The PPL Foundation has completed the first of three planned grant cycles for 2023, awarding $185,000 in grants to 24 nonprofit organizations working to build stronger communities in eastern and central Pennsylvania. In all, the PPL Foundation expects to award nearly $1 million in grants this year to support the Foundation's focus areas: education; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and sustainable communities.

Funds from the first round of grants - the Powering Equity grants - will be used to facilitate community conversations on diversity and inclusion, improve equity in access to higher education, and support innovation and entrepreneurship among underrepresented residents in area communities.

Recipients of the Powering Equity grants, ranging from $2,500 to $15,000, included Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Capital Region, Harrisburg; Fulton Theatre Company, Lancaster; Lighthouse Rehabilitation Center, New Holland; and United Way of Lancaster County, Lancaster.

For more information, visit http://www.pplcares.com.