Grinnell Black Alumni Giving Circle
The Grinnell Black Alumni Giving Circle brings together members of the Black alumni community with the larger Grinnell College alumni network to maximize their philanthropic impact and make invaluable connections with students, faculty and staff for initiatives that seek to support students who have been historically underrepresented with a preference for African American or from the African diaspora.
How did the giving circle come to be?
Black alumni who returned to campus for Black Alumni Weekend were inspired not only to reconnect, but also to give back. Across generations, alumni shared stories of resilience, community, and mutual support—recounting how Black alumni from the 1960s and 1970s helped create opportunities for students in the 1980s, and how each generation has continued to build on the foundation laid by those who came before. Those conversations reinforced a shared understanding about the ongoing importance of investing in one another.
From those discussions emerged the vision for the GBAN Giving Circle. Alumni expressed a desire to make a meaningful investment in the future while partnering with the organizational and institutional progress that has been made at Grinnell. The Giving Circle provides a way to direct our collective resources toward the issues and opportunities that matter most to Black students and alumni, while remaining flexible enough to respond to the evolving needs of each new generation. More than a fundraising initiative, the Giving Circle is a commitment to sustaining the legacy of those who came before us and ensuring that future generations of Black Grinnellians have the support, community, and opportunities they need to thrive.
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