Moonlighter Awarded Miami Open for Business Grant

Fueled by a $20 million grant from Wells Fargo, the Miami Open for Business program aims to empower historically underserved nonprofits and small businesses to build generational wealth and resilience through the purchase and ownership of critical business assets, such as property, equipment, and technology. Ultimately, the program aims to ensure that historically disadvantaged and underinvested entrepreneurs have a fair chance to build prosperity in the Miami they helped create. 

A total of $3.8 million has been invested or committed (real estate) to nearly 100 small businesses and nonprofits. The goal of Open for Business, our largest grant program to date, is to support historically underserved minority-led small businesses and nonprofits with grants and loans for asset building. 

Moonlighter FabLab is proud to be selected as one of 26 nonprofit grant partners, with an award of $12,500 to support the purchase of hardware assets for STEAM education, including laptop computers, 3D printing supplies, and circuitry kits. 

“Minority-led small businesses and nonprofits are vital to the strength of our region,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of The Miami Foundation. “This is a transformational investment from Wells Fargo that will help build generational wealth and support a stable future for diverse small businesses as we work to foster a strong, equitable, and thriving Greater Miami, which is at the core of our Foundation’s mission.” Rebecca Fishman Lipsey

“We are honored to be selected for this program. It is opportunities like these that level the playing field and make it possible for two individuals born and raised in Hialeah from hispanic immigrant families, become first generation college graduates, and go on to found a non-profit that helps provide access to digital technologies that empower anyone with an idea the ability and opportunity to build it. We are on a mission to provide alternative pathways to digital education and provide a safe place for people to innovate, build, and test new ideas. With support from this grant, we are another step closer to our vision for an equitable tech pipeline for the future of the Miami maker community!” – Tom Pupo, Executive Director of Moonlighter FabLab

Read More at https://miamifoundation.org/2022/open-for-business-awardees/