Special to the Patriot-Bridge
The Lenny Zakim Fund (LZF) hosted its 29th annual Awards Ceremony last week celebrating the work of its 2025 grant recipients. A total of $678,000 in unrestricted grants will be awarded to 53 nonprofit organizations, whose work ranges from food security, housing, and accessibility to youth development, violence prevention, and LGBTQ+ organizing. In addition to grant funds, LZF offers grantee partners an array of support services, such as expert advising, executive coaching, capacity-building educational seminars and workshops, and pro bono legal services.
“The work being done by grassroots nonprofit organizations to advance social, racial, and economic justice in communities throughout eastern Massachusetts is more critical today than perhaps at any time since LZF was founded 30 years ago,” said LZF Executive Director Allison Picott . “The Lenny Zakim Fund is proud to support the 53 grassroots organizations who make up our 2025 grantee portfolio and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them – and the nearly 400 grassroots partners we’ve proudly supported since 1995 – on the front lines of this 21st Century Civil Rights Movement.”
Keynote speakers at the Awards Ceremony wias Joan Ilacqua, Founder and Executive Director of The History Project, which is focused exclusively on documenting and preserving the history of New England’s LGBTQ communities and sharing that history with LGBTQ individuals, organizations, allies, and the public, and Kassandra Brandao, Board Vice President of Gratis Healthcare, Inc, which recognizes the growing need for access to basic health care for those communities that are uninsured or underinsured in the MetroWest and Greater Boston area by providing free medical and mental health services to those in need. The evening will also feature special performances by Refugees & Immigrants Cultural Empowerment Massachusetts (RICEMA) who uses performance art and education to preserve the culture of refugee and immigrant communities, while deepening individuals’ connection to their heritage.
With both new and returning grantee partners in attendance, the Awards Ceremony honors Lenny Zakim’s mission that was the impetus for his founding of this Fund in 1995: to develop deep relationships and build bridges among people and communities to advance social, economic, and racial justice.
2025 Lenny Zakim Fund Grant Recipients by Funding Area:
Access To Food, Housing & Economic Opportunity
2Gether We Eat
CodeSquad
East Boston Community Soup Kitchen
Lamplight Women’s Literacy Center
Mercy Meals & More, Inc.
New Lynn Coalition
Reclaim Roxbury
The Upward Project
Child & Youth Development
& Education
Bryce’s Journey, Inc.
Cape Ann Art Haven
Circus Up, Inc.
City Strings United
Cultural Exchange Through Soccer
DEAFinitely, Inc.
JOYweavers, Inc.
KodeConnect, Inc.
My Brother’s Keeper 617
Pride Productions, Inc.
Sisters Unchained
Somali Parents Advocacy Center for
Education, Inc.
Teen JUST-US at Temple Israel of Boston
Vong Tay Cha Me Viet
Civil & Human Rights Advocacy
& Support
Neighbors United for a Better East Boston
Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network
Center, Inc.
Right to the City Boston
Health Promotion &
Accessibility For All
Community Caring Clinic, Inc.
DeeDee’s Cry Suicide Prevention
& Family Support
Gratis Healthcare, Inc.
Heart of a Giant Foundation, Inc.
Neighborhood Counseling and
Community Services, Inc.
New England Medical Association, Inc.
SCIboston
Think Outside the Vox, Inc.
Urban PowerHouse
LGBTQIA Community Support & Organizing
Boston LesBiGay Urban Foundation, Inc.
OutstandingLife
The History Project: Documenting
LGBTQ Boston
Translate Gender
Organzing & Support For
Immigrants & Refugees
African Community Center of Lowell
Brockton Workers Alliance
Eritrean American Civic Association
Mount Olives Community Center
Nigerian American Multi-Service Assn.
Open Door Immigration Services
P&O Behavioral Health Initiative, Inc.
Refugees & Immigrants Cultural
Empowerment Massachusetts
Revive In Action, Inc.
South Boston en Accion
Violence Prevention, Criminal Justice Reform
& Family Outreach
365Dad, Inc.
I Have A Future
Love Life Now Foundation
Our Deaf Survivors Center, Inc.
The Dream Network
About The Lenny Zakim Fund
The Lenny Zakim Fund has worked since 1995 to develop deep relationships and build bridges among people and communities to advance social, economic, and racial justice. The LZF mission is to listen to those most impacted by inequity and provide the funding, essential resources, and support they need to create lasting change. The Lenny Zakim Fund envisions a more just and equitable world where communities thrive because of the contributions and leadership of grassroots organizations.