GreenLight Fund Atlanta

06/02/2026

In Atlanta, Inner Explorer is helping bring mindfulness into the school day through short, audio-guided practices that give students and teachers simple tools to pause, breathe, reset, and return to learning with greater focus. During the 2024–2025 school year, Inner Explorer reached nearly 130,000 individuals across Atlanta, Charlotte, and the Twin Cities.

Read more about how GreenLight is bringing mental health and well-being inFocus: https://greenlightfund.org/infocus-mental-health-well-being/

This Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re bringing mental health and well-being inFocus.

Across the GreenLight Fund network, portfolio organizations including Fathers' UpLift, Inc., Inner Explorer, Becoming a Man, and Working on Womanhood are helping expand access to support that builds trust, strengthens relationships, and creates more pathways for children and families to heal, grow, and thrive.

Read more about how GreenLight is bringing mental health and well-being inFocus: https://greenlightfund.org/infocus-mental-health-well-being/

05/26/2026

Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities and new risks. In a new article for Youth Today, GreenLight Fund CEO Ali Knight explores what it will take to ensure young people aging out of foster care are not left behind.

Drawing on lived experience and GreenLight’s work alongside communities nationwide, Ali highlights three priorities:
1. Building real infrastructure for independent adulthood.
2. Treating AI and workforce readiness as essential skills.
3. Strengthening relationships while using technology to support, not replace, human connection.

GreenLight portfolio organizations, including First Place for Youth, Hopeworks, and Youth Villages, are helping young people build stable, fulfilling futures in a rapidly changing world.

“Foster youth should not be left behind; they should have every opportunity to move forward in a changing world.”

Read the full article: https://bit.ly/4dFzx6V

04/28/2026

What does it look like to move from listening to action in philanthropy? In this piece by Ben Gose for The Chronicle of Philanthropy our model comes into focus as a way to translate community insight into action- supporting the spread of proven programs and driving locally rooted, scalable impact across its network of cities.

Read the article: https://www.philanthropy.com/news/lilly-gose-greenlight-0426/

For GreenLight Fund, this process starts with communities themselves– local leaders identifying where gaps exist and what’s needed most. From there, the work is about finding solutions that have already demonstrated impact and partnering to bring them to where they’re needed with the support they need to take root and grow.

As shared by CEO, Ali Knight, “We are in these cities to stay. We’re not going to bring some things and leave. We really intend to be a core part of the social fabric — the service fabric — of each city. And that’s a core tenet of place-based philanthropy.”

Thank you to Ben Gose and The Chronicle of Philanthropy for sharing this thoughtful piece on our approach.

04/22/2026

As part of our commitment to breaking down barriers to opportunity, GreenLight Fund Atlanta selected Inner Explorer in 2022 to bring its evidence-based mindfulness program to schools across the region. Since then, the results have been powerful: reduced stress, stronger emotional resilience, and thriving school cultures.

In this video feature, Royal Phillips, Regional Director for Metro Atlanta at Inner Explorer, shares how mindfulness is transforming classrooms...and lives! From students using breathing techniques to navigate conflict to new efforts that integrate mindfulness into STEM learning, this work is showing what’s possible when we support the whole child.

🎥 Watch the video:

As part of GreenLight Fund Atlanta’s commitment to investing in solutions that break down barriers to opportunity, Inner Explorer was selected in 2022 to bri...

03/24/2026

Across our network, we see every day how women and girls are building stability, finding their voice, and shaping what comes next for their communities. That’s true here in Atlanta, too.

In this reflection, Victoria Costa, Marketing & Communications Manager at GreenLight Fund, shares the stories that stay with us and why they matter.

https://greenlightfund.org/as-women-see-what-women-can-do/

In honor of Women's History Month, Victoria Costa, Marketing & Communications Manager at GreenLight Fund, reflects on a powerful quote from Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the latest blog post. Marking her four years at GreenLight, she shares participant stories from across our portfolio that have stayed with her the most, highlighting women and girls building stability, finding their voice, and shaping their futures while empowering others to do the same.

