PROGRAM
Central Baltimore Weaver Awards
Applications open June 15, 2026
What is weaving?
Weaving is the practice of building meaningful relationships that set the conditions for social trust to grow in communities. It begins with a simple commitment: to see one another as equal in dignity, even when experiences and viewpoints differ.
Weaving invites people to:
Discover what they have in common
Learn how their differences can make the community stronger
Work side by side toward common good
Weaving can be formal or informal, characterized by four qualities:
Local: It brings together people who share the same neighborhood, town, or region
Mutual: It celebrates everyone’s contributions and creates opportunities for everyone to both give and receive
Welcoming: It invites people to join as they are
Continuous: It builds relationships that deepen over time through ongoing engagement
What are the Weaver Awards?
The Central Baltimore Weaver Awards are a public recognition and celebration of the efforts neighbors and supporters in our communities are making to develop stronger connection with and between each other.
Why are we launching the Weaver Awards in Central Baltimore?
Baltimore City and many other cities around the country are struggling with a breakdown in social trust- with institutions, with the business world, and sometimes even with their neighbors.
Social trust is cultivated through relationships and connection. In times like this, we need to support those community leaders that are making connections, combatting the darkness and leading with heart, and spreading joy by leaning into each other in a hyperlocal way.
The Weaver Awards offer rare support for the community capacity building and organizing that is essential to thriving, equitable, sustainable neighborhoods.
Being a Weave Community Host Site allows us to:
1) elevate and celebrate resident led projects and stories;
2) enhance and expand our Partnership’s strategies with new tools to build the capacity of emerging and legacy community leaders and stakeholder organizations;
3) strengthen the web of organizations we have woven across eleven neighborhoods in Central Baltimore;
4) join a learning community of peer organizations across the United States.
What will you get if you become a Weaver Awardee?
CBP will award 20 Weavers annually:
Level 1 (5 awards):
Financial award: $5,000
Professional headshot and social media post
Utilize meeting space in Central Baltimore for at least one event at no cost to the Weaver
Level 2 (15 awards):
Financial award: $2,500
Professional headshot and social media post
Utilize meeting space in Central Baltimore for at least one event at no cost to the Weaver
All Weavers will receive the following:
Access to an online national network of local leaders called Weave Us
Access to public speaking support through the Weavers Speakers Bureau, upon request
Community resource connections in Central Baltimore
CBP will also facilitate quarterly events for and with Weavers including:
A networking event
A professional development workshop
A hands on capacity building opportunity
A cohort celebration or event of choice
Who selects the Weaver Awardees?
A diverse group of Central Baltimore stakeholders including previous Weaver Awardees, community providers and funders, as well as active community members will review applications and recommendations. They will select 20 Awardees annually to receive this recognition.
Who is eligible?
For someone to be considered for an Award they need to:
Be 18 or older
Live, work, attend, serve, and/or connect in Central Baltimore Partnership neighborhoods
Have a project that helps connect neighbors and fosters relationships between them
The project is open to anyone in the community
The project addresses a shared need in the community
If the project is part of an organization, the organization must have an annual budget below $250,000
Have a community recommendation from a community member who lives, works, attends, serves, and/or connects in the area you serve.
What makes a good nomination for a Weaver Award?
We all know neighbors who show up, again and again, to make our community better. They seem to know everyone. They inspire us to support each other. They see a need and fill it. They often don’t have big titles or receive grants for their work. We count on them and yet we rarely celebrate how important they are to us.
The best candidates are those that build relationships within and across neighborhoods, connect neighbors and youth to opportunity, and establish and continue traditions based on trust and that develop connectivity in communities just to name a few!
Looking for good examples of weaving?
Check out some examples.
Haz clic aquí para más información en español.
How can I use the funds?
We believe that Weavers know the best use for their funds so that they can fill gaps, meet needs, and sustain community efforts. So the use of funds will remain flexible as long as it is used in support of the collective efforts the Weaver is doing for their project (including the Weaver's individual time) and within the eligible community.
Ineligible uses of funds include:
Lobbying or political campaign activities
Personal debts
Legal defense and prosecution costs
Losses incurred on other grant or contract awards
About Weave: The Social Fabric Project
Weave: The Social Fabric Project is an initiative of the Aspen Institute dedicated to strengthening trust, connection, and belonging in communities across the United States.
Weave supports everyday weavers—neighbors who show up for others, bridge divides, and build community.
Through storytelling, online learning, community-building programs, and the Weaver Awards, Weave works to repair America’s social fabric from the ground up and lift up the people who are already leading this work in their neighborhoods.
Learn more at weavers.org
Have questions? Reach out!
Aaron Kaufman, Director of Community Projects and Programs
akaufman@centralbaltimore.org 443-681-7098