NBCUniversal Local Impact Grant Winners: Where Are They Now?

Catch up with some of last year’s winners to learn more about how they’re using the unrestricted funding to create positive change in their communities.

March 07, 2025

In 2024, Comcast NBCUniversal awarded a total of $2.5 million to 76 nonprofits servicing one of the 11 NBC and Telemundo owned stations’ markets across the US through the NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants program. Now in its eighth year, the program provides unrestricted funding to eligible nonprofits that provide vital support to their respective communities in the categories of youth education and empowerment, next-generation storytellers, and community engagement.

Below, get to know three of the 2024 winners: Arts for the Aging, The Big Picture Alliance, and INTEMPO Organization Inc.

Applications for 2025 grants are open now through April 11.

Organization: Arts for the Aging

Market: Washington DC

What is your organization’s elevator pitch?

Arts for the Aging engages regular arts participation to improve physical, cognitive, and emotional health. We connect older adults and caregivers with arts experiences to increase socialization and prevent loneliness; and we equip professional artists with curriculums, trainings, and skills to ignite self-expression and social connection vital to healthy aging and caregiving. We imagine a world where participatory arts programming is accessible to all older adults and caregivers.

How are you using the unrestricted funds to expand your work in the community?

The funds have allowed us to sustain recent program growth in Greater D.C., as well as recently expanded organizational capacity. This funding helped us reach 1,731 participants (1,513 older adults, 209 caregivers, and nine youth), a 16% increase over 2023, and expand services to 50 clients across 71 communities in 2024. Additionally, we are currently in the process of hiring a marketing and communications contractor to help us better capture and tell the stories of how the arts come to life in our workshops. This will allow us to share more effectively with people and organizations that can support us to help us do this work.

“We hired Arts for the Aging to help train our teaching artists so that they could offer a mobile version of our Creative Classroom courses to residents 65+, living in properties owned by the New Bedford Housing Authority. What I found most remarkable was the way the Arts for the Aging staff and teaching artists modeled the techniques they wanted our teaching artists to use with participants throughout the training, integrating opportunities for connection and collaboration into the training itself. Although our training happened over Zoom, we felt more connected and invigorated than ever! We left equipped with concrete strategies we could use to improve the experience of our Creative Classroom for older adults, adults with disabilities, and residents whose first language isn’t English.”

— Emma York, Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford, MA

Organization: The Big Picture Alliance

Market: Philadelphia

What is your organization’s elevator pitch?

Philly youth are often the subject of media, but rarely the storytellers. Big Picture Alliance empowers Philly youth through free film & media programs that provide access to digital media tools, creative community, professional mentorship and a platform to be heard. Our pathway of school, summer and workforce programs mentor youth (ages 12-24) from script-to-screen and from curiosity-to-careers.

How are you using the unrestricted funds to expand your work in the community?

The funds are supporting the expansion of our pathway of after-school, summer and workforce programs serving over 300 youth annually. Youth develop media literacy, self-expression, social emotional empowerment, civic engagement, and professional skills through producing original films that explore their perspectives and amplify their voices. They present their work through industry field trips, broadcasts, and screenings - including our annual Big Picture Film Fest.

“BPA has impacted me by exposing me to an amazing network of people and providing the tools to authentically share my stories. I’ve learned that filmmaking is how I communicate my life experience with others and representation is something I really care about. I want to share my voice on screen along with the voices of others who are underrepresented.”

— Zora, who grew up in north Philly and participated in BPA’s after-school and summer programs where she produced over four films exploring themes of friendship, mental health, and representation.

Organization: INTEMPO Organization Inc.

Market: New York

What is your organization’s elevator pitch?

INTEMPO enriches the lives of low-income children predominantly from immigrant backgrounds and from communities underrepresented in the arts, by providing relevant, inclusive, and accessible classical and multicultural music education services that build emotional, cognitive, and behavioral skills, and empower children to leverage these skills to achieve academic and life success.

How are you using the unrestricted funds to expand your work in the community?

We are using the unrestricted funds to provide small-group music classes, private lessons, audition coaching, and musical instruments to low-income children, to ensure that they have the same opportunity to benefit from learning to play a musical instrument as their more-affluent peers.

“I've participated in audio production, piano, and guitar lessons at INTEMPO. It has helped me to improve my skills not only with the instruments but with my ability to concentrate. INTEMPO has helped me to become more confident by speaking to and knowing peers and teachers.”

— S., a 16-year-old INTEMPO Music School student who immigrated to the U.S. several years ago.