Fresno Arts Council distributes nearly $9.5 million in grants funded by Measure P to support arts and culture in Fresno
By ONME News
Last month, KOFP Radio 103.3 FM was granted over $330,000.00 in funding for program and operational support through the Expanded Access to Arts and Culture (EAAC) grants.
EAAC grants totaling $9,461,420.90 have been awarded to 112 arts and culture organizations and projects in the city of Fresno. This is the first ever disbursement of Expanded Access to Arts and Culture grants funded by Measure P, the sales tax initiative approved by City of Fresno voters in 2018, which sets aside 12% of collected funds to support cultural arts in Fresno for thirty years.
Funds will be managed by Info Media Distribution and will be used to help operate KOFP Radio's new broadcasters' program as well as for radio station daily operations.
Julia Ann Dudley Najieb, KOFP Radio general manager grant writer and executive news producer and publisher for ONME News who has over 30 years as a news publisher and journalist, and 15 years as an English and IB instructor, said that with the influx of funding KOFP Radio can be that needed voice for the community.
“Members of the Black community and community friends deserve to have a voice,” said Dudley Najieb. “They just want to know what the best way is to be heard, and how should they express it where change actually happens; that’s why it is so important to give the community, our youth and young adults hands-on learning and training early on for the experience and understanding of processes.”
ABOUT FRESNO ARTS COUNCIL
The FAC is a private, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization originally established in 1979 under the name “Alliance for the Arts” by local artists, arts organizations and interested individuals who wished to create a voice for the arts in the Central San Joaquin Valley. By Memorandum of Understanding, the FAC serves as the local arts agency for the City & County of Fresno and is tasked to support and promote the arts industry.
Our mission is to enrich people’s lives through the arts, and our purpose is to foster an arts community that recognizes and honors the contributions of its citizens to the arts. We are managed by a volunteer board of directors, and our agency solicits financial support from foundations, membership dues, and government and corporate funders as well as private donors. To learn more about Fresno Arts Council, visit https://www.fresnoartscouncil.org.
About KOFP-LPFM Radio “The Voice”
Under the 501C3 non-profit parent organization, Helping Others Pursue Excellence (H.O.P.E.), KOFP-LPFM Radio “The Voice,” 103.3 FM is the Black voice and expression of the Valley, providing all sounds of music, educational programming to news talk and inspirational talk. Deejays are inspired to bring community, hip hop, R&B, reggae with an educational twist.
It was April 14, 2015, when KOFP-LPFM Radio “The Voice,” 103.3 FM began broadcasting, originally managed under the Idefua Foundation for African Arts and Culture by founder and CEO, the late Patrick Okoegwale. Mr. Okoegwale wanted to bring more awareness to the African American community. He saw it as a way to give African Americans better representation and a voice in the community.
KOFP-LPFM Radio “The Voice,” 103.3 FM, broadcasts on the terrestrial radio airwaves, 103.3 FM throughout Fresno. Calif., online at www.kofpradio.com and on-demand through third-party audio podcast providers. The KOFP Radio original programing and shows are rebroadcast on the ONME Network.
About H.O.P.E.
Founded in 2012, Helping Others Pursue Excellence (H.O.P.E.) is one of the largest minority-led nonprofit vocational training and business development centers, and the first business hub in the Central Valley. Through their business campus, “Vision View,” they have created an ecosystem of essential financial tools and co-working space to improve the upward economic mobility for low-income residents.
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