Zealous Empowering Nurturer (ZEN)

April Booker

Zealous Empowering Nurturer (ZEN) is a Charlotte-based nonprofit strengthening communities by addressing food insecurity while nourishing minds for healthier living. Through community gardens, nutrition education, and hands-on learning, ZEN equips people to grow food, understand nourishment, and make confident lifestyle choices. ZEN doesn’t just talk about food insecurity; they grow solutions that create lasting wellness and community resilience.

Frankie Mae Foundation

Venitra White-Dean

The Frankie Mae Foundation exists to strengthen those carrying the invisible weight of caregiving. Through respite, wellness, education, critical resources, and supportive community, they tackle caregiver burnout, isolation, and exhaustion. Recognizing caregivers as vital contributors, the Foundation fosters holistic care so families and those who serve them can thrive during life’s most challenging moments.

Piper G. Amundson Foundation

Kelley Amundson

The Piper G. Amundson Foundation is dedicated to addressing the critical lack of access to quality pediatric hospice care in the greater Charlotte region. The Foundation’s flagship initiative, Piper’s Place, will become the Southeast’s first home offering pediatric respite, palliative, and hospice services, providing compassionate care and support for families during their most vulnerable moments.

Path to Permanency

Josclyn Reed

Path to Permanency mobilizes the foster care community through a collaborative model to spark a countywide movement establishing Mecklenburg as the gold standard for achieving timely, stable outcomes for children in foster care. Guided by a democratic process, the initiative targets three barriers to permanency: accountability and communication, case professional turnover, and mental health challenges, This approach results in systematic change that improves the lives of children.

LiveLearnPlay

Dominique Bostic-Arrington

LiveLearnPlay is a nonprofit outdoor learning organization dedicated to reducing health and educational disparities by providing inclusive, nature-based programs for underserved children and families. Through therapeutic outdoor education, family support initiatives, and community partnerships, LiveLearnPlay improves physical and mental well-being, strengthens early development, and creates lasting, intergenerational change.

Let’s Talk About It – The Autism Center

La Becky Roe

Siblings Speak, offered by Let’s Talk About It – The Autism Center, addresses the often-overlooked needs of siblings of children with autism. By providing structured dialogue, emotional support, and peer connection, the program reduces isolation and strengthens family resilience, which empowers siblings to develop coping skills, confidence, and a voice in shaping their own well-being.

Fearless Brown Girls

Diana Williams

Fearless Brown Girls® empowers girls to build financial confidence and independence. Through interactive workshops on budgeting, saving, credit, investing, and entrepreneurship, paired with leadership summits, mentorship, and action-based accountability, they turn money lessons into assets. On a path to $25K in net worth by age 25, young women become more economically mobile, embrace their authenticity, and create bold, impactful futures.

Exposure Project

Leanna Calvin

Exposure Project empowers under-resourced youth by connecting their aspirations to real-world careers through immersive, hands-on experiences. Its tiered model begins with career shadowing across diverse industries and advances to a youth-led food truck initiative, where middle and high school students will design, build, and launch a fully operational business, cultivating leadership, entrepreneurship, and practical skills for future success.

CLIMB (Charlotte Legal Initiative to Mobilize Businesses, Inc.)

Casey Burke

CLIMB is a nonprofit legal services organization that offers free business law support to under-resourced small business owners and entrepreneurs in Mecklenburg County who would not otherwise be able to afford legal services. CLIMB leverages volunteer support from Charlotte’s largest and most prestigious law firms, using their expertise to help local small businesses start, grow, and thrive.

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art: Charlotte Art on Prescription

Todd Smith

Charlotte Art on Prescription is a new initiative spearheaded by the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art that brings together Charlotte arts organizations to combat social disconnection and loneliness through collaboration. Healthcare workers with Novant Health provide referrals giving individuals year-long free access to diverse arts programming. The program reinforces research showing arts participation supports mental and social health in strategic, meaningful ways.