Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust Awards $2.16m in Grants to 10 Organizations Advancing Racial Equity in Mental and Behavioral Health

Investment provides resources to organizations working to eliminate barriers to mental and behavioral health in communities of color

BROOMFIELD, Colo., Oct. 11, 2022 – The Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust today announced $2.16 million in grants to advance racial equity in mental and behavioral health. The grants were awarded to 10 nonprofit organizations serving BIPOC communities across the country. The grantees – a mix of national and community-based organizations – were chosen for the work they do to provide mental and behavioral health services for BIPOC communities.

Rob Katz, executive chairperson of the board, Vail Resorts, Inc., and his wife, Elana Amsterdam, New York Times bestselling author and founder of Elana’s Pantry, launched the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust in 2017 and the Katz Amsterdam Foundation in 2018 to be a catalyst for eliminating barriers to health, increasing access to opportunity, protecting basic rights and improving outcomes for all communities, with particular focus on communities of color. With this current round of grants, Katz Amsterdam has provided more than $43 million in funding since 2017.

“Through our grant selection process, we’ve learned there are many new organizations making a significant difference in addressing the longstanding inequities for people of color in accessing mental behavioral health,” said Rob Katz, Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust founder. “The stigma of mental illness continues to pervade all communities. We look forward to supporting grantees as they deliver community-driven solutions to address systemic racism in mental health care by increasing access, education and support of BIPOC practitioners. It is an honor to partner with these impressive organizations.”

The 2022 racial justice and mental behavioral health grantees are:

• Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM) – $250,000: To support the removal of barriers that Black people experience getting access to or staying connected with emotional health care and healing through education, training, advocacy and the creative arts.

• Boris Henson Foundation Inc – $300,000: To support the eradication of the stigma around mental health issues in the African-American community.

• The Confess Project – $130,000: To support building a culture of mental health for Black boys, men, and their families through capacity building, advocacy, organizing and movement building through activating barbers with mental health awareness and resources.

• Drug Policy Alliance – $400,000: To support research, policy and other alternatives to the war on drugs which disproportionately criminalizes communities of color and compounds the harms of co-occurring mental and behavioral health disorders.

• Latinx Therapists Action Network – $150,000: To support a platform and network of Latinx mental health practitioners honoring and affirming the dignity and healing of migrant communities marginalized by criminalization, detention and deportation.

• Mental Health Liberation – $50,000: To connect Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) with quality therapy, support clinicians of color, and help dismantle systemic inequity and reclaim healing for melanated, marginalized and displaced peoples.

• National Queer and Trans People of Color Network – $130,000: To support the transformation of mental health for queer and trans people of color (QTPoC).

• Native American Connections, Inc. – $300,000: To support the improvement of the lives of individuals and families through culturally appropriate behavioral health services.

• The Sky Center/New Mexico Suicide Intervention Project – $200,000: To support meeting the challenge of youth suicide in Santa Fe and northern New Mexico through lasting solutions that encourage resiliency, courage, connection and hope.

• The Steve Fund (Stephen C. Rose Legacy Foundation) – $250,000: To support programs and strategies that build understanding and assistance for the mental and emotional health of the nation’s young people of color.

Through grant-making and opportunities for shared learning, Katz Amsterdam works to:

• Support narrative change and education to promote mental and behavioral health as a public health issue and increase access to community-based mental healthcare for BIPOC communities.
• Enable learning and collaboration among local leaders to develop and scale community driven mental and behavioral health practices.
• Invest in innovative strategies that increase access to high quality mental and behavioral health services.

For more information on the Katz Amsterdam Charitable Trust and Foundation, visit katzamsterdam.org.

About the Katz Amsterdam Foundation 

The Katz Amsterdam Foundation strives to be a catalyst for eliminating barriers to health, increasing access to opportunity, protecting basic human rights and improving outcomes for all. The Foundation believes that everyone benefits from living in healthy and cohesive communities, but access to these benefits is unequal. KAF works in partnership with communities to advance just and equitable approaches to accessing mental and behavioral health care and protect civil rights by increasing civic engagement and participation in a multiracial democracy. The Foundation does this work by addressing systemic injustice and the root causes behind racial gaps in health and well-being. KAF’s priority is to support community-driven work that meaningfully improves the lives of individuals and the social well-being of our communities. For more information, visit www.katzamsterdam.org. 

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