Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis This grant to the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis (WFGM) will support its ongoing efforts to align people, resources, and systems to advance social and economic mobility for families in South Memphis and is a cross-team effort with the American Cities Program. Foundation funding will strengthen WFGM’s implementation of their person-centered approach, expanding coordinated investments to increase the collective impact of partners working to improve outcomes for children, and families. View Website Amount $600,000 Year 2026 Location Memphis, Tennessee Program American Cities, Human Services Focus Area Supporting Public Policy and Field Building
Urban Institute This grant will support two projects at the Urban Institute. The first, the Transformative Climate Accelerator, will: 1) equip community economic development organizations in three cities with tools, technical support and data to integrate climate into their missions and capacities; and 2) identify models to be implemented elsewhere. The second, the Center for Local Finance and Growth, will provide CDFIs and related community development organizations with data-driven insights, advising, and convening opportunities. View Website Amount $2,050,000 Year 2026 Location Washington, D.C. Program American Cities, Environment, Social Investment Practice Focus Area National Community and Economic Development
ThinkTennessee ThinkTennessee will: 1) support Memphis in identifying funding for transportation infrastructure, 2) continue engaging key decision-makers to help the Memphis Area Transit Authority prioritize next steps, 3) produce a local housing policy roadmap , 4) recommend priority areas for development based on the Memphis 3.0 Comprehensive Plan, and 5) continue updating dashboards that provide critical local data to decision-makers and the public. View Website Amount $200,000 Year 2026 Location Nashville, Tennessee Program American Cities Focus Area
Smart Growth America This general operating support grant enables Smart Growth America to help create healthy, prosperous, and resilient places to live for all people through research, advocacy, and direct support to community-based organizations, practitioners, and government at the intersection of transportation, climate, creativity, and housing issues. This cross-team investment reflects the importance of integrated approaches to tackling these issues and helping combat climate change, improve health outcomes, and connect residents to economic opportunity while uniquely applying arts and cultural methodologies for community engagement, research, and capacity-building. View Website Amount $575,000 Year 2026 Location Washington, D.C. Program American Cities, Detroit, Environment Focus Area National Community and Economic Development
New Venture Fund This grant supports the continuation of the Culture & Community Power Fund, a funder collaborative and adaptive learning lab advancing the role of culture as a key driver of community change. Launched by Kresge and two other funders in 2021, it provides unrestricted awards to place-based organizations that use creative solutions to build community power and advance resident-driven priorities. The Fund facilitates learning across grantees, geographies and amongst philanthropic partners. This grant, which includes a new partnership with the American Cities Program, allows the Fund to expand by including cross-sector funders in different geographies that support immigrant and Indigenous communities in the Midwest, the West (Alaska and Hawaii), and the South. View Website Amount $5,600,000 Year 2026 Location Washington, D.C. Program American Cities, Arts & Culture Focus Area Advance Creative Strategies in Place
Michigan Community Resources Transforming Solidarity Collective is a collaboration of five nonprofit intermediaries that provide technical assistance to Detroit nonprofit organizations to navigate the changes in the federal policy environment. View Website Amount $300,000 Year 2026 Location Detroit, Michigan Program American Cities, Detroit Focus Area
Michigan Community Resources This grant to Michigan Community Resources (MCR) supports the continuation of the long‑standing partnership between MCR, Co.act, and The Kresge Foundation to co‑manage Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit (KIP:D) for Round 10. Funding enables MCR to provide technical assistance to KIP:D awardees, as well as tailored support to applicants and unfunded organizations. View Website Amount $300,000 Year 2026 Location Detroit, Michigan Program American Cities, Detroit Focus Area
Joe Louis Greenway Partnership This general operating support grant will sustain core operations, expand community-centered programming and engagement, and build organizational capacity for the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership as the Greenway is fully developed into an equitable, regional public space. View Website Amount $300,000 Year 2026 Location Detroit, MI Program American Cities, Detroit Focus Area
Innovate Memphis Innovate Memphis’ data intermediary, Data Midsouth, will enhance its data dashboards for nonprofits, civic leaders, funders, researchers, and the general public, initiate convenings within sectors, and update its business model. View Website Amount $350,000 Year 2026 Location Memphis, Tennessee Program American Cities Focus Area Fresno, Memphis & New Orleans
ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA This renewal grant supports ICLEI–Local Governments for Sustainability USA to advance its Communities Leading on Climate Mobility Initiative, strengthening local government capacity to plan for and respond to climate‑driven displacement in ways that advance resilience, equity, and shared prosperity. ICLEI will deepen and expand local pilot projects (including exploratory pilots in Detroit and New Orleans), broaden cohort‑based learning and peer exchange, and strengthen cross‑sector coordination. View Website Amount $150,000 Year 2026 Location Boston, Massachusetts Program American Cities, Detroit, Environment Focus Area Field Building
Co.act Detroit This grant to Co.act Detroit (with Michigan Nonprofit Association acting as fiscal sponsor) supports the continuation of the long‑standing partnership between Co.act, Michigan Community Resources, and The Kresge Foundation to co‑manage Kresge Innovative Projects: Detroit (KIP:D) Round 10. As the primary project manager for KIP:D+, Co.act will lead the coordination and administration of the program, from planning and launch to grantee selection to a process evaluation of the round. KIP:D+ Round 10 application are open from May 4 to June 1, with the participatory selection process led by Co.act concluding with grants awarded in September. Michigan Nonprofit Association will be the fiscal organization for this grant. View Website Amount $250,000 Year 2026 Location Program American Cities, Detroit Focus Area
Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System The Mayors Innovation Project, a peer learning network for mayors and city leaders, will expand their membership, make their resources more accessible, and improve their tracking of success, with a particular focus on small and mid-sized cities and on issues related to climate change. View Website Amount $180,000 Year 2026 Location Madison, Wisconsin Program American Cities Focus Area National Community and Economic Development
Accelerator for America This grant will support Accelerator for America to 1) strengthen its Economic Opportunity Accelerators network and 2) deliver targeted technical assistance to help cities implement evidence-backed, cross-sector strategies that advance economic mobility in Philadelphia, Riverside, St. Louis, and up to three other cities. View Website Amount $615,000 Year 2026 Location Program American Cities Focus Area National Community and Economic Development
Corbin Hill Food Project The Fidelity Equity Dignity Collective is a national network working to transform Food as Medicine from a top-down, clinically driven model to one centered on community leadership, cultural relevance, and structural equity. The Collective will expand its Community of Practice & Power for peer learning and advocacy, lead a technology discovery process to support community capacity and data sovereignty, and adapt its Community Workbook with managed care organizations to embed community-centered practices in Medicaid and health systems. View Website Amount $500,000 Year 2026 Location Program American Cities, Arts & Culture, Health Focus Area Community-Driven Solutions
University of Pennsylvania This project support grant is a co-investment by the Detroit and the American Cities Programs in The Center for Public Service and Policy at the University of Pennsylvania (CPSP), led by former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter. View Website Amount $400,000 Year 2025 Location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Program American Cities, Detroit Focus Area
Tulane University This cross-team grant with the American Cities Program will support the Cowen Institute to strengthen the New Orleans College and Career Attainment Network (NOLA CCAN). NOLA CCAN is a city-wide coordinated effort focused on increasing college access and success for low-income, first-generation, and students of color. The grant supports key staff positions, expands FAFSA completion efforts, enhances counselor training, and strengthens data use across 70+ high schools and organizations. View Website Amount $400,000 Year 2025 Location New Orleans, Louisiana Program American Cities, Education Focus Area
The Aspen Institute Inc. This project support grant to the Aspen Institute’s Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation (PSI) will increase funding for its role as backbone for the Community Foundation Business Model Project, which engages leaders of those institutions to re-envision how they operate (e.g., increasing donor alignment, restructuring fees) to better meet community needs. View Website Amount $200,000 Year 2025 Location Washington, D.C. Program American Cities Focus Area
Partnership for Southern Equity This grant will support Partnership for Southern Equity (PSE) to implement place-based community-driven climate interventions in Southwest Atlanta that help communities better prepare for and respond to the health and economic impacts of climate disruption. View Website Amount $675,000 Year 2025 Location Atlanta, Georgia Program American Cities, Arts & Culture, Detroit, Environment, Health Focus Area
National College Advising Corps Inc. This cross-team grant with the American Cities Program supports the College Advising Corps’ (CAC) planning efforts to place near-peer college advisors in five Fresno high schools in fall 2026. View Website Amount $200,000 Year 2025 Location Chapel Hill, North Carolina Program American Cities, Education Focus Area
Memphis Medical District Collaborative This cross-team grant from the Health and American Cities programs will enable the Memphis Medical District Collaborative to leverage the investment practices and capital of nine member institutions to expand economic opportunity, as a pathway towards a more equitable, safe and heathy District and city. View Website Amount $500,000 Year 2025 Location Memphis, Tennessee Program American Cities, Health Focus Area