Today, January 29, Catalyze Birmingham announced the second round of winners for its Catalyze Birmingham Challenge, an initiative that supports organizations that create opportunities for young people to explore new careers and connect education to meaningful work experiences.

About the Catalyze Birmingham Challenge initiative

Mayor Woodfin and the City of Birmingham are excited to partner with Catalyze to promote career-focused learning. (Catalyze Birmingham) — Mayor Woodfin announced the City of Birmingham’s partnership with Catalyze at a press release in 2023. (Catalyze Birmingham)

In 2023, Birmingham became the first city in the country to host a regional version of the Catalyze Challenge, a nationwide grant program that has awarded $10M to more than 40 organizations. The regional version—called the Catalyze Birmingham Challenge—identifies, supports and helps scale innovative local organizations that prepare young people for the workforce.

In 2024, Catalyze Birmingham awarded $720k to five local nonprofits, selected from a pool of over 70 candidates:

Funding for the grants comes from the national Catalyze Challenge and the Walton Family Foundation, matched by several local philanthropies, businesses and organizations:

Mike & Gillian Goodrich Foundation
Protective Life Foundation, Regions Foundation
The Caring Foundation of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama
Alabama Power Foundation
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham
The Altec/Styslinger Foundation
Innovate Alabama

The City of Birmingham EmpowerED Birmingham and Prosper teamed up to help develop the challenge in a way that best serves the community.

Meet the 2025 Catalyze Birmingham Challenge recipients

Today, Catalyze Birmingham announced the recipients of its second round of grants, totaling $716,929.

“Building on the success of our inaugural round, this second cohort of Catalyze Birmingham grantees reflects the growing momentum and innovation in Birmingham’s push for career-connected learning.

These organizations are driving transformative change in career-connected learning and demonstrating the power of collaboration and community-focused solutions.

We’re thrilled to support their vision and excited to see the impact they will create.”
Carlisha Harris, Catalyze Birmingham Challenge Specialist

The recipients are:

Black Women’s Mental Health Institute ($224,000): Through the Mental Health Career Navigation Fellowship (MHCNF), the Black Women’s Mental Health Institute seeks to create interest in mental health careers by introducing high school juniors and seniors from the Birmingham region to the field aged 14-18. The fellowship prioritizes Black, rural, and low-income students while remaining open to all eligible participants.
Blount County Education Foundation ($188,734): The BIG Virtual Careers initiative is a career exploration mobile unit customized as a multi-modal lab space for learners ages 14-18. This mobile lab delivers career exploration opportunities and raises awareness of college and career-ready programs available at the Blount County Career Technical Center across seven communities.
Jefferson State Community College Foundation, Inc. ($150,000): The WOW: JSCC Workforce on Wheels bridges the gap between education and high-demand careers through mobile career exploration simulators to learners aged 11-18. These immersive, video game-like training tools will provide youth across the college’s four-county service area with firsthand exposure to career pathways through industry-backed curriculum and simulations.
YMCA of Greater Birmingham ($154,195): The Bridge to Success program is to be delivered out of the Northeast YMCA in Roebuck to 18-22 year olds as a resource hub for the neighborhood which will include counseling services, a state of the art pediatric clinic, affordable home ownership, and youth center. The Northeast Y’s Leadership and Learning Center will be the epicenter for career pathway service providers to facilitate technical assistance that leads to a higher rate of high school graduates with a diploma and enrollment in a trade certification program, college, or a civic service academy.

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