Nissan Foundation awards $100K in grants to two Mississippi entities

Special to The Canton News

Two Mississippi entities will each be the beneficiary of a $50,000 grant awarded by the Nissan Foundation, part of a $1.2 million grant program that provided funds to forty-four nonprofits that promote cultural understanding that leads to acceptance and appreciation of individuals’ differences. 

The Foundation for Mississippi History, “Two Mississippi Museums School Visits Program,” and the GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, “Soul of the Movement Education Program,” each received $50,000 grants.

The total grant award is the most the Foundation has awarded in a single grant cycle.  Grant recipients are based in communities surrounding Nissan facilities in Southern  California, middle Tennessee, central Mississippi (Canton), Dallas/Ft. Worth, southeast Michigan, New York City, north-central New Jersey, and Atlanta.  

The Nissan Foundation has awarded approximately $17 million to more than one hundred fifty nonprofits since its founding in 1992. The Nissan Foundation was created as a direct response to the civil unrest that followed the Rodney King trial verdict. At that time,  Nissan’s then-U.S. sales headquarters was based just blocks from the riot’s epicenter. 

“In the thirty-two years since the Nissan Foundation was created, it has helped organizations – big and small – develop and grow programming designed to increase understanding and acceptance of what makes us different,” says Chandra Vasser, president of the Nissan Foundation and Nissan’s first chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. “It’s an honor  to uplift the important work of our grantees who are bettering our world by providing  safe spaces to explore our similarities while celebrating our differences.”  

The 2024 grantees include mobile education programs, museums, history centers,  libraries, and other nonprofits promoting the many benefits that diversity brings to society. Each funded program aligns with the Nissan Foundation’s mission of building community by valuing cultural diversity. 

“I am thrilled that we’re able to further the innovative programming of forty-four grantees this year,” said Ali Tonn, Nissan Foundation executive director.

 “These organizations are continually coming up with ways to reach new audiences and share the benefits of living and working together in a diverse society.”  

The 2025 Nissan Foundation grant cycle will begin in October. Local nonprofit organizations that are based in central Mississippi and who are working to bring diverse cultural perspectives, experiences, and voices to communities across the country may be eligible to apply.

Applicants based in a Nissan affiliate market who can demonstrate that their programming increases understanding and acceptance of society’s myriad cultural differences are invited to submit a Letter of Intent. Nissan will begin accepting those letters on October 1, 2024. All Letters of Intent must be received by 4 p.m. CST on November 4, 2024. 

The Nissan Foundation will announce 2025 grantees in July 2025. Organizations invited to submit a full proposal are notified in January. Proposals are due in March, and awards are announced in June. Funded projects must be implemented no earlier than July and can run through June of the following year. 

For more information about the Nissan Foundation and its application process, visit the Nissan Foundation website at www.NissanUSA.com/about/community.html.