Bank of America has named Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) and Never Stop Grinding Impact as its 2025 Neighborhood Builders® for their work building educational and workforce readiness initiatives throughout the Inland Empire.
Bank of America’s signature Neighborhood Builders program continues to be one of the nation’s largest philanthropic investments into nonprofit leadership development, while providing unique multiyear flexible grant funding annually to high-impact nonprofits in communities nationwide. As a Neighborhood Builder, Growing Inland Achievement (GIA) and Never Stop Grinding Impact are each awarded a $200,000 grant over two years, leadership training for the executive director and an emerging leader, and the opportunity to connect with nonprofits in a peer network.
“Nonprofits such as GIA and Never Stop Grinding Impact deliver effective solutions to help people overcome obstacles to personal and financial stability,” said Cathy Paredes, Inland Empire market executive, Bank of America. “By providing flexible funding and leadership training, the Neighborhood Builders program can help these organizations scale their impact.”
College graduation rates in the Inland Empire are lower than the state average, with only about a quarter of adults (ages 25-54) holding a bachelor’s degree, compared to 41% statewide. Inland Empire-based GIA is a regional educational collaborative comprised of a cross-sector network of education, government, nonprofit, and business institutions working to increase post-secondary education attainment.
GIA will use the Neighborhood Builders grant for a new Business Education Network that provides specialized skills and competencies to incentivize students to complete college and be part of a career pipeline with Inland Empire employers.
“We’re honored to be recognized as a Neighborhood Builder and deeply appreciate Bank of America’s continued partnership,” said Dr. Ashish Vaidya, President & CEO of Growing Inland Achievement. “This investment strengthens our ability to build the Inland Empire Business Education Network and deepen collaboration between education and industry.”
Rialto-based Never Stop Grinding Impact provides thousands of underserved youth and adults across San Bernardino County with programs that support mental health and wellness, as well as education and family resources to build long-term stability.
Building upon studies showing that early and ongoing exposure to college- and career-readiness opportunities can help foster success in students, Never Stop Grinding Impact created a new workforce readiness and economic empowerment initiative that provides paid internships, job training, financial literacy and mentorship programs to teens. The Neighborhood Builders grant will help fund intern stipends and scale this new program.
“Receiving the Neighborhood Builder grant is confirmation that we’re walking in our purpose and a way for others to see the impact our team is making every day. It will allow us to expand our services, develop more leaders, and open new workforce pathways for youth and families,” said Darious Harris, Founder, NSG Impact. “We are thankful for organizations like Bank of America for believing in grassroots organizations like ours. When we all work together, communities are impacted positively.”
Bank of America has selected 35 local nonprofits across the Inland Empire for its Neighborhood Builder program since 2004. In addition to the Neighborhood Builder program, Bank of America has awarded $10 million in grants to Inland Empire nonprofits since 2020 and its employees have volunteered over 100,000 hours to local causes.
Source: iecn.com
