GET LIT - WORDS IGNITE RECEIVES $1 MILLION GIFT FROM THE YIELD GIVING OPEN CALL

Los Angeles, CA. March 19, 2024 – Today, MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced Get Lit - Words Ignite as one of the Yield Giving Open Call’s awardees working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. Get Lit received $1 million.

Get Lit - Words Ignite is a Los Angeles-based education nonprofit founded in 2006 by author and educator Diane Luby Lane, that uses spoken word poetry to increase teen literacy and student engagement, while providing valuable career training in the arts. Through in- and after-school programs centered on classic and contemporary poetry and multi-media expression, Get Lit advances education, promotes literacy, and offers opportunities for young people to create community and raise up their authentic voices. The programs span from the classroom to career including training in high-demand fields leading to life-changing creative opportunities, internships, scholarships, and jobs.

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.

“We are thrilled to receive this game-changing gift from the Yield Foundation,” said Get Lit Founder and CEO, Diane Luby Lane.  “Get Lit is working to close the literacy gap while improving youth mental health. This money will allow us to deepen our work and expand our reach, providing more arts in education to students throughout Los Angeles County and beyond. The power of Spoken Word is proven to increase literacy and help foster community, and we are delighted to bring our curriculum to young people everywhere.”

"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.

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.

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About Get Lit

Get Lit - Words Ignite is a Los Angeles-based education nonprofit founded in 2006 by author and educator Diane Luby Lane. Get Lit uses spoken word poetry to increase teen literacy and student engagement while providing valuable career training in the arts. Through in- and after-school programs centered on classic and contemporary poetry and multi-media expression, Get Lit advances education, promotes literacy, and offers opportunities for under-resourced young people to create community, transform their lives, and raise up their authentic voices. The programs span from the classroom to career including training in high-demand fields leading to life-changing creative opportunities, internships, scholarships, and jobs.

Using Get Lit’s unique call-and-response model, students identify classic poems that resonate with their own stories, and write original responses, inspiring students to discover, develop, and amplify their voices while learning and exploring classic poetry from the past and present.  At Get Lit, “a classic isn’t a classic because it’s old, a classic is a classic because it’s great.”  

Get Lit recently launched Uni(verse), the world's first interactive poetry platform for the classroom, community, and beyond. Get Lit’s Uni(verse) will enable students throughout the US and internationally to take Get Lit’s standards-aligned “Words Ignite” course online and to exchange ideas both within and outside of school. Uni(verse) will build and strengthen communication, collaboration, empathy, and community throughout the world through the vehicle of poetry.

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About 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.

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About 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.