MISSION STATEMENT
PRINCIPLES & FOUNDATIONS
SUMMARY OF 2023 PROGRAMMING
BLACK EXCELLENCE FUND
COMMUNITY PROGRAMMING
FINANCES & FUNDRAISING
COMMUNITY BUILDERS & PARTNERS
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
2024 BUDGET PROJECTION
2023 EXPENSES
2024 BUDGET & FUNDRAISING GOALS
2024 KNOWN FUNDING
NH PANTHER is a grassroots community organization whose mission is to combat racism and systemic bias through community engagement, direct mutual aid, education and curriculum reform, youth empowerment programming, and the arts.
NH PANTHER formed in June of 2020 as a response to the murder of George Floyd and in tandem with a growing movement for social justice in the United States.
Our founder, Benjamin Bacote, is a high school humanities teacher, parent of three, and Black In the summer of 2020, following the lead of their 13 year old son, Ben went to the town common to march, and answered the plea of a former pupil that wanted to ensure future students would be taught an updated, inclusive curriculum.
NH PANTHER stands peacefully within the Democratic principles & rights following in the New England tradition of civil public discourse. We will continue to stand until the promise of our founding words are not just memorized but also realized.
We stand for representation, recognition, and education for all as we seek to correct historic and current inequities based on race, ethnicity, class, religion, sexuality, gender, ability, and age. These inequities exist systematically in our local, state and federal institutions. We stand with the Black Lives Matter movement that is sweeping our country.
In the spring of 2021 we conceived a project called the Black Excellence Fund & Storytelling Project (BEFSP). It is our goal to provide material support and a public storytelling platform directly to young (under 35) Black and BIPOC individuals across all disciplines who are striving to embody excellence against the tides of systemic oppression.
Why Unrestricted? To support Black & Indigenous-led initiatives and individuals with unrestricted funds is to trust the leadership and vision of Black and Indigenous peoples.It is a tangible way to forsake power and privilege in the ongoing struggle to decolonize.
Nominations opened on Juneteenth, and this year all three Community Grant Recipients were self-nominated - something we are so proud to have achieved.
We raised $15,000 to provide (3) $5,000 Community Grants, awarded this year to:
The first ever recording of the Poetry & Conversation Series was released by Diannely Antigua on her podcast, Bread & Poetry.
ReproFund Anniversary Party and Fundraiser artwork designed and printed by Elizabeth in collaboration with Sam Pao and Lane Lloyd. The event was held on March 31st, 2023
2023
Official launch of the NH Community Resource Guide in collaboration with ReproFund and NHHRC
Live screen-printing on site for Queerlective’s Queer Art Extravaganza, and donated art to the Capital City Pride Community Art Day they organized in July. Many rainstorms and scheduling challenges could not stop us!
Received funding from YHOT Fund (matched by NHCF) to continue our Poetry & Conversation series in collaboration with Diannely, which is also a part of her Bread & Poetry Project as a National Poets Society Poet Laureate Fellow
BEF Nominations opened on Juneteenth!
2023
Live screen printing at the impromptu Pride Summit at the Loading Dock in Littleton, NH
BEF Recipients named! Bol Nakdimo of Manchester, Ivan Yen of Concord, and Randall Nielsen of Manchester
SeaChange Conference attended by Elizabeth
Ben and Elizabeth toured North Country with Jared Sullivan and Jordan Applewhite
Diannely Antigua officially becomes NH PANTHER’s Artist in Residence and also she is named as a National Poet Laureate Fellow!
Met with perspective consultants for professional development and coaching
Ben makes professional move from the private sector to teaching at a NH Public School, going through rigorous licensing and professional development, and is thriving in this new environment that allows them to marry their work as a teacher with their work as an activist; for instance, teaching a Poetry & Conversation PBL to their poetry unit. Congratulations!
september 2023
Tabled at BIPOCfest - distributed free screen-printed artwork (too rainy to do live screen-printing)
Hired Mikel Oliver Branch MPact Consulting (using Grassroots fund grant) and initiated a coaching relationship. Our beloved Rebekah takes a step back from full time organizing as she pursues graduate school. We wish her well!
Poetry & Conversation Black Voices at Nashua Public Library!
october 2023
Ben and Elizabeth are invited to apply to the NHCF Racial Justice Fund Design Team; they are both interviewed and results are not yet publicly available BEF Grants are dispersed!
Poetry & Conversation: LatinX Voices / Dia de Muertos produced by Ben, Diannely, and guests in collaboration with David Vargas november 2023
december 2023
Showcased BEF recipients over the course of 3 weeks with storytelling slides across social media
Ben and Elizabeth take a step back from organizing new events to attend to family; BEF will continue and professional development will continue Diannely and Elizabeth do individual sessions with Mikel; once Ben completes individual sessions, we will do group session including Andrea, with outcomes to follow.
Ben’s family’s home burned down– NH PANTHER’s network fundraised $5000+ on gofundme for their family and the other victims of the fire. Thank you to everyone who contributed.
Ben is invited to review grant applications for the NHWF Women and Girls of Color Fund, and is accepted!
februrary 2024
LatinX Voices recording drops on Bread and Poetry Podcast!
Met with Krakoa Fund Funders for check-in, began preparing Annual Report and grant report backs for Kirsten Scobie and Grassroots Fund, continue with professional development, look ahead to 2024 BEF.
Community Builders are partners in our network who have made financial contributions in support of our flagship community grants program. We recognize and thank them for their commitment to supporting grassroots community organizing!
NH | Water & Stone Massage | Sam Pao, artist | NHCF
Our Community Partners are individuals and organizations that we have met with, collaborated with, rallied or marched with; they are not just our network but our real community. These are the folks we turn to as our day-to-day advisors; these are the peers whose work we support, uplift, and find inspiration in. True liberation is collective liberation. Thank you to all of our community partners! SOLIDARITY!
In this year of transition for NH PANTHER, we have tried to hone in more closely on our areas of service. As we continue the coaching process with Mikel and MPact, we hope to strengthen and clarify our vision and roles. In 2024 and beyond, we plan to organize and put on further Poetry & Conversation events (Immigrant Voices, Queer Voices, Harm Reduction themes), give unrestricted Black Excellence Fund Community Grants, live screenprint at BIPOCfest (this year at Strawberry Banke!), and create opportunities for diverse youth to access culturally competent self-care services, by hosting self-care events, like a summer kick-off hair-braiding event for students in Concord.
Ben Bacote, Diannely Antigua, Andrea Martin, & Elizabeth Robertson, thanks and farewell to Reba!
Thank you to the Krakoa fund, all of our donors and funders, and our fiscal sponsor, Global Justice Solidarity Project, for making our work possible. Thank you to Henry Amistadi, for creating this gorgeous report! Thank you to the communities we serve, for inspiring us, thank you to everyone out there standing up and fighting back alongside us.
individual donations
NH CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
YOU HAVE OUR TRUST FUND
GRASSROOTS FUND
krakoa fund
$750 UNRESTRICTED
$2,300 FOR POETRY, $5,000 UNRESTRICTED
$2,500 FOR POETRY
$4,000 FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
$20,000 (INCREASED FROM $10,000) RECURS IN 2024
of $15,000 dispersed in (3) $5,000
Queerlective Art Extravaganza at Manchester Pride
Queerlective Community Art Day with Capital City Pride NE BIPOCfest at Vida Cantina Pride
at Loading
Seachange conference
Diannely Antigua workshop Meeting with Sandeep from NHCF Mailing
www.nhpanther.org/donate