As we close the year, we are grateful for the continued partnership and support of the community that sustains the John and Lillian Miles Lewis Foundation. This year, JLMLF made meaningful progress across four core priorities that guide our work and define our impact.
We continued amplifying youth civic engagement, equipping the next generation with the tools, knowledge, and inspiration to lead with purpose. We advanced our commitment to preserving and promoting civil rights history, including the ongoing development of The Good Trouble Archives: The Life, Work and Legacy of John R. Lewis pa cornerstone initiative ensuring that his voice, values, and leadership remain accessible to future generations.
We also deepened our efforts in defining and promoting Good Trouble and Good Troublemakers, lifting up the enduring principles of courage, conscience, and service. Finally, through building cross-sector partnerships and collaborations, we expanded our reach and strengthened our ability to deliver mission driven outcomes.
None of this progress is possible without you. Your support allows us to transform legacy into action and history into impact.
As we look ahead, we remain committed to thoughtful stewardship, strong partnerships, and continued growth in service of our mission. Thank you for standing with us and for helping ensure that the work continues.
With gratitude,
Michael E. Collins
Board Chairman
Amplifying Youth Civic Engagement
Cedar Grove High School
Drew Charter School
Druid Hills High School
We built on the successful launch of our B.R.I.D.G.E Program in 2024 with a broad-based pilot in the 2025-2026 school year at Cedar Grove High School, Charles R. Drew Charter School, and Druid Hills High School.
We are emphasizing civic education, equipping first-time voters with the knowledge and tools they need to be active, informed, and responsible participants in our democracy.
Rather than focusing only on the next election, we are building a long-term culture of informed civic engagement—empowering the next generation to lead with knowledge, responsibility, and a sense of collective possibility.
Click here for details
Good Troublemaker Scholarships
At our Good Trouble Gala in Atlanta, we presented 13 graduating seniors from Congressman Lewis’ district with $1,000 Good Troublemaker scholarships.
Awarded in honor of Lillian Miles Lewis’ lifetime commitment to education and literacy, a commitment shared by Congressman Lewis, the scholarships support students committed to academic success and civic engagement, with an interest in education, literacy or library science.
They graduated from Booker T. Washington High School; Charles R. Drew Charter School; Frederick Douglass High School; Midtown High School; North Atlanta High School; and Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.
The thirteen students just finished their first semesters at Alabama State University; American University; Clark Atlanta University; Georgia Tech; Howard University; Kennesaw State University; Morehouse College; and New York University.
Good Troublemaker Neighborhood Grants
We also distributed $5000 Good Troublemaker Neighborhood Grants to three Atlanta-area nonprofits: Black Man Lab Foundation, Inc. in Decatur; KiDsGyM USA® in College Park; and the Noble Truth Project, Inc. in Atlanta.
The Black Man Lab Foundation is an intergenerational community that empowers young Black men through mentorship, life skills development, and civic engagement in a supportive, village-style environment.
KiDsGyM USA® is a nonprofit that has empowered children for nearly 40 years through movement-based education, gymnastics, and mentorship programs that promote confidence, resilience, and wellness.
The Noble Truth Project empowers young Black men through its Glaciers Ice program, combining mentorship, literacy, and entrepreneurship to offer a positive, income-generating alternative to street vending in Atlanta.
The Good Trouble Archives: The Life, Work and Legacy of John R. Lewis
Congressman Lewis wanted the story of his life and the people, events, art, artifacts and other things that touched and influenced his life to be shared with others so that they might inspire “good trouble,” encourage dialogue and understanding, and move us closer to the “Beloved Community.”
With funding from the National Archives and Records Administration, the JLMLF will be able to curate, catalogue and digitize the volumes of materials accumulated by Congressman Lewis over the course of his career as a Member of Congress and a key “influencer” in movements around the world for peace, justice and equality.
This project, with both physical and virtual/online components, will make Congressman Lewis’s congressional records available to researchers, educators and others around the world. It will also further position Atlanta, the cradle of the civil rights movement, as a “mecca” for research and education.
Youth Leadership Development
In 2025, we sponsored the first group of Douglass-O’Connell-Lewis Interns who joined the Frederick Douglass-Daniel O’Connell Global Interns for an eight-week Internship program in Ireland this summer.
The program honors iconic leaders in the fight for civil rights, social justice, and economic mobility for all, by preparing students for future career success. Students awarded this competitive internship spent the summer interning with an Ireland-based company, attending lectures on Irish history and culture, and participating in extracurricular and networking activities in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast.
We also supported RFK Human Rights and their John Lewis Young Leaders Program. Since 2017, the Young Leaders program has equipped students nationwide with social justice and civic leadership skills focusing on building the power of young people and supporting them as the next generation of human rights defenders. Our partnership with RFK Human Rights reflects the close relationship between Robert F. Kennedy and Congressman Lewis.
We’re looking forward to working even more closely with both organizations in 2026 to carry on the work and legacy of our namesakes.
Civil Rights Legacy Preservation
We visited the Lillian Miles Lewis Archives at AUC Woodruff Library.
With the support of Wells Fargo, and partnerships with local organizations, we installed two commemorative plaques that tell the story of the Selma Voting Rights Journey near the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the 60th anniversary celebrations of Bloody Sunday.
Working with Minecraft Education, we relaunched “Lessons in Good Trouble” and hosted an event with Atlanta-area teachers and students.
The Georgia School of Orthodontics launched an $8.5 million John Lewis Legacy Scholarships program and will share the Lewis’s life and legacy with all incoming residents.
We were proud to be Theatrical Outfit’s Community Partner for the world premiere of YOUNG JOHN LEWIS in Atlanta this past June.
(Young John Lewis is coming to the Mosaic Theater in Washington, D.C. in March. Stay tuned for details.)
#JohnLewisSelfie Campaign
Our second #JohnLewisSelfie campaign was a huge success. Thank you to everyone who participated in celebrating what would have been Congressman Lewis’ 85th birthday.
These are just a few of the pictures that were submitted.
Click here to see more of the posts.
(Start looking for your best pictures for this year’s campaign and post them on Feb. 21, 2026!)
#GoodTroubleGala Atlanta
We brought the Good Trouble Gala home to Atlanta this year.
Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and now the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, received the John Lewis Carry On Award.
Billye Suber Aaron, a pioneering television host, philanthropist, civic leader and co-founder of the Chasing the Dream Foundation, received the inaugural Lillian Miles Lewis Luminary Award.
Click here to read more about the Gala.
(The 2026 Good Trouble Gala will be in Washington, DC. Stay tuned for details.)
Building Cross-Sector Partnerships and Collaborations
Collaboration is at the heart of the Foundation’s strategy.
Thank you to all of the schools, advocacy groups, elected officials, cultural institutions, and a broad network of organizations around the world, for helping us to inspire new generations to continue the work of building a more peaceful, just and inclusive society.
Thank you to all of our donors, volunteers, followers and supporters.
You helped make this year a huge success, ensuring that we could continue to carry on the work and legacy of Congressman John Lewis and Lillian Miles Lewis.
Our Board
Michael E. Collins (Chair); Stephen McDaniel (Secretary); J. Veronica Biggins
Sherry Frank; Tharon Johnson; Rodney Slater
As a nation, if we care for the Beloved Community, we must move our feet, our hands, our hearts, our resources to build and not tear down, to reconcile and not to divide, to love and not to hate.