Read the full blog here: https://greenlightfund.org/as-women-see-what-women-can-do/

03/17/2026

A new partnership between the City of Atlanta and Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO is helping people returning from incarceration find work while improving Atlanta’s parks and green spaces. Participants earn same-day pay, receive job coaching, and build pathways toward long-term employment.

For participant Breana Turner, the experience has been transformational: “Instead of being defined by my past, I now am actively building my future.”

The impact is already clear. Of the 109 people who have participated in the program this year, 72 have already secured long-term employment.

GreenLight Fund Atlanta is proud to have Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO in our portfolio, helping expand opportunity and support successful reentry across Atlanta.

Read the full story from CBS News:

The City of Atlanta is giving residents a fresh start, and they're giving parks and green spaces a fresh look through the Center for Employment Opportunities program.

02/24/2026

We're honored to see former GreenLight Fund Atlanta Executive Director Joli Cooper continuing to lead with clarity and conviction. This powerful reflection reminds us that expanding access to economic opportunity, especially through fair-chance hiring, is essential to advancing racial equity and building stronger communities. We are grateful for Joli’s leadership and the ongoing work of Center for Employment Opportunities - CEO here in Atlanta to turn economic justice into action.

Too often, justice-impacted individuals face lasting barriers to employment, limiting access to stability and mobility.

In recognition of , CEO Board Member Joli Cooper reflects on why economic opportunity is inseparable from racial justice, and how fair-chance hiring is a tangible way to expand access to work, strengthen families, and support long-term economic mobility.

Read more: https://ceolink.co/4cvJpzV

02/17/2026

Just announced! GreenLight Fund Chicago announces its second portfolio organization investment, bringing SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine) to Chicago in response to rising prescription costs and the need for affordable healthcare access.
SIRUM partners with pharmacies, health facilities, and community organizations to redirect donated, unused medicine to those who need it most, including through its nonprofit pharmacy, Good Pill. In Chicago, SIRUM aims to serve 60,000 patients over the next four years, saving individuals and families an estimated $8 million while working with local hospitals, clinics, and health centers to expand access across the city. Read the full press release: https://greenlightfund.org/greenlight-brings-sirum-to.../

Just announced! GreenLight Fund Chicago announces its second portfolio organization investment, bringing SIRUM (Supporting Initiatives to Redistribute Unused Medicine) to Chicago in response to rising prescription costs and the need for affordable healthcare access.

SIRUM partners with pharmacies, health facilities, and community organizations to redirect donated, unused medicine to those who need it most, including through its nonprofit pharmacy, Good Pill. In Chicago, SIRUM aims to serve 60,000 patients over the next four years, saving individuals and families an estimated $8 million while working with local hospitals, clinics, and health centers to expand access across the city. Read the full press release: https://greenlightfund.org/greenlight-brings-sirum-to-chicago/

02/08/2026

We’re excited to celebrate our colleagues at GreenLight Fund Denver on the launch of their second portfolio organization, Health Career Connection (HCC). By connecting college students to paid internships and professional development in healthcare, mental health, and public health, this work is helping expand pathways to economic mobility while strengthening the region’s health workforce.

Across cities, we’re proud to be part of a network working to unlock opportunity and invest in solutions that help communities thrive. Congratulations to the Denver team on this milestone.

Just announced! GreenLight Fund Denver launches its second portfolio organization, bringing Health Career Connection (HCC) to Denver. HCC will expand pathways to economic mobility by connecting local college students, including those who are first-generation to graduate or whose backgrounds have limited their opportunities, to paid internships and professional development that lead to high-demand, living-wage careers in healthcare, mental health, and public health, strengthening the region’s health workforce. Read the full press release: https://greenlightfund.org/greenlight-brings-health-career-connections-to-denver

02/03/2026

This Black History Month, we’re grounding ourselves in the stories, voices, and leadership that have shaped Atlanta’s past and continue to drive its future. From historic movements to today’s changemakers, Black leadership has always been central to building stronger, more equitable communities. We invite you to explore Atlanta’s local history and the ongoing work happening across the city today.