Neighborhood Empowerment Pathways
Neighborhood Empowerment Pathways is a three-year, $3 million partnership with Cummins, Inc. and the City of Indianapolis led by The Indianapolis Foundation to sustain grassroots not-for-profits that are closest to the community’s assets and challenges and uniquely positioned through their proximity to supply solutions and seize opportunities.
The central goal of the three-year initiative is to honor and support the agency and assets of Black and Brown residents and neighborhoods in Indianapolis. The initiative has four strategic paths to empowering neighborhoods and their residents:
- Community organizing
- Resident leadership
- Non-for-profit infrastructure development
- Community Investment
The partnership makes possible training and consulting support to help strengthen the organizational infrastructures of grassroots and community-based organizations serving Marion County. This initiative features various cohorts designed to bring leaders together and dive deeper to address infrastructure development topics vital to sustaining their respective organizations. Skill-building and shared learning opportunities will also be backed with mini-grants to invest in the infrastructures of participating entities.
Neighborhood Empowerment Pathways prioritizes organizations with yearly operating budgets of $250,000 and under —led by Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). Deployment of diverse learning opportunities is guided by Partec Consulting Group, a Black-woman-owned company that possesses 27 years of experience providing infrastructure development services to support the advancement of organizations and communities. Partec harnesses the expertise of people of color to lead trainings, cohorts and other support services.
Infrastructure development opportunities for Indianapolis grassroots organizations include:
- Monthly 90-minute workshops
- Quarterly four-hour intensive training sessions
- Grant application preparation clinics
- On-Demand Technical Assistance
Workshops are hosted by Partec Consulting Group in partnership with The Indianapolis Foundation. During these 90-minute sessions, participants strengthen their leadership skills through selected training topics vital to enhance their organization’s performance. Sessions are offered in person and through video conferencing during the winter months.
Additionally, Spanish translation services are available for in-person sessions as well as training materials.
Check out the upcoming workshops.
The purpose of the extended training opportunities is to provide leaders with specialized resources and tools so that they are more knowledgeable on crucial topics of infrastructure development. Extended trainings will better equip leaders to be successful long-term.
Details on the next extended training coming soon.
The Indianapolis Foundation hosts several grant preparation clinics to provide application assistance. The purpose of these clinics is to help put applicants in the best position possible to secure funding for their organizations.
Details on the next grant clinic coming soon.
On-demand assistance offers leaders access to advisors who can help tackle questions or concerns. Selected organizations may receive up to three hours of help at no cost. Once we receive your completed form, your request will be reviewed and someone will contact you within three business days to ensure the desired assistance can be addressed within the allowed time.