The Nielsen Foundation has committed $250,000 in grants to five organizations using data to advance representation in media and technology. 

Through the 2022 Data for Good grants program, the Nielsen Foundation is supporting creative efforts leveraging data to advance media and technology as forces for good, especially in advancement of representation and inclusion. 

“The Nielsen Foundation is dedicated to projects and programs that advance representation in media and technology,” said Andrea Bertels, President and Executive Director, Grantmaking, Nielsen Foundation. “We are absolutely thrilled to support this exceptional cohort of nonprofit organizations as they work to make media and technology, in creation and content, more inclusive of the diverse voices and experiences in our society.”

Supported projects include:

• Ghetto Film School: to support the organization’s comprehensive program assessment and evaluation project, to advance their work in educating, developing and celebrating the next generation of great storytellers in film and media. 
• PopShift (a project of Pathos Labs): to build a curated catalog of intellectual property from diverse creatives for distribution to writers, producers and executives, as part of the organization’s efforts to create more opportunities for representative co-authorship.
• The Trevor Project: to support a research-driven marketing and advocacy campaign to uplift the stories of trans and nonbinary youth, advancing the organization’s mission to end suicide among LGBTQ young people.  
• The USC Norman Lear Center Media Impact Project: to support research on representations of fatness and anti-fat bias in medical dramas, as part of their work to advance understanding of the role that the media plays in changing knowledge, attitudes and behaviors among individuals and communities.  
• Wiki Education Foundation: to develop a free online portal that uses Wikidata to increase the visibility of diverse groups and topics on Wikipedia, as part of their work with students, scholars and scientists in representing the sum of all human knowledge.

The Nielsen Foundation has invited applications for Data for Good grants since 2017, to support projects by nonprofit organizations that use data in innovative ways and help bridge divides to catalyze long-term change. 

The Nielsen Foundation, a private foundation originally funded by Nielsen, a global data and analytics company, envisions a more equitable world where everyone counts. Its mission supports organizations that give voice and opportunities to historically under-represented groups and communities. Grants from the Nielsen Foundation encourage educational access and persistence, promote economic mobility and well-being, and advance representation in media and technology.