Megan Thee Stallion partners with Southern Black Girls to invest in young changemakers

The Black Girl Joy Challenge will provide $550 grants to Black girls, young women and marginalized youth across 13 Southern states.

Megan Thee Stallion’s Pete & Thomas Foundation is teaming up with the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium to fund 100 young changemakers across the South through a new cycle of the Black Girl Joy Challenge. The Black Girl Joy Challenge builds on Southern Black Girls’ long-running grantmaking work and Megan’s foundation’s growing community investment efforts across Black communities.

Southern Black Girls says the program will award 100 micro-grants of $550 each to Black girls, young women, femme-identifying youth and other youth from marginalized communities ages 13 to 24 who live in one of 13 Southern states.

Applications opened Aug. 24 and close Sept. 4. Eligible applicants must live in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia or West Virginia.

Applicants are asked to propose a project that can spread joy among friends, families or communities. They must explain what they want to create, how the idea will uplift others, what impact they expect it to have and how they would use the $550 award.

Projects can fall into five categories: health and wellness, personal wellness, mental health and emotional wellness, creative expression and arts, or physical wellness and recreation. Suggested ideas include community fitness events, self-care kits, healing circles, podcasts, murals, dance programs and outdoor activities.

Winners must complete their projects within one month of receiving the funds. Southern Black Girls plans to showcase the projects and highlight how participants created joy locally in their communities.

The current grant cycle continues a partnership between Southern Black Girls and Megan Thee Stallion’s Pete & Thomas Foundation. The organizations previously collaborated on a 2023 challenge focused on mental health and wellness, which also offered 100 micro-grants to young people across the South.

Megan launched the Pete & Thomas Foundation in 2022 in honor of her late parents, Joseph Pete Jr. and Holly Thomas. The nonprofit focuses on education, housing, health and wellness and has expanded its work, including a 2026 partnership to renovate homes for older adults in Texas.

Previous challenge projects include period-poverty programs, robotics teams for Black girls, hair-care workshops, art events, park restoration and support for unhoused people.

Applications for the 2026 cycle close Sept. 4.