United Way Worldwide, the Freedom Together Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, The Skillman Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, and CFLeads have joined forces to form an new national coalition to recognize those among us who have taken principled, often unseen stands in the face of adversity.

The Courage Project honors everyday people for acts of courage and compassion that demonstrate notable bravery in their communities. Their heroic contributions build bridges across localities and make our nation stronger.

The Project distributes awards ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 to organizational awardees and heralds the extraordinary acts of everyday people. Individual recipients, in turn, may “pay it forward” by recommending that the Project donate to values-aligned nonprofit organizations that provide vital community services, promote civic engagement, uphold human dignity, and champion the public good.

The Courage Project’s inaugural recipients, unified by a shared sense of purpose, reflect the reality that courage can take many forms. Their examples are inspiring, empowering and worth following.

• Commander William Marks, Jinny Amundson, and Janice Holmes distributed banned books to students and other community members in Annapolis, Maryland after the Naval Academy removed more than 300 titles under a federal directive
• Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade Idaho teacher, refused to remove a classroom sign that read “everyone is welcome here,” eventually resigning rather than yielding to local political pressure.
• Jamie Cook, Jen Gaffney, and Jonna St. Croix organized a public rally in a small New York town to help bring home a local immigrant family unjustifiably detained by ICE.
• Cotton Blossom Gardens, led by Janice Lucero, is providing hands-on experiences with traditional agricultural practices young people in New Mexico in order to preserve Indigenous agricultural heritage.
• Women of Welcome, whose leaders traveled to the California-Mexico border, support asylum seekers and help other evangelicals better understand border hardships through personal exposure.
• Laundry Love partners with local laundromats and volunteers throughout the nation to restore dignity through clean clothes, covering the cost of laundry for low-income families, students, and unhoused people.
• United Way of South Sarasota County is building a legal aid initiative to serve the community's elderly and A.L.I.C.E. (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) populations who lack “access to justice” within the civil legal system.
• Lisa Gardner, President of the Spokane Chapter of the NAACP, demanded increased security for upcoming MLK Day events, thereby reinforcing community resilience and public safety while honoring our long legacy of local civil rights leadership.

The Courage Project’s partners have announced a public nomination form on the initiative’s website -- thecourageproject.org – affording Americans across the country the opportunity to recognize and honor work in their communities that exemplifies our shared values of courage, kindness and decency. We encourage you to nominate those in your community who continue to make a difference in all our lives.