FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Able South Carolina Receives $2 Million Gift From the Yield Giving Open Call
COLUMBIA, SC, March 19, 2024 – Today, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced Able South Carolina (Able SC) as one of the Yield Giving Open Call’s awardees working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. Able SC received $2 million.
In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources.
Able SC is a disability-led organization seeking transformational changes in systems, communities, and individuals. Since 1994, the organization has remained a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability nonprofit that seeks to make South Carolina a national model of equity and inclusion for all people with disabilities. Able SC is South Carolina’s oldest and largest federally recognized disability-led organization. The organization practices equity, disability justice and representation, and true inclusion through consumer-driven independence and disability pride. Able SC is on a mission to equip people with disabilities with tools to foster pride and to direct their own lives, educate the community to challenge stereotypes and eliminate barriers, and advocate for access, equity, and inclusion at the individual, local, state, and national levels.
The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause, and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.
“Able South Carolina is thrilled and overjoyed to be selected not only to receive this gift from Yield Giving but also as one of the top-rated organizations in the nation,” shared Able SC President and CEO Kimberly Tissot. “This gift brings our vision closer to reality. With $2 million, we will invest this towards our big goals of developing a nationally recognized disability-led initiative. We look forward to how this amazing gift will impact the next generation of disabled leaders and allies.”
“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”
More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at www.leverforchange.org.
ABOUT ABLE SOUTH CAROLINA
Able SC is a disability-led organization seeking transformational changes in systems, communities, and individuals. Since 1994, we’ve remained a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability nonprofit that seeks to make South Carolina a national model of equity and inclusion for all people with disabilities. To learn more about Able SC’s programs and services, please visit www.able-sc.org.
Yield Giving
Established by MacKenzie Scott to share a financial fortune created through the effort of countless people, Yield Giving is named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. To date, Yield’s network of staff and advisors has yielded over $16,500,000,000 to 1,900+ non-profit teams to use as they see fit for the benefit of others. To learn more, visit www.yieldgiving.com.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change connects donors with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized challenges and other tailored funding opportunities. Top-ranked teams and challenge finalists become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding, amplify members’ impact, and accelerate social change. Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change has influenced over $1.7 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 145 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.