39 U.S. Schools and Libraries Chosen to Receive Grants for Amplifying…

School, district, and public librarians are important figures in our communities, because they touch the lives of so many people. We have seen firsthand how they are searching for ways to promote equity and amplify voices that so often go unheard.

ARLINGTON, Va. (PRWEB)
December 09, 2020

Zoobean today announced the recipients for its Beanstack Black Voices Microgrant Program. Eligible to any of the thousands of schools and libraries using Beanstack, the company’s core product offering, the grants are intended to help establish or enhance local programs that advance social justice and equity initiatives.

The Beanstack Black Voices Microgrant Program began accepting applications in August 2020, in the wake of social unrest surrounding racial inequities. The Zoobean team made a commitment to driving change and, in determining the best avenue, was inspired by their own client base.

“School, district, and public librarians are important figures in our communities, because they touch the lives of so many people,” says Jordan Lloyd Bookey, Co-Founder and Chief Client Success Officer at Zoobean. “We have seen firsthand how they are searching for ways to promote equity and amplify voices that so often go unheard. We realized that if we help our clients gain the resources they need to do this work, we’ll have a much greater impact than we could on our own.”

More than $30,000 in grants will be awarded, funded by Zoobean, anonymous donors, and Zoobean’s investors, including Velan Thillairajah of EAI Technologies, Wendy and Neil Jaffe, and Pamela and Harry Bookey.

Grant recipients include:

• 15 schools, representing 8 school districts
• 24 public library systems

Grants will impact areas in the following states:

• California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin

“We’ve had a great internal team working on this, and we are all excited to see these grants put to use in the community,” says Felix Lloyd, Co-Founder and CEO of Zoobean. “I’m so thankful to our clients for their partnership in doing this important work.”

For a full list of grant recipients and to learn more about their proposals, click here to read more.

ABOUT ZOOBEAN

Zoobean, Inc. provides a mobile app and other products that help people achieve reading goals by tracking reading and participating in reading challenges. The company’s flagship product, Beanstack, helps public libraries and school districts create, manage, and measure reading challenges. A sister product, Beanbright, offers school buildings a free, streamlined, out-of-the-box version of the reading challenge service. Most recently, the company has introduced Badge Books, which are sticker books that work hand in hand with the free Beanstack mobile app. Zoobean’s investors include Kapor Capital, Mark Cuban, RevUp Capital, the AT&T Aspire Accelerator, and Amazon’s Alexa Fund. Its founders were previously Washington, DC’s teacher of the year and Google’s first head of K-12 education outreach.

Share article on social media or email: