Grant Program

The grantmaking program is a biannual offering that aims to provide monetary and networking support to emerging and established Black literary artists in poetry and screenwriting. Each awardee will be promoted via the Foundation’s social media and website pages, and if desired, will have the opportunity to showcase what they eventually produce at a larger gathering to be named and produced.

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TCNF’s Inaugural Grant Program Launch

October 2025: The Inaugural Cohort applications open for submission.
December 1, 2025: The Inaugural Cohort applications close for submissions.
January 1, 2026: Awardee shortlist is announced.
Week of January 10, 2026: Final awardees announced.

This grant will be awarded biannually, in January and June, of every year. The specific dates will be finalized based on review board needs and scheduling constraints. This grant is available to be used for any needs and/or wants that support the artists’ creative endeavors. There are no restrictions for use.

Each grant award (one for poetry and one for screenwriting) is $500. There is no minimum for applications (i.e. if only one person applies, they will receive at least $500 with potential for more at the discretion of the review board.). There is an additional Emergency Grant Fund that is available year-round — requests will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until funds and resources run out.

Further instructions regarding the application, review and use reporting process will be provided in 2025 ahead of the program’s official launch.

Our Benefactors

Najya Williams, Poetry and Screenwriting Grant Funds

Hakeem Angulu, Emergency Grant Fund

Hakeem Angulu is a Nigerian-Jamaican technologist currently based in Brooklyn, New York. He was born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, then moved to the United States to complete his high school and college education. He studied Computer Science, Statistics and African American Studies at Harvard College, where he graduated with honors as a member of the class of 2020. He currently works at Anthropic, building reliable and safe AI systems. His experiences and passions range from Computer Science and other scientific research to social justice and non-profit impact work. Outside of work, he devotes his time to service, community organizing, and artistic expression through photography and filmmaking.