WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today announced that it has selected Communio as a recipient of the Heritage Innovation Prize.
Communio will receive a $100,000 award to support the organization’s partnership with Hampton University to create the National Center for Black Family Life and its efforts to build healthy relationships, marriages, and families among African Americans. Communio worked with the university to launch this new center in January 2023 on the campus of Hampton University, a historically black university in Hampton, VA.
Communio equips churches with proven tools, strategies, and resources to solve our nation’s family and faith crisis. The organization seeks to strengthen families and help grow the number of new healthy marriages, reduce divorce, and increase the share of children raised in homes with both parents.
In its partnership with Hampton University, Communio will use the award to advance the National Center for Black Family Life. Through the Center, Hampton University will bring its expertise to help Communio adapt its proven process to the needs of black churches and communities.
Heritage President Dr. Kevin Roberts released a statement upon announcement of the award:
“Heritage is on offense to take back our culture from the many threats to the foundations of our country. We’re proud to award the Innovation Prize, using the resources generously provided by fellow Americans, to Communio for its tremendous work of helping stabilize marriages and strengthen families. Strong families are crucial for a healthier civil society.”
J.P. De Gance, founder and president of Communio, also released a statement:
“Communio is equipping churches to bring about a relationship revolution that increases healthy marriages and renews family life on a national scale. The collapse of marriage and the two-parent home over the last 60 years is at the very heart of our cultural unraveling hurting millions of children, women, and men. I’m grateful to Heritage for its tremendous support of our culture-shifting partnership with Hampton University to build out the National Center for Black Family Life and expand Communio’s family-strengthening work.”
The Heritage Innovation Prize recognizes and provides substantive financial awards totaling up to $1 million annually to results-oriented nonprofits for projects involving research, litigation, education, outreach, or communications, particularly those focused on empowering parents in education, holding Big Tech accountable, countering the threat of the Chinese Communist Party, securing America’s borders and reducing crime, ensuring free and fair elections, reducing the growth of spending and inflation, and promoting life and family formation.
This is the third round of Heritage Innovation Prizes to be awarded. In 2022, winners of the Prize included the Alliance Defending Freedom, Alliance for Opportunity, Americans United for Life, Charlotte Lozier Institute, Defense of Freedom Institute, Forge Leadership Network, Independent Women’s Forum, State Financial Officers Foundation, and Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy. Each organization was awarded a grant ranging from $60,000 to $500,000, some of which will be received over several years. These awards are sponsored by The Heritage Foundation’s robust endowment for innovative conservative projects.
For more information on the most recent Innovation Prize awards, read here, or for information on the inaugural awards, read here. For more information about the prize itself, read here.
