The Cleveland Foundation for Education Group (The CAFE Group) is the nonprofit arm of the venture capital firm, Cleveland Avenue. One of The CAFE Group’s programs is The 1954 Project, which seeks to radically redesign how philanthropy connects with Black leaders in education. The 1954 Project identifies established leaders of nonprofit organizations in the education sector and selects at least five Luminaries each year who are awarded with transformational $1 million grants during the annual Luminary Awards.
The CAFE Group collaborated with Firewood Events to bring their vision to life with the 1st Luminary Awards in 2021. In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Firewood Events was challenged to find a solution for hosting an entertaining and engaging fundraiser on a virtual platform. With the success of year one, The CAGE Group invited back Firewood Events to project manage the annual virtual Luminary Awards for years two and three in 2022 and 2023.
Name: Annual Luminary Awards
Client: The Cleveland Foundation for Education Group (The CAFE Group)
Guests: 750
Type: Virtual Fundraiser
Key Statistics:
- $15M in grant money distributed each year to the top 5 Black Leaders, called Luminaries
- 400 applications annually
- 35 Grant award winners
Services:
- Full Event Management and Production
- Logistics Management
- Speaker & Talent Management
- Event Concept
- Virtual Technical Platform
- Registration Management
- Agenda & Show Flow
- Strategic Planning
- Streaming Support
- Virtual Event Platforms