SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The city on Friday announced the winners of Shaker Heights City Council’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee‘s first-ever community micro-grant program.
The committee will provide modest grants -- all less than $2,500 -- to a work-shop and free ice skating session, a free youth lacrosse clinic and a series of self-defense and protection classes.
The committee announced the program in July and accepted applications into August.
The city’s Chief DEI Officer Colleen Jackson said the committee received a variety of grant proposals.
“These micro-grants are spurring creative initiatives that advance the City’s mission of being diverse, equitable and inclusive in all that we do,” Jackson said in a news release.
The projects are:
- The Shaker Figure Skating Club will get $1,500 to host Kadari Taylor-Watson, U.S. Figure Skating’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, to lead a morning workshop at 9:30 a.m., Nov. 16 at the Shaker Heights Public Library to discuss increasing minority participation in figure skating and youth sports. That afternoon, the club will put on SkateFest, a free open-skating session at the Thornton Park Ice Arena. The session will feature free skate rentals, hot chocolate and beginner skating lessons.
- The committee awarded $2,290 to Victoria Cole, a self-defense trainer, to fund three classes: a personal protection seminar on Dec. 2 and a “sextortion” seminar on Dec. 9, and a women‘s self-defense seminar set for Jan. 2. The first two seminars will be at the library, but Cole has not announced a location for the Jan. 2 seminar.
- Three Shaker Heights High School seniors will get $2,410 to organize a series of free lacrosse clinics, open to all students in the district, aimed at introducing the sport to a more diverse audience. The city said the students are still finalizing details, which will be announced at a later date.