Juneteenth is a celebration marking the day of freedom for the last enslaved people in the United States who were located in Galveston, Texas. This came over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into law in January 1863.
To kick off the Juneteenth - Call to Action campaign, we want to introduce our first partner, the Juneteenth Foundation. Founded in 2020, this organization is dedicated to pioneering strategies to champion corporate and citizen engagement for healing and advocacy for Black Americans.
Based in Washington D.C., the Juneteenth Foundation founder and CEO lobbied on the hill to make Juneteenth a national holiday. Later, President Biden signed legislation confirming just that on June 17, 2021, and we were able to celebrate Juneteenth as a federal holiday for the first time in 2021!
“The Juneteenth Foundation was founded for the purpose of building a movement to recognize Juneteenth and celebrate the excellence of Black culture and freedom.”
Since lobbying to have Juneteenth recognized as a federal holiday, the Juneteenth Foundation has since expanded its focus to initiatives that help to promote and provide awareness and education about Juneteenth as a holiday. Focusing on representation, scholarships, and collaborative celebrations, we’ve shared below their primary focus areas and how you can get involved.
Representation
The Juneteenth Foundation is currently building a pipeline to increase the representation of minorities within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields, but specifically within IT (Information Technology). Their primary focus is to help create and develop more DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) programs with their sponsors, such as Alaskan Airlines, John Deere, Hilton, and T-Mobile, to name a few.
One of the programs they have pioneered is a Virtual Career Fair. This year, the Juneteeth Foundation aims to attract over 200,000 participants to connect with employers across the country, with a focus on DEI and expanding the representation of minority groups in the workforce.
Scholarships
The Juneteenth Foundation has an initiative, the Freedom Scholarship Awards, which awards financial assistance to young Black students attending HBCUs (historically Black Colleges and Universities). The Freedom Scholarship Awards are announced at the annual Freedom Reception, which takes place during the week of Juneteenth this year from June 16-19.
Last year, the Juneteenth Foundation raised over $130,000 dollars to provide scholarships to Black students. This year, the goal is to reach $250,000 and eventually grow the scholarship fund to $1,000,000.
Celebration
Celebrating Juneteenth is all about giving back to the community. As the Juneteenth Foundation continues to grow, they are seeking other organizations to collaborate within events, such as parades in major cities, festivals, and more.
Last year, the Juneteenth Foundation held the first ever Freedom Festival that hosted a career fair, panel discussions, freedom reception, and music! The Freedom Festival lasts for four days and includes free and ticketed events. For 2022, The Freedom Festival Community Block Party is located in Franklin Square, D.C., and this celebration is open to the public.
Head over to the Juneteenth Foundation YouTube channel to find ways to commemorate the national holiday to keep the spirit of Juneteenth alive throughout the year.
You can register to support the Juneteenth Foundation and find ways to commemorate the national holiday to keep the spirit of Juneteenth alive throughout the year..
About
The GivePulse campaign “Juneteenth - Call to Action” is designed to promote the importance of Juneteenth as a national holiday, while supporting organizations focused on work that centers around social and racial justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and education.
GivePulse is the fastest growing civic network with the goal of enabling everyone to volunteer and serve their community. With over 5 million users across the globe, GivePulse leverages the power of community to make a difference within many social causes. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and are invested in providing education on how we all can do our part to help provide a tangible systemic change in our country through reflection, education, and advocacy.
Schedule a demo with GivePulse today to learn how we can help you achieve fundraising goals and grow.
About GivePulse
GivePulse's mission is to enable everyone in the world to participate and engage in lifting their community to new heights. We do so by providing a platform to list, find, organize and measure the impact of service-learning, community engagement, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and volunteerism.
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