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Lift Every Voice and Vote

The Courage Project Celebrates and Honors

Everyday Acts of Bravery

Submit a Hero in Your Community

The Courage Project is a bold new initiative honoring everyday acts of bravery – the quiet, often unseen acts of heroism that reflect the best of the American spirit and strengthen democracy at the community level.

Launched in May 2025 with an initial $5 million commitment, The Courage Project is supported by partners including CFLeads, the Freedom Together Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, Pisces Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, The Skillman Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.

The Courage Project distributes awards ranging from $10,000-$50,000 to honor organizations and individuals who are exhibiting acts of courage and compassion in their communities by helping their neighbors and building bridges across communities.

  • Organizational awards recognize local nonprofit organizations taking specific actions to build bridges and strengthen communities, such as supporting disaster recovery, championing equality, or building consensus and collaboration around common areas of need within their communities.
  • Individual recognition awards are designed as a way to “pay it forward” by elevating and honoring the work of American nonprofit organizations, seeding civic engagement in their communities and strengthening our democracy.

The newest slate of awardees, announced December 9, 2025, are:

Individual Awards

  • Mario Berlanga - Las Vegas, Nevada: Founded in what was once a food desert, Mario’s community-centered grocery store, Mario’s Market, offers a wide range of fresh foods and essential groceries, ensuring that all members of the community can access nutritious options – including lowering prices when SNAP benefits were in limbo. Beyond providing food, the market has become a platform to support and uplift the people it serves – from hiring and training employees from the neighborhood to actively sponsoring local events and initiatives that strengthen the entire community. Mario has selected Bolden Little League to receive the “pay it forward” award.
  • Vanessa Houk - Ashland, Oregon: A wildfire survivor who channels her experience into broader community recovery, Vanessa tirelessly supports unhoused and vulnerable residents as the unpaid volunteer executive director of a coalition of organizations called Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice (SOJWJ). She leads weekly Peace Meals, has coordinated a community-wide Thanksgiving since 2015, and regularly mobilizes volunteers and faith groups to provide emergency shelter and supplies when the city falls short. Among her proudest accomplishments are her three daughters, Sierra, Madison and Grace, as well as being married to Jason for the last thirty years. Vanessa has selected Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice to receive the “pay it forward” award.
  • Louis Quinones - Hoboken, New Jersey: Drawing from his experiences of hardship growing up on the streets of New York City, Louis founded a nonprofit in Hoboken, Community Lifestyle, with no funding or network. Giving back to youth facing similar challenges, Louis’ nonprofit is committed to empowering the next generation with free sports and after-school programs that provide safe, structured environments for children in low-income communities. Louis has selected Southern Community Lifestyle to receive the “pay it forward” award.
  • Edgar Rosales Jr. - Long Beach, California: After becoming homeless in 2023, Edgar, a 40-year-old student at Long Beach City College, founded Voz, a student group that amplifies the voices of unhoused and low-income students at the college. His leadership helped destigmatize homelessness on campus and encouraged the college to strengthen its support systems and to take more compassionate, practical action toward addressing student housing insecurity, including through safe-parking and basic-needs programs. Edgar has selected the Long Beach City College Foundation to receive the “pay it forward” award.
  • Apera Tobiason - Enid, Oklahoma: A former treatment specialist at the Robert M. Greer Center in Enid, Oklahoma, Apera became a whistleblower after witnessing repeated signs of abuse and neglect at the state-run facility for adults with developmental disabilities. Her courage in exposing the mistreatment helped draw public attention to systemic failures in Oklahoma’s care system and pushed a bipartisan group of state officials, including the governor, to confront long-overlooked abuses at the facility. Apera has selected the Sunhive Collective to receive the “pay it forward” award.

