AART Named One of Seven Organizations Nationally to Receive Public Welfare Foundation’s 75th Anniversary True Reformer Grant

MILWAUKEE – Public Welfare Foundation, the country’s only endowment fund dedicated to catalyzing new transformative approaches to youth and adult criminal justice,

today announced that Milwaukee’s African American Roundtable (AART) was awarded a prestigious True Reformer institutional grant. Seven True Reformer grants were awarded to organizations nationally that are advancing restorative, community-led, and racially just approaches to justice to honor the Foundation’s 75th anniversary.

The True Reformer grants recognize seven of the Foundation’s key partners through investments that will advance progress and position them for long-term impact. These organizations serve as anchors of the justice reform movement in communities where Public Welfare Foundation works.

“Public Welfare Foundation’s 75th anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect and look forward in anticipation,” said Public Welfare Foundation President and CEO Candice C. Jones. “The African American Roundtable is paving the way for a new, transformative approach to justice in Milwaukee that is community-led, restorative, and racially just. They deserve not just our praise, but our investment to ensure that they can continue to advance this work in the years to come.”

"The African American Roundtable wants to build a thriving, sustainable policy home for Milwaukee residents while continuing to help build the great city residents want, deserve and are demanding.  AART is determined to continue to be a catalyst that supports Black Milwaukeeans as a policy home with the capacity to carry out and win local justice campaigns while transforming the people leading the work and increasing our people power,” said Markasa Tucker- Harris, Executive Director of the African American Roundtable.

Institutional grants are one-time infusions of capital intended to strengthen an organization’s operating and programmatic infrastructure so that it can continue its work well into the future. The investment will allow AART to develop a strategic plan, provide professional development opportunities for board and staff members, and infrastructure investments.

The African American Roundtable (AART) is a coalition led by and serving Black people in Milwaukee that has grown from no staff to one staff member to six staff members over the last 10 years. AART exists to empower and organize community members to amplify voices, nurture leadership, promote racial equity and accessibility, and pass policies to radically change the lives of Black people in Milwaukee. AART’s LiberateMKE campaign advocates for invest/divest policies to reallocate funds from the expansive corrections budget and reinvest those same dollars into communities in Milwaukee who have been hardest hit by mass incarceration. 

Other True Reformer grantees include:

• Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition: Denver, Colo.

• Michigan Center for Youth Justice: Ann Arbor, Mich.

• Women on The Rise: Atlanta, Georgia

• Operation Restoration: New Orleans, La.

• People’s Advocacy Institute: Jackson, Miss.

• Voices for a Second Chance: Washington, D.C.

For 75 years, Public Welfare Foundation has supported efforts to advance justice and opportunity for people in need. In its 75-year history, the Foundation has made over 5,700 grants totaling more than $700 million. Today, the Foundation’s efforts focus on catalyzing a transformative approach to justice that is community-led, restorative, and racially just through investments in criminal justice and youth justice reforms.

For more information visit www.publicwelfare.org and www.justicebyanymeans.org.