Louisiana Changemakers Awarded LSU Reilly Center Grants to Implement Community Projects

May 27, 2022

BATON ROUGE—The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication has selected its second cohort of grantees for “The Community Collaborative: By the Community, For the Community.” Grantees were selected after receiving community building training.

The Center worked with selected participants to identify collective solutions to community challenges. The program featured a four-part training session led by 2021-22 Reilly Center Public Policy Fellow Katie Knobloch, an associate professor of communication studies at Colorado State University, and a Louisiana native. 

Four applications were awarded $5,000 grants to implement community projects.

The Community Collaborative launched in May 2021 as an initiative to empower Louisiana residents to engage in collective decision-making and development within their local communities. The program featured training on community engagement, project development and grant writing. Following the training, participants were invited to submit grant applications that presented action-based solutions to improve their communities.

“Participants have the skills and love for their communities to carry out these projects,” said Jenée Slocum, director of the Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs. “I’m excited to continue to support each grantee through the project implementation process.” 

“These applicants demonstrated the power that local communities can harness when they work together to address the issues facing their communities,” said Knobloch. “These projects demonstrate a commitment to creating a better community and provide opportunities for developing a community's capacity for civic work beyond the scope of their individual projects.”

Grantees are listed below:

  • Joyce James: The Yellow Brick Academy
  • Laci Sherman: North Baton Rouge Culinary and Hospitality Workforce - Becoming Better, Together!
  • Tricia Wallace: Lincoln Beach Project
  • Tangee Wall: New Orleans East Matters “Love The Boot” beautification initiative in Joe W. Brown Park

To view the complete cohort, visit the Reilly Center's website.

For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.

###

The Community Collaborative: By the Community, For the Community at The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs is designed to enhance citizens’ ability to actively engage in community planning and decision making for the betterment of local well-being. Greater capacity ensures community members are better able to assess needs, identify solutions, and utilize resources to address local challenges.

The Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs is partnership-driven, action-oriented and dedicated to exploring contemporary issues at the intersection of mass communication and public life. Its interdisciplinary approach draws together experts from diverse fields to advance research and dialogue. The intent is to inspire our communities to think deeply, take action, develop solutions and broaden knowledge. Underlying the Center’s endeavors is to strengthen and advance the Manship School’s national and state leadership in media and politics.

LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: master of mass communication, Ph.D. in media and public affairs, certificate of strategic communication, and dual MMC/law degree.                                                          

 

LSU