BLACK LIVES MATTER
The Keep A Breast Foundation is committed to supporting Black women and men by committing to anti-racist actions and initiatives– fighting against continued oppression, while utilizing our privilege to help uplift Black voices and advocate for Black breast cancer patients and survivors who experience disparities in the healthcare system.
As a white-led 501(c)3 nonprofit, we recognize it’s our responsibility to better the breast cancer space, stepping aside to invite in Black voices and to continue to promote the work of Black-led organizations.
Below you will find not just our words, but the actions we’ve taken to become a more inclusive Foundation and embrace the Black community, which, more than any other community, experiences higher rates of death and late-stage diagnoses through many factors including racism within the healthcare system.
MARCH 2024
The finalized Cycle 4 grant recipients are currently receiving their grant awards.
OCTOBER 31, 2023
Cycle 4 Application window closes, and initial and secondary application reviews begin!
AUGUST 1, 2023
The 2023 Give Back Grant Program Cycle 4 is open to our next women of color applicants!
MARCH 29, 2023
Our Give Back Grant Program Cycle Wrap-Up is released, announcing double the impact from our previous cycle. 464 grantees were supported with $232,000 in funding from 2022’s Cycle 3 donors and charitable partners.
JANUARY 30, 2023
We’re pleased to announce our newest hire, Black breast cancer survivor and author, Marquita Goodluck, joins the Keep A Breast team as our Give Back Grant Program Manager.
AUGUST 30, 2022
Essence Magazine profiles the Give Back Grant program, expanding awareness of the $500 grants for Black women and women of color.
July 1, 2022
The 2022 Give Back Grant cycle is officially open.
The application period begins on July, 1 2022 and ends on September 15th, 2022.
The Keep A Breast Give Back Grant directly supports BIPOC women who are breast cancer survivors or have been diagnosed with breast cancer.
March 1, 2022
Global Impact Report released.
Announcing $120k in grant funds awarded to BIPOC Breast Cancer Survivors.
January 25, 2022
We are beyond proud and excited to announce that with our 2021 grant cycle we have awarded a total of 240 grants to BIPOC women diagnosed with breast cancer, that’s a 1,500% increase in just one year, made possible through generous support and donations from our community!
Meet the amazing recipients of our 2021 Give Back Grants.
July 1, 2021
Update on KAB’s accountability and efforts to better support BIPOC women.
The 2021 Keep A Breast Give Back Grant cycle launches today! Keep A Breast has made a long term commitment to funding the Give Back Grant with a $5,000 contribution for a minimum of 5 years. This year we received a generous Donation from the Clara Lionel Foundation of $100,000, which allows us to expand the grant program beyond Tennessee to nationwide.
December 14, 2020
Update on KAB’s accountability and efforts to better support BIPOC women.
KAB Give Back Grant: We awarded a total of 16 grants, with checks mailed out on 12/14. $5,000 (10 grants at $500/each) funded from our KAB Nashville Collection, with an additional 6 graciously donated.
We have budgeted $5,000 again for the 2021 grant cycle. Follow our KAB Give Back Grant page for more information and to know when the 2021 cycle opens.
August 11, 2020
Update on KAB’s accountability and efforts to better support BIPOC women.
Added additional resources for Black women to our Black Women and Breast Cancer page in our Learn section. These resources are primarily Black-women centered breast cancer and other health orgs, as well as information for women with Metastatic breast cancer, and lastly, further information on cancer disparities due to systemic racism and inequality.
We launched the Keep A Breast Give Back Grant. In 2020, KAB is committed to directly supporting BIPOC women who live in Tennessee and have been diagnosed with breast cancer. 10 women will be selected to receive a grant of $500 each ($5,000 in total) that they may use in a variety of ways. We are focusing on Tennessee women in conjunction with KAB Nashville Collection taking place in October 2020. We hope to expand this grant in 2021. Learn more.
June 12, 2020
The last two weeks have been full of listening, learning, and reflecting on how we can do better to support uplifting Black voices and protecting Black lives. Thousands of people have hit the streets to protect Black lives, and we fully support this revolution.
Black Lives Matter.
Period.
Every voice in this fight against the oppression of Black people is needed. Injustice has no lane, this fight is all of ours.
Our goal as an organization is accessible breast health, and prevention, for all. We know breast cancer impacts Black people disproportionately and that the health care system is also rooted in white supremacy and systemic racism.
Recently, you may have asked yourself how you can turn the anti-racism talk into the anti-racism walk, and we have been asking ourselves the very same question.
We don’t have a concrete answer yet. But we do have a commitment to being actively anti-racist in our work and in the breast cancer space from here on out.
We’re only a team of three full-time employees, and although small, as a white-led NGO we know we are part of the problem, and we’re committed to being better at making the breast cancer space more inclusive in the immediate and long-term future.
This is where we are at so far with that commitment:
We pledge to educate ourselves with anti-racism resources ongoing and take action on the influence white supremacy has had on our organizational culture and communications.
We pledge to partner with more Black breast cancer organizations, both educationally and financially, as resources for others, and to also highlight their work where we can.
We pledge to reevaluate company partnerships to ensure that we do not work with and will not work with any discriminatory companies in the future.
We are committed to continuing this work and are not stopping here. We hope you’ll join us in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement reflects our values, and these values are concrete. We are ready to learn from the white supremacy in us and take imperfect action to move to a more just system and society.
This is just the beginning and it is our pledge to you that we are not just here to be an ally, but that we will work to be a co-conspirator on the road to racial justice and equity.
In solidarity,
The Keep A Breast Team