Fulfilling community needs through donor-supported grants
James Nolan, chair, University of Baltimore Foundation Board of Directors
Supporting “green” businesses in Baltimore’s neighborhoods. Sending students to Northern Ireland and Cuba to participate in academic and cultural programs. Providing targeted educational curriculum for those in prison and for returning veterans.
What do all of these opportunities have in common? They’re examples of the many endeavors supported by the University of Baltimore Foundation’s grant program.
The donor-supported grant program provides one-time grant funding to expand existing academic programs or to develop new ones. It also offers financial assistance to help launch special projects and fulfill University-wide needs.
“What we are doing is making it possible for people who have great ideas that can help students, that can help UB, to fund these activities,” says James Nolan, chair of the University of Baltimore Foundation Board of Directors.
Nolan says the grant review committee looks for projects that impact not only those who participate but also the larger community. “Someone might be able to start a business that will employ UB students and provide services in local neighborhoods,” he explains. “Or an environmental initiative might work to improve ecological systems in the Jones Falls river, or a professor [could] get the time to finish a textbook that can be used in UB classrooms.”
These types of projects enrich both academic and life experience, Nolan continues. “UB’s tradition is to help our students become better community members and better world citizens; that means we all benefit,” he says. “And we’re happy to be a part of creating resources and opportunities for them that wouldn’t be available otherwise.”