Organizational awards

  • La Maraña - San Juan, Puerto Rico: After Hurricane Fiona devastated Puerto Rico in 2022, La Maraña partnered with farmers and fishers to create the Food Sovereignty Fund, providing direct aid, volunteer brigades, and storytelling efforts that uplifted their work and experiences. The initiative was grounded in mutual respect and the understanding that those who work the land and sea hold essential knowledge about both the damage and the paths to recovery.
  • Akron Aids Collaborative / Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center - Akron, Ohio: The Akron AIDS Collaborative / Bayard Rustin LGBTQ+ Resource Center is a nonprofit organization serving the greater Akron, Ohio area, dedicated to advancing health equity, housing stability, and social support for people of color living with HIV/AIDS and the LGBTQ+ community. The organization provides comprehensive services including targeted housing placement for individuals with complex needs, safe community spaces through the Bayard Rustin Center, and access to culturally competent medical and social‑service providers.
  • 1 Mother 2 Another - Southfield, Michigan: Rooted in a mission to motivate, educate, and uplift mothers while serving the city’s most vulnerable, Detroit-based nonprofit 1 Mother 2 Another has sustained monthly volunteer initiatives since 2014—feeding the unhoused, providing essentials, and creating spaces for connection. Over the past decade, the organization has directly supported thousands of residents and inspired more than 5,000 women to engage in service and leadership.
  • The Women’s Network - Wichita, Kansas: The Women’s Network (TWN) is a Wichita nonprofit transforming the lives of women who have experienced trauma, domestic violence, or economic hardship. Guided by the belief that empowered women build stronger families and communities, TWN equips women with the resources, confidence, and opportunities needed to achieve financial independence, self-sufficiency and stability.
  • Prism United - Mobile, Alabama: Founded in 2018, Prism United is a youth-centered nonprofit in southwest Alabama dedicated to providing affirming support, community connection, and mental health resources for LGBTQ+ young people in a region where such services are often scarce. Through programs like Prism Teens and Preteens, Prism Families, and youth leadership initiatives, Prism creates safe spaces for peer support, creative expression, personal growth, and caregiver engagement. The organization also strengthens the broader community through cultural competency training, public events, and the Prism Local & Affirming Network (PLAN), which expands safe and inclusive environments across the region.
  • For the People - Oakland, California: For The People is a bipartisan nonprofit that works with prosecutors to identify people in prison who can be safely released – reuniting families and strengthening communities. Their work is rooted in a simple idea: prosecutors have a unique ability to advance justice, and many people in prison are ready to contribute to their communities. In 2018, For The People helped draft the nation’s first Prosecutor-Initiated Resentencing (PIR) law. Since then, more than 1,000 people have been resentenced with a second chance at freedom.
  • Green Valley-Sahuarita Samaritans - Green Valley, Arizona: Green Valley–Sahuarita Samaritans is a volunteer-driven humanitarian group in southern Arizona, committed to providing humanitarian assistance to migrants navigating the perilous Sonoran Desert along the U.S.-Mexico border. The organization addresses life-threatening challenges faced by migrants, while also responding to the needs of vulnerable local communities and animals affected by violence.
  • Bridgercare - Bozeman, Montana: Dedicated to providing affordable, inclusive reproductive and sexual healthcare and education to Montanans, nonprofit clinic Bridgercare has expanded access to comprehensive, sliding-fee scale reproductive and sexual health services, while launching statewide initiatives like the Montana Sexual & Reproductive Health Collective (MTSRHC). In 2022, Bridgercare took over Montana’s Title X family planning network, ensuring statewide access to reproductive health services for low-income individuals and protecting reproductive healthcare from political interference.

Nominations for The Courage Project can be submitted via the public form below.

In celebration of America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, The Courage Project invites all of us to reflect on the foundational ideals that define this nation and to celebrate those who courageously stand up for them. By spotlighting real stories, and offering an open public nomination process, the initiative empowers individuals nationwide to honor unsung heroes and inspire courageous action in their own communities. In a time of deep division, The Courage Project is a unifying force, reminding us that small acts of courage and compassion can ripple outward to create powerful, lasting change.

For more information email info@thecourageproject.org.

We review applications on a rolling basis.

The Courage Project: Celebrating Everyday Courage in America

Nomination Form

The Courage Project seeks to recognize individuals and organizations that embody the foundational values of our nation through acts of courage that strengthen our communities, our democracy, and our shared future.

For questions about this form or The Courage Project, please contact info@thecourageproject.org.

Due to a high volume of nominations, we are not able to respond to every submission. If your nomination is selected, the recipient will be notified directly.

Disclosure: Nominated individuals and organizations cannot be considered for actions or deeds that were directly involved in or related to political activity, candidates, or the goals of political candidates or groups; encouraged unlawful activity, including, but not limited to, trespassing or the destruction of private property; benefited a for-profit entity.