Poise Foundation

About Poise Foundation

A large share of Poise Foundation’s recent grantmaking centers on Black-led Pittsburgh institutions, with seven-figure support for Program to Aid Citizen Enterprize in both 2024 and 2025 and more than $1 million to the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in 2023. Those awards sit alongside a broader portfolio that includes arts, youth, education, advocacy, and community-building organizations across the Pittsburgh region. The foundation’s stated purpose is to amplify the power of Black communities and support pathways to self-determination and shared success, and its grant record reflects that framing in practical terms: operating support for established local nonprofits, scholarship funding for students, and smaller grants for community-based work. Among the named grantees in the recent record, Alliance for Police Accountability received multiple program-support awards across 2023, 2024, and 2025, showing that the foundation’s support can extend over several years. Other recipients include The Hear Foundation, Manchester Bidwell Corporation, and 1hood Media Academy. The mix of multi-year commitments and smaller local awards suggests a funder that works through long-standing relationships in its regional network rather than one-off transactions alone.

What Poise Foundation Funds

Poise Foundation supports a wide range of community priorities, but education remains a clear thread. Its scholarship programs include Opportunity Scholarship (OSTC) & Post-Secondary Scholarships, the Robert Chambers IV & Goals Scholarship Fund, and POISE General Scholarships, all aimed at students from Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. The foundation also backs youth-focused work through Urban Youth Action grants, which are designed for programs serving urban youth in the Pittsburgh region. Racial equity is another core area. Under the Human Equity & Justice Fund, Poise offers Racial Equity Seed Grants of up to $10,000 for Black-led, Black-serving organizations advancing youth leadership, development training, and intergenerational programming. The foundation also supports community-impact work through small grants for nonprofits in the Pittsburgh Region that fit POISE priority areas and support the Black community. That structure shows a blend of scholarship support, youth programming, and racial-justice grantmaking.

How Poise Foundation Gives