BEREA, Ohio – The Browns will honor Black History Month throughout February with programming centered on entrepreneurship, education, and career development. The team's commitment to advance and champion equitable opportunities through their Be The Solution platform in part of Browns Give Back, aims to drive impact across Northeast Ohio and beyond.
Find below a mixture of community-focused activations the Browns will host and support this month:
Cleveland Huddle
For the sixth consecutive year, the club will continue its "Cleveland Huddle" program, which was launched to spotlight Black-owned restaurants in Cleveland. The program provides Browns fans, staff, coaches and players a chance to actively support local restaurants. Each of the six restaurants selected (Gar & Mar Jamaican American Cuisine; Harold’s Kitchen Soul Food Cafe; Moniques Sweet Treats; Rich Caribbean Cuisine (EDWINS); The Breakfast Faktory; and Whitmore’s BBQ) will be onsite at Browns community events throughout the month to distribute meals. Since the program's inception, over 20 different businesses in Cleveland have benefitted. Each respective business represented will receive a custom jersey.
Marion Motley Scholarship
The Cleveland Browns Foundation, in partnership with College Now Greater Cleveland, opened its application for the Marion Motley Scholarship, a $10,000 scholarship awarded to two Northeast Ohio students each year. The Marion Motley Scholarship honors former Browns fullback and linebacker Marion Motley, who overcame many obstacles to break ground as one of the first African American players in the NFL and played with the Browns from 1946-53. Since the scholarship was established, 90% of recipients have graduated or are on track to graduate college. The Marion Motley Scholarship application can be found at: collegenowgc.org/FIND-SCHOLARSHIPS.
Cleveland Huddle Pathway
For the third year in a row, the Browns will host the "Cleveland Huddle Pathway" in concert with the team's Stay in the Game! Attendance Network to inspire future changemakers. High school juniors and seniors from Maple Heights City Schools will tour CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, participate in a panel moderated by News 5 sports reporter Camryn Justice with Browns' staff to learn about their professional journeys and insights into current challenges in the industry. In addition, students will receive brunch from one of the Cleveland Huddle restaurants, The Breakfast Faktory.
The Browns' digital accounts will amplify the club's Black History Month efforts by highlighting Browns alumni, the Marion Motley Scholarship, the Be The Solution platform, and more. Visit https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/community/be-the-solution/ to learn more about actively supporting non-profit organizations, discover recommended books, movies, and dialogue, and access a directory of Black-owned businesses in Cleveland.
About the Cleveland Browns and Browns Give Back:
The Cleveland Browns focus on advancing education, youth football and equitable opportunities across Northeast Ohio and beyond. For more information, visit www.clevelandbrowns.com/brownsgiveback and follow @BrownsGiveBack.
About Stay in the Game! Attendance Network:
Launched in 2019 by the Cleveland Browns Foundation, Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and Harvard's Proving Ground, the SITG! Attendance Network, now managed by Battelle, works together to reduce chronic absenteeism by bringing together experts, partners, and communities. Together, Stay in the Game! partners with 220+ districts and impacts more than 600,000 students throughout Ohio. For more information, visit https://stayinthegame.org/.
About Be The Solution
The entire Browns organization – coaches, players and front office members – are dedicated to having a meaningful impact in the social justice arena. After internal discussions and conversations with social justice and equity community leadership groups, the team identified the goal of championing equity in the Northeast Ohio community through intentional and measurable social justice efforts. Launched in 2020 by GM Andrew Berry, Be the Solution aims to use the Cleveland Browns organization as an instrument for change regarding economic advancement, police and community relations and criminal justice reform for the Black community. The Cleveland Browns provide financial support to various organizations working to make change in the social justice space, including two Cleveland-based grassroots organizations, JumpStart Inc. and EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute.
