Butler has been a champion for promoting diversity and racial equity in our community. Following the death of George Floyd, Butler was inspired by social justice movements happening across the country. This inspired him to create a pipeline of minority persons in the Tampa Bay community willing to become involved and make positive changes through serving on nonprofit boards. In collaboration with the Nonprofit Leadership Center, he helped establish the Advancing Racial Equity on Nonprofit Boards program, which strives to foster more diverse and inclusive communities.
The grant tonight will be used to expand the Nonprofit Leadership Center's Advancing Racial Equity Fellowship. The Lightning Community Hero grant will help educate, prepare and train 50-75 new diverse board members per year, creating a more diverse and inclusive Tampa Bay.
Butler became the 480th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through tonight's game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $25.1 million to more than 600 unique nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced that the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
