BENTONVILLE, Ark., Jan. 16, 2019 – TRUE Northwest Arkansas (TRUE), an initiative of the Arkansas Community Foundation, in partnership with the Walmart Foundation and Walton Family Foundation, today announced its support to organizations serving underrepresented populations in the region. The investment is part of TRUE’s commitment to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Benton and Washington counties.

Ten organizations engaged in diversity, equity and inclusion work in Northwest Arkansas have been selected to participate in a shared learning experience over a two-year period and will receive technical assistance from the Arkansas Community Foundation.

"All organizations accepted into this initiative have done their part in creating change for the communities they serve,” said Judith Yanez, founding executive director of RootED. “Now, we get to unite and can only imagine the impact."

To increase the capacity and visibility of these organizations, participants will receive grants from the Walmart Foundation and Walton Family Foundation, with a combined total investment of more than $1 million. TRUE grantees include:

• Arkansas Coalition of Marshallese
• Arkansas United
• Bentonville Islamic Center
• Catholic Charities of Arkansas (in collaboration with the Arkansas Justice Collective)
• Hindu Association of Northwest Arkansas
• Hispanic Women’s Organization of Arkansas
• Northwest Arkansas Equality (in collaboration with the Transgender Equality Network)
• OneCommunity
• RootED
• The Urban League of the State of Arkansas.

Together, the organizations serve more than 44,000 Northwest Arkansas residents annually, including African-American, Hindu, Islamic, Latino, LGBT+ and Marshallese communities.

In 2018, the Walmart Foundation and Walton Family Foundation unveiled their support for TRUE, a three-year community-based initiative to help ensure all members of the Northwest Arkansas community can thrive and feel included. TRUE seeks to train local champions of diversity and inclusion; report on the region’s state of inclusion to build understanding around gaps and barriers; uplift the work of underrepresented populations; and engage communities through a local Advisory Council. The Arkansas Community Foundation coordinates and leads the programing for TRUE Northwest Arkansas. The Walmart Foundation’s support stems from its efforts to strengthen partnerships among local leaders and organizations to foster an even more inclusive and empathic community. Likewise, the Walton Family Foundation funding, at the recommendation of Steuart Walton and Tom Walton, complements the foundation’s work to enhance the quality of life in the region and ensure both newcomers and long-time residents are welcomed and have access to opportunity.

Media Contacts:
Luis Gonzalez, Walton Family Foundation
479-802-7317
lgonzalez@wffmail.com

Walmart Media Relations
1-800-331-0085
news.walmart.com/reporter

About the Community Foundation
Arkansas Community Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes smart giving to improve communities. The Community Foundation offers tools to help Arkansans protect, grow and direct their charitable dollars as they learn more about community needs. By making grants and sharing knowledge, the Community Foundation supports charitable programs that work for Arkansas and partners with others to create new initiatives that address the gaps. Since 1976,
we've provided more than $250 million in grants and partnered with thousands of Arkansans to help them improve our neighborhoods, our towns and our entire state.

About Philanthropy at Walmart
By using our strengths to help others, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation create opportunities for people to live better every day. Walmart has stores in 27 countries, employing more than 2.2 million associates and doing business with thousands of suppliers who, in turn, employ millions of people. Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are helping people live better by accelerating upward job mobility for the retail workforce; addressing hunger and making healthier, more sustainably-grown food a reality; and building strong communities where we operate. We are not only working to tackle key social issues, we are also collaborating with others to inspire solutions for long-lasting systemic change. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit foundation.walmart.com.

About the Walton Family Foundation
The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. The children and grandchildren of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. In 2017, the foundation awarded more than $535 million in grants in support of these initiatives. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.