CHICAGO (September 19, 2022)—Perkins Coie is pleased to announce the nine recipients of the firm’s 2022 Racial Equality Grant Program, which provides financial support to organizations focused on advancing racial equality through legal representation, policy advocacy, and community-based activities. The grants allocated by the firm to the nine recipients total $500,000.

The grant program was devised in 2020 as part of Perkins Coie’s Commitment to Racial Equality following the tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, to name a few. Under the program, Perkins Coie committed to awarding at least $2.5 million in grants over five years to help create a more just and equal society.

“We’re pleased to announce the nine recipients of our Racial Equality Grant Program, each of which is dedicated to improving racial, social, and economic justice,” said Genhi Givings Bailey, Perkins Coie’s chief diversity & inclusion officer. “Perkins Coie is committed to doing all it can to promote racial equality—both within the legal industry and in our local communities.”

The Racial Equality Grant Program has awarded grants to the following nine organizations:

• America on Tech, with programs in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami, works to decrease the racial wealth gap in underestimated communities by creating pathways for BIPOC students into degrees and careers in technology.

• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Civic Empowerment Education Fund from the greater California area works to build political power for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) throughout California as well as to educate and mobilize low-propensity AAPI voters through direct voter outreach strategies.
• Baltimore Corps, Inc., from Baltimore, Maryland, builds robust, equitable pipelines to enlist talent in advancing Baltimore’s most promising social innovations.
• Civic Influencers, from Lowes, Delaware, is a year-round data-driven national, nonpartisan nonprofit that operates hyper-locally on tipping point campuses (community colleges, trade schools and universities), training and mobilizing young people to increase youth civic power and voting, giving emphasis to Black and Indigenous youth and other youths of color.
• The East Bay Community Law Center, based in Berkeley, California, addresses the causes of poverty and economic and racial inequality to increase justice and improve opportunities in the areas of economic security, education, health and welfare, housing, and immigration.
• First Generation Investors, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, teaches underserved high school students the power of investing by providing students with real money to invest.
• The Freedom Project based in Washington state works alongside the community to dismantle the institution of mass incarceration and heal its traumatic effects on individuals directly impacted by incarceration, on their loved ones, and on the community.
• Moms of Black Boys (MOBB) United, with more than 15 chapters nationwide, MOBB United provides information and support to moms of Black sons and promotes positive images of Black boys and men.
• Self Enhancement, Inc., based in Portland, Oregon, works with schools, families, and other community partners to support, guide, and provide opportunities to underserved youth.

Perkins Coie has long been recognized for excellence in the legal industry and for its commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion. Diversity Lab has awarded Mansfield 4.0 Certification Plus to the firm and named Perkins Coie an Inclusion Blueprint Champion. The firm received the Minority Corporate Counsel Association’s (MCCA) 2021 Thomas L. Sager Award  for championing diversity in the workplace and earned the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s top rating of 100% in the Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality, for 14 straight years. Perkins Coie has also been recognized as one of Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For®” for 20 consecutive years.

Perkins Coie is a leading international law firm that is known for providing high-value, strategic solutions and extraordinary client service on matters vital to our clients’ success. With more than 1,200 lawyers in offices across the United States and Asia, we provide a full array of corporate, commercial litigation, intellectual property, and regulatory legal advice to a broad range of clients, including many of the world’s most innovative companies and industry leaders as well as public and not-for-profit organizations.

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