PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Echoing Green announced today a $2.5 million commitment from Comcast NBCUniversal to the organization’s $50M Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund. The investment marks the largest corporate contribution to the Fund to date. Echoing Green is a global nonprofit leading the way to enhance social innovation by finding, supporting, and connecting emerging social entrepreneurs. With this investment from Comcast, Echoing Green will launch programming that enables leaders working to dismantle structural racism and build inclusive economies.
The Comcast NBCUniversal partnership will help sustain the work needed to explicitly address the compounding impacts of racial bias. By leveraging social innovation as an additional approach in the racial justice movement, Echoing Green will mobilize next-generation solutions with the power to disrupt structural racism and oppression with the urgency it requires.
“Echoing Green launched its Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund with a mission to support lasting change through social innovation, which is directly in line with our philanthropic goals,” said Dalila Wilson-Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Comcast. “Comcast is committed to championing this critical work, and we view this partnership with Echoing Green as a fundamental part of our efforts to advance greater equity for all.”
Beginning in 2021, the Fund will invest in emerging and established social innovators focused on advancing racial equity outcomes and will enable the field to disrupt systemic bias globally.
Over the next three years, the Echoing Green Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund will:
- Support 500 social enterprises whose work is focused on racial equity.
- Build new onramps to social innovation opportunities by delivering trainings and programming to 5,000 emerging leaders.
- Engage 10,000 corporate employees, including those at Comcast to support social innovation.
- Provide programming to advise social entrepreneurs on their business challenges and programming featuring the expertise of innovators who are leading efforts to dismantle inequitable systems.
In addition, Comcast’s partnership will assist Echoing Green with providing funding to its alumni organizations who are working on the frontlines of the racial justice movement, creating a critical opportunity to scale their work.
“It’s more important than ever for organizations to put their dollars to work to drive real progress against racial inequalities,” said Cheryl Dorsey, President, Echoing Green. “I am so encouraged to see commitments that center around justice, equity, sustainability, and abundance as we collectively re-imagine what is required for all people to thrive. Comcast’s partnership and contribution to the Fund will allow Echoing Green not only to create, but sustain, real change.”
“Echoing Green and Comcast are making the types of investments needed to create a thriving ecosystem in which more innovators and entrepreneurs of color gain access to the capital, training and networks needed to scale their ideas that serve society. I am thrilled to see this work expand through the Echoing Green Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund,” said Felecia Hatcher, an Echoing Green Fellow, Comcast partner, and co-founder of the Center for Black Innovation.
For more information and to support Echoing Green, visit here.
Comcast’s $2.5M investment in Echoing Green’s Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund is part of the $100 million pledge the company made in 2020 to take meaningful action to advance social justice and equality. Comcast is expanding its targeted philanthropic investments through programs that advance equity in media, technology, arts and innovation, including programs that support entrepreneurs of color. As a lead corporate partner in the Fund, Comcast is advancing its long-term goals of creating more equitable paths to opportunity, investing in the next generation of leaders, and contributing to the collective action needed to drive sustained change.
About Echoing Green
For more than 30 years, Echoing Green has been on the front lines of solving the world’s biggest problems, raising up the transformational leaders willing to speak truth to power and challenge the status quo. The organization finds emerging leaders with the best ideas for social innovation as early as possible and sets them on a path to lifelong impact. Echoing Green’s community of nearly 1,000 social innovators includes past Fellows like First Lady Michelle Obama and the founders of organizations like Teach For America, Data for Black Lives, and One Acre Fund. Built and refined over three decades, Echoing Green discovers tomorrow’s leaders, today, and then funds, connects, and supports a new generation of social impact leaders.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation is a global media and technology company with three primary businesses: Comcast Cable, NBCUniversal, and Sky. Comcast Cable is one of the United States’ largest high-speed internet, video, and phone providers to residential customers under the Xfinity brand, and also provides these services to businesses. It also provides wireless and security and automation services to residential customers under the Xfinity brand. NBCUniversal is global and operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures, and Universal Parks and Resorts. Sky is one of Europe’s leading media and entertainment companies, connecting customers to a broad range of video content through its pay television services. It also provides communications services, including residential high-speed internet, phone, and wireless services. Sky operates the Sky News broadcast network and sports and entertainment networks, produces original content, and has exclusive content rights. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.
