The Stanley Creators Fund is dedicated to supporting early-stage organizations and ground-breaking ideas, where funding at scale can be particularly difficult to secure. Through a rigorous application and interview process, the 2025 grantees were selected for their innovative approaches and demonstrated commitment to making a tangible difference. This year's grantees are tackling a diverse range of critical issues, including mental health support, environmental conservation, combating domestic violence, advancing environmental justice, and more.
"The Stanley Creators Fund reflects our commitment to the values that have guided us for over a century – innovation, resilience, and a deep belief in the power of human potential," said Matt Navarro, Global President, PMI WW Brands, LLC. "We're proud to support these changemakers who, like our products, are built for life, designed to make a difference, and dedicated to building a more sustainable future."
About the 2025 Stanley Creators Fund Grant Recipients:
Mindful Education: Expanding Mental Health Support for Students and Educators
Instituto Ame Sua Mente, Dr. Rodrigo Bressan (São Paulo, BR)
Instituto Ame Sua Mente develops research-based projects focused on promoting mental health and reducing stigma. With support from the Stanley Creators Fund, Instituto Ame Sua Mente will expand its "Ame Sua Mente na Escola" project (Love Your Mind at School), a training course for public school educators focused on mental health education and care.
A Lifeline in Need: Reimagining Mental Health Support Through Repurposed Phone Booths
Hope Booth, Gloria Umanah (Atlanta, GA)
Hope Booth is a global mental health organization that revolutionizes the approach to mental health care access and support by using reimagined telephone booths strategically installed around our globe on street corners, in prisons, hospitals, and schools. The funding will support the installation of new Hope Booths to create a lifeline for communities in need, with a focus on those affected by gun violence.
An Inclusive Future in Fashion: Empowering the Next Gen of Designers
ICON360, Brandice Daniel (New York City, NY)
Dedicated to empowering diverse talent in the fashion industry, ICON360's mission is to break down barriers and cultivate the next generation of fashion leaders who are creating a more inclusive future in fashion. ICON360 provides financial support, professional development and career-building resources to designers of color and emerging talent from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The Stanley Creators Fund grant allows ICON360 to strengthen operational infrastructure and expand programs.
Safe Before Anyone Else: Student-Driven Solutions for Sexual Violence Prevention
SafeBAE, Shael Norris (Cape Elizabeth, ME)
SafeBAE aims to transform how schools address sexual violence and empower teens to reshape school culture. The organization promotes culture change by giving teens the tools to become activists and raise awareness about dating violence, sexual harassment, affirmative consent, bystander intervention, survivor care, mental health and student rights under Title IX. The Stanley Creators Fund grant supports the expansion of SafeBAE's annual Summer Activist Institute, a leadership training for young advocates working to prevent relationship harm and create safer school environments.
Action, Compassion, Technology: Using Tech Innovation to Help Eliminate Global Social Injustices
Spring ACT, Rhiana Spring (Bern, Switzerland)
Spring ACT envisions a world without domestic violence by connecting human rights and technology to empower people to take action. The grant enables Spring ACT to further develop the reach of "Sophia," the first AI-driven chatbot that empowers people impacted by domestic violence to gather potential evidence, learn about their rights and options, and seek help.
Empowering Youth for a Sustainable Future
Start:Empowerment, Alexia Leclerq (Austin, TX)
With the mission of empowering youth of color to innovate, imagine, and build a just and sustainable future in Texas and beyond, Start:Empowerment (S:E) offers high-quality, justice-centered climate education by combining science, technology, art, and math skills and traditional ecological knowledge. With this funding, S:E will launch the second iteration of its Environmental Justice Fellowship, where youth are paid to learn and spend the summer organizing for environmental justice.
The Rebel Reef: Protecting Tela's Resilient Corals
Tela Coral, Tiff Duong (Tela, Honduras/Austin, TX)
Tela Coral was created to support and protect the natural ecosystems in Tela, Honduras, through research, education, funding and storytelling. With the Stanley Creators Fund grant, Tela Coral will create a living coral biobank to support reef restoration efforts throughout the Caribbean, as well as build a Virtual Reality center where visitors can explore Tela's underwater world to transform them into ambassadors who help safeguard our oceans for future generations.
Closing the Disparities in Mental Healthcare
Therapy Fund Foundation, Ashley McGirt-Adair (Seattle, WA)
Therapy Fund Foundation seeks to eliminate barriers to healing for underserved communities by providing mental health education, advocacy and therapeutic services, with a vision of health equity for all. This funding will allow the organization to increase capacity and serve a growing number of individuals needing care, providing healing, peer support, tuition assistance, mental health education and advocacy.
"We believe in the power of big ideas and bold action to create a better future," said Emily Cichy, Vice President, Sustainability & Social Impact, PMI WW Brands, LLC. "We are incredibly proud to partner with these exceptional individuals and organizations who are not just addressing our world's most pressing challenges, but inspiring others to join them. We're excited to see the transformative impact of their work and the positive ripple effect it will have on communities around the globe."
The 2025 Stanley Creators Fund marks the second year of the philanthropic program. In its inaugural year, Stanley Creators Fund awarded grants to five U.S.-based nonprofit organizations: Black Girl Environmentalist, Boyz N the Wood, Catalyst for Change, Let's Go Compost, and the Refugee Collective (formerly Multicultural Refugee Coalition). With the Fund's support, the 2024 grantees were able to increase organizational capacity, increase the scale and impact of programs, launch new initiatives, and attract additional funding.
Through Stanley Creators Fund, PMI WW Brands, LLC has donated $750,000 USD to global nonprofits to date. Grant funding for non-U.S. organizations Instituto Ame Sua Mente and Spring ACT was executed in partnership with GlobalGiving, a nonprofit organization that makes it easy and safe to give to local projects around the world while providing fellow nonprofits with the tools, training, and support they need to thrive.
To learn more about Stanley Creators Fund and grant recipients, visit https://www.stanley1913.com/pages/stanley-creators-fund
About PMI WW Brands, LLC
PMI WW Brands, LLC manufactures, markets, and sells innovative food and beverage containers under the Stanley 1913 brand. Invented by William Stanley, Jr. on September 2, 1913 (official patent date), the all-steel vacuum bottle revolutionized the way people enjoyed food and beverage. Since then, the Stanley 1913 brand is recognized for delivering superior food and drinkware for active lifestyles. The Stanley 1913 brand is renowned for the quality of its branded products. Built for Life®. Learn more, visit www.stanley1913.com.
SOURCE Stanley 1913
Share this article