NORTH CHARLESTON, SC - The South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development (SCACED) has awarded grants to nine community-based organizations working to advance fair and just representation for people across South Carolina. The grants support organizations that are addressing barriers to fair representation at the state and national levels, strengthening civic participation, and helping ensure eligible South Carolinians have meaningful opportunities to participate in the November 2026 election cycle.
Grants were awarded to the following organizations:
•E3 Foundation — Works to ensure people most affected by inequities are educated, empowered, and positioned to exercise collective influence across the South, with a focus on coalition-building among Black and Brown leaders and families.
•WREN — A nonpartisan gender-justice advocacy organization that advocates, educates,and convenes community in service to women and girls, with civic engagement as one ofits core focus areas, working toward a South Carolina where women can shape their ownfutures.
•SC Tenant Union — A statewide tenant-led organization advocating for more equitableand affordable housing policies statewide on behalf of poor and working-class families,organizing tenants to have a collective voice in decisions that affect them
.•League of Women Voters of South Carolina — A nonpartisan organization thatencourages informed and active participation in government and works to increaseunderstanding of public policy issues, guided by a mission of empowering voters anddefending democracy.
•ACLU of South Carolina — Works in the courts, legislature, and communities to defendcivil rights and civil liberties, including voting rights, for all South Carolinians.
•NAACP South Carolina State Conference — Advocates for the protection and expansion of Black voting rights, including litigation aimed at ensuring electoral maps are free from racial discrimination.
•Be The Ones — A nonpartisan grassroots organization working to close local civic information and participation gaps so that communities historically excluded from power can participate meaningfully in local government and elections.
•SC Counts — Works to ensure a fair, accurate, and complete population count in South Carolina, with a vision that every South Carolinian is acknowledged, recognized, and counted — a foundation for fair representation in Congress and the state legislature.
•SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center — Fights for low-income South Carolinians to overcome social, economic, and legal injustice, working at the intersection of communities, the statehouse, and the courthouse to advance systemic change.
“Fair representation and economic opportunity go hand in hand. Communities can't build lasting wealth if they don't have a voice in the decisions that shape their future,” said Bernie Mazyck, President and CEO of South Carolina Association for Community Economic Development. “These grants put resources directly into the hands of the community organizations already doing the hard work of making sure every eligible voter has the opportunity to participate in the electoral process.”
SCACED is also supporting grassroots voter engagement through its 2026 Voter Engagement Mini-Grants. Applications for the second round of the Voter Engagement Mini-Grants are open now through September 25, 2026. Grants of up to $1,000 are available to South Carolina nonprofits and community groups for nonpartisan voter registration, education, and turnout activities. Interested organizations can apply on our website at www.scaced.org.