Grants That Make a Difference

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation in Flint, Michigan, has announced a $1.8 million grant to the Atlanta-based Southern Education Foundation to help endow the Center to Serve Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

The grant provides the final match for a $3 million endowment challenge issued in 2006 by the New York City-based Mellon Foundation to SEF, the South's only regional nonprofit focused exclusively on improving education for low-income students and communities from preschool through postsecondary education. Other donors to the campaign include the Ford, Coca-Cola, and Southern Company Charitable foundations.

Income from the endowment will provide approximately $300,000 annually to support technical assistance, research, and training for leaders of the 103 historically black colleges and universities.

According to Lynn Huntley, president of SEF, the nation's HBCUs often have little cash to spare for improving their institutional effectiveness as they struggle to keep tuition low and access open to low-income students.

The Center to Serve was established in 2003 to assist the leaders and faculties of the nation's 103 HBCUs in their pursuit of academic effectiveness, faculty credentialing, and fiscal stability. The center draws upon the know-how and practical knowledge of HBCU executives, as well as experts and advisers from other sectors.

"The endowment will provide a reliable financial base for the Center to Serve and guarantee its long-term stability through inevitable fluctuations in fundraising," Huntley said. "The Mott grant…will enable us to continue assisting HBCUs with a number of pressing issues, among these accreditation, alumni development, graduation rates, technology planning, and Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts."

In December 2007, SEF marked its 140th anniversary, issuing a special report on its recent work with HBCUs. The report also provides a retrospective on the organization's accomplishments, including a timeline on the history of Southern education and SEF's role since the end of the Civil War.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in Flint, Michigan, by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally.

Recipient Contact Information:
Recipient Name: Southern Education Foundation
Year Founded: 1867
Address: 135 Auburn Ave NE, 2nd Floor
Atlanta, GA 30303
Phone: 404-523-0001
URL: www.sefatl.org

Grantmaker Contact Information:
Grantmaker Name: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
Year Founded: 1926
Address: Mott Foundation Bldg.
503 S. Saginaw St., Ste. 1200
Flint, MI 48502-1851
Phone: 810-238-5651
Email: info@mott.org
URL: www.mott.org

The selection of organizations for the "Grants that Make a Difference" is based on criteria such as programmatic interests, geographic focus, and size of funding programs to ensure the broadest possible representation of the region's nonprofit sector.
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