BMe Grants $230,000 to Vanguard Awardees 

The BMe Community is announcing its annual award to Black leaders whom they call BMe Vanguards. The award is given to Black people whose service and leadership have earned them the respect and trust of their communities. Each awardee is admitted into an advanced leadership program and receives a $10,000 grant to further the work they are doing in their communities.

“The BMe Vanguard are taught to define Black people and all people by their aspirations and contributions rather than by degradations and disparities,” BMe Community Founder and CEO Trabian Shorters said.

The 2022 BMe Vanguard Awardees from Metro Detroit are Kenya Abbott Jr., Tyrone Bean, Dillion Ashton Brown, Javier Evelyn, Nedra Hall, Ragine Head, Anton Horton, Destynee Nixon, Jeremiah Steen, Daniel Washington, and Alyssa Williams.

“We don’t ignore what’s wrong with situations, but we start with what’s right with the people. Then we build their freedoms to live, own, vote, and excel. That’s how we build equity without stigma,” Trabian Shorters said.

“We’re all different,” 2022 BMe Vanguard Anton Horton said. Horton is also the Dean of Culture at University Prep in Detroit.

He believes that we all come from different places, but the one thing that makes us alike is that we’re here to change the world as Black people for Black people, and that creates a better society for everyone.

Awardees were also recognized in other cities across the nation including Los Angeles, Boston, Las Vegas, and New York. They join more than 400 previous winners who have worked to help millions of families to live healthier, more fulfilling lives; own and build wealth; secure their voting rights, and achieve their full potential.

This year’s announcement came the week of Juneteenth which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States and is observed annually on June 19th.

The fund allocation is known as BMe’s Asset Framing initiative which offers field-leading training, support and engagement opportunities for foundations and social impact organizations that want to help build equity without stigma.

To learn more about BMe Community, its work, and most recent BMe Vanguard awardees, visit its website at BMeCommunity.org.