Drexel Resource for Employment Advancement & Mobility) Hub. ($759,162 over 36 months)

• Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia Inc. to implement the Workforce Success program ($842,479 over 36 months)

• Hopeworks Camden, Inc. for Coaching to Careers, which provides supportive services for young adults in Philadelphia's quality jobs pathways. ($816,505 over 36 months)

• JEVS Human Services to support Breaking Barriers, which advances student pathways to building and construction careers. ($430,979 over 36 months)

• Launchpad (fiscally sponsored by Building 21) to advance workforce training supports. ($694,800 over 36 months)

• North10 Philadelphia to implement The Impact Center, providing workforce development for North Philadelphia.    ($589,933 over 36 months)

• Philadelphia Academies Inc. to foster job retention via barrier reduction for graduates of a pre-apprenticeship program in the construction trades. ($696,194 over 36 months)

• University City District to provide supportive services for Skills Initiative participants. ($514,625 over 36 months)

We awarded 1 additional grant in the Workforce Training and Services program: 

• Workforce Training Supports
  • Philadelphia Foundation to support the Early Pathways Initiative. ($110,000 over 15 months)

Special Projects

The Board directed special grants to improve civic spaces where diverse community members interact.

• Riverfront North to complete shoreline restoration and visitor amenities at Tacony Boat Launch. ($2,987,562 over 32 months)

• Free Library of Philadelphia to support improvements at seven library branches. ($4,000,000 over 32 months)

• John Bartram Association to support the construction of its Ecosystems Education Center. ($4,000,000 over 24 months)

• Project HOME to support Hub of Hope renovations. ($2,609,002 over 12 months)

• Reading Terminal Market Corporation to replace electrical substations. ($4,000,000 over 24 months)