Get to know the 29 projects shaping the future of Knight communities –
 Meet the recipients of the 2026 Knight Cities Challenge.

Knight Foundation
Radical Hope Dance at State of the Arts 2026 in Long Beach, CA. Photo credit: Arts Council for Long Beach, a Knight Cities Challenge grantee.

Knight Foundation launched the Knight Cities Challenge, a $5 million open call that invited individuals and organizations across its 26 communities to submit new, creative ideas for projects that can spark change and leave a lasting local impact. And now, the 29 recipients for 2026 have been selected—all imagining better ways forward for communities across the country.

Building on a long history of open challenges across programs, Knight democratizes access to grantmaking to unlock the best and brightest ideas. This spring, KCC returned to invest in its first cohort of community-centered solutions to local challenges and help promising ideas take root and grow.

Selected project ideas all focus on at least one of Knight’s investment areas: strengthening local news and information, creating pathways for economic opportunity or cultivating connection through arts, culture and the places that bring people together.

Explore all 29 organizations

  • Knight Foundation

    K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library

    Bringing residents together through food, art, music, and storytelling that celebrates diverse cultures.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact & Information & Society Community Celebrations Aberdeen, SD
  • Knight Foundation

    City of Akron

    Developing a tool that provides near real-time conditions and safety information for recreational use of the Cuyahoga River.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact CUYAC River Conditions Tool Akron, OH
  • Knight Foundation

    Steps Coalition

    Equipping NGO leaders and residents in East Biloxi with skills in resilient community development.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact Resilient East Biloxi Community Development Leadership Program Biloxi, MS
  • Knight Foundation

    Boulder County Arts Alliance, the City of Boulder Office of Arts and Culture and Community Foundation Boulder County

    Activating vacant storefronts during the 2027 Sundance Film Festival to showcase local creative talent and community identity.

    Program Areas Project City
    Arts Boulder Flipside Boulder, CO
  • Knight Foundation

    School of Data Science - UNC Charlotte

    Conducting a year-long resident listening program to ensure Charlotte residents shape the city’s transportation investments.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact Charlotte Learns Transportation Together Charlotte, NC
  • Knight Foundation

    Charlotte Is Creative

    Launching a citywide arts initiative to improve residents’ mental health, measure its impact and create new economic opportunities for local artists.

    Program Areas Project City
    Arts Arts Rx CLT Charlotte, NC
  • Knight Foundation

    Goodwill Industries of Upstate/Midlands South Carolina

    Training unrepresented and underemployed Columbia residents for careers in HVAC, energy efficiency and building science.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact Building Columbia’s Clean Energy Workforce Through Advanced Skills Training Columbia, SC
  • Knight Foundation

    College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina

    Using AI and local journalism to make local government decisions easier to find, understand and report.

    Program Areas Project City
    Journalism Columbia Civic Transparency Network for Local Government Monitoring Columbia, SC and Myrtle Beach, SC
  • Knight Foundation

    Detroit Hives

    Transforming vacant land into a community-led arboretum that will strengthen neighborhood identity.

    Program Areas Project City
    Community Impact East Warren Community Arboretum and Botanical Garden Detroit, MI
“These Knight Cities Challenge grantees bring audacious ideas, passion and grit to projects that strengthen the communities they call home. Their projects remind us that thriving communities are built when people have the agency and resources to shape what comes next.”
Knight Foundation
Maribel Pérez Wadsworth
President & CEO

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