Our holiday video this year celebrates 40 years of giving with 40 years of smiles from our grantees.
Venable Foundation Awards 2023 Impact Grant at 40th Anniversary Event
The Foundation announced this year’s impact grant funding at Venable’s headquarters in Washington, DC during an event celebrating its 40th anniversary. The celebration commemorated four decades of commitment, philanthropy, and giving back to the communities our attorneys, professionals, and clients call home. During the event, Venable leaders reflected on the Foundation’s history and how its impact has evolved since 1983.
Since 2017, the Venable Foundation has awarded Impact Grant funding to address a specific need that is affecting all of our communities across office locations. Each of these above-and-beyond contributions—awarded outside of the Foundation's regular funding cycle—is focused on a different overarching theme, to drive change in that area of need.
In honor of the Foundation’s anniversary, its leaders chose to modify the Impact Grant program to focus on one nonprofit entity that had a broader focus beyond just one of our office locations, and to provide greater dollars for this purpose than ever before.
At the anniversary event, Foundation president Lindsay B. Meyer presented the grant, totaling $250,000, to Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), an organization providing social and legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children in the United States. The funding will directly benefit social services support for KIND’s clients residing in DC, Los Angeles, Maryland, New York, San Francisco, and Virginia—communities where Venable has offices. KIND has additional ties to the firm through a long-standing pro bono partnership with our attorneys.
“KIND is deeply honored to be selected for the Venable Foundation’s $250,000 impact grant,” said KIND’s regional director for social services Jasiel Fernandez. “This grant will give thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children across the country access to critical aid and the opportunity to pursue safe and promising futures. On behalf of the children we serve, thank you for the Venable Foundation’s generous commitment to Kids in Need of Defense.”
The unaccompanied immigrant and refugee children KIND serves have complex psychosocial needs stemming from trauma experienced before, during, and after their journeys to the United States. Many also require assistance with basic needs, including food, housing, and healthcare. All need help navigating the U.S. immigration and child welfare systems. KIND's holistic approach works to ensure clients' needs are met by complementing their legal representation with comprehensive social services .
It takes more than one touchpoint to make a difference in someone’s life, and KIND’s wraparound support truly gets to the heart of the Foundation’s focus. The challenges facing our communities are complex and require a multifaceted approach, which the firm offers through Foundation support, pro bono work, and volunteerism.
Learn more about the Venable Foundation here, the Foundation’s 40th Anniversary Celebration here, and Lindsay Meyer’s legacy as president here.