🏆 How a Grant Rejection Turned into a $5,000 Grant Win for Manny Faces

Plot Twist: The funder said no, then offered something else.

Oct 26, 2026

Getting rejected for a grant doesn’t always mean the door is closed. For Manny Faces, it opened a new one. After the initial rejection, the funder offered a secondary opportunity which included a $5,000 grant. Read on to learn how Manny handled the rejection, what creators can learn from it, and how he approaches grants now.

1. Tell us about yourself — who you are, what you make, and the community you serve.

I go by the name Manny Faces. I’m a longtime, multiple award-winning journalist, podcast professional, and cultural commentator, and I’ve been a practitioner and participant in Hip Hop music and culture for most of my life.

I create under my Hip Hop Can Save America! media ecosystem, which includes a podcast, videos and livestreams, a Substack newsletter, and a published book.

Generally, my work highlights the ways Hip Hop music and culture can help uplift humanity and improve society in areas beyond entertainment, including education, health and wellness, science and technology, politics and social justice, the fine arts, and more.

My audiences include individuals and organizations working in these intersections, people from the communities where Hip Hop originated who are eager for what I like to call “Hip Hop news that isn’t about dumb ish,” and folks who are less familiar with the culture, across a wide range of fields and disciplines, who can benefit from the knowledge, interviews, case studies, and perspectives I share.

2. You applied for a grant, did not get it, but the founder came back and offered a secondary opportunity. Set the scene — what were you originally applying for, and what inspired you to submit an application?

The opportunity was through the CNP Media Fund, an initiative by the Counter Narrative Project (CNP) which supports media organizations that strengthen reporting on communities most impacted by HIV.

Through my work exploring intersections of Hip Hop and health issues, I’ve become familiar with a number of initiatives, interventions, and strategies that use Hip Hop music and culture to raise awareness, increase outreach, and address important public health issues. I’d also heard about people and programs doing this type of work specifically around HIV and AIDS.

So when I learned about the fund, I saw an opportunity to help tell some of those stories. I applied for a $20,000 grant to produce several pieces of journalism exploring that intersection.

These stories are rarely covered, which is true of many of the intersections between Hip Hop and the other areas I report on, so I was hopeful that this funding would allow me to shine a light on some important work that deserves much more attention through the unique and powerful lens I utilize.

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3. After the rejection, what happened next? How did the secondary opportunity come about?

The rejection came through email, and it was actually a very nice rejection email – you know, those template rejection emails can be pretty cold sometimes. Still, every rejection stings a little, and it felt like, “Sigh, here we go again…”

But in the very same email, there was an invitation to join their media roundtable, a cohort of journalists and media creators working across different outlets and disciplines. This opportunity would allow me to produce a smaller version of the project I’d originally proposed, supported by a $5,000 grant.

So, essentially, the email said, “OK. You didn’t get the grant. But surprise! Here’s another opportunity for you!”

It’s funny. Years ago, I received a rejection for something, only to get another email a few minutes later saying, “Sorry, we sent out the wrong email. You were actually accepted!”

Ever since then, whenever I get a rejection, there’s always a little part of me waiting for that second email to come through. It usually doesn’t, but in this case, something like that actually happened, just in a different way.

4. Your story challenges the idea that a rejection is the end of the road. What would you say to a creator who just got a “no” on an opportunity they really believed in?

In this particular case, the organization offered a secondary opportunity I didn’t even know existed, so that was a wonderful surprise. But there are other ways I’ve learned to look at these situations.

For one, after I had received that notice, I realized I actually knew some people connected to the organization. So even if I hadn’t received either grant, applying was an opportunity to get on their radar, really emphasize that I have interest in the issues they care about, and perhaps open a door for future collaboration. Sometimes simply establishing that connection and demonstrating genuine interest can be valuable.

Now, I won’t pretend the rejections aren’t frustrating. Especially as an independent journalist and creator. It can be extremely difficult to sustain this kind of work without outside funding – feast or famine if this is all you’re trying to do. When you’re putting real time and energy into all these applications, those rejections can add up.

But I’ve also learned that the application process itself can have value.

Every time I apply, I get a little better at communicating my ideas, making my case, and presenting a project concisely. Occasionally, a rejection even comes with useful feedback.

We’ll have to see, but I am certain if (WHEN) I was to (AM GOING TO) start acquiring more or larger grant wins, it will absolutely be because of what I learned putting together all the ones I didn’t get.

On top of that, sometimes the process of developing a proposal leads me to an idea I’m excited enough about to pursue independently, or one I can adapt for another opportunity. Or just hold on to until the right opportunity match comes along. In those cases, I’ve already done much of the conceptual work, and I have a bunch in the vault that I can pull out when something relevant arises.

So my overall advice would be to allow yourself to be disappointed, because that’s real, but don’t automatically discard the work you put into the application or the relationships you may have started building.

A rejection doesn’t necessarily mean the idea wasn’t worthwhile. And it doesn’t always mean that particular door is permanently closed.

5. What will this funding help you accomplish?

First and foremost, the funding supports the production of two stories exploring the intersection of Hip Hop culture and HIV awareness and prevention.

It’s an important public health topic, and the connection between Hip Hop and healthcare is one I’m particularly passionate about reporting on. There’s so much meaningful work happening at that intersection that doesn’t receive nearly enough attention, and I’m excited to help bring some of it to light.

But this grant also represents another significant milestone for me.

It’s the first grant awarded directly to the nonprofit organization I established to support this work: The Hip Hop Institute for Social Innovation, a 501(c)(3) focused on journalism, advocacy, research, and advancing Hip Hop culture’s contributions to society.

So beyond helping me produce these stories, the award helps establish the Institute’s credibility as an organization capable of attracting funding and carrying out meaningful projects.

I’ve received support for my work in the past, but being able to say that the nonprofit itself received its first grant is especially meaningful. It puts the organization on the board, so to speak, and hopefully creates a foundation for future opportunities.

6. Moving forward, how are you approaching grants, and what resources are you using to position yourself for success?

I’m pursuing grants, fellowships, and other funding opportunities much more actively these days, partly because of this win and partly because establishing a nonprofit has opened up opportunities that weren’t previously available to me as an individual.

I’ve become much more deliberate about how I search for and evaluate funding opportunities. I’ve also incorporated AI-assisted workflows that help me identify potential grants, analyze eligibility and fit, and determine which opportunities are actually worth pursuing.

Importantly, I’ve used AI and automation to build a project-management-style system that helps me track applications, milestones, deadlines, and next steps. Obviously, there are plenty of project management tools that can do some of these things, but by combining these technologies and workflows, I’ve been able to create something that works particularly well for how my brain works and what I need in order to stay on top of things.

I’m currently pursuing a handful of opportunities, with several applications already submitted. We’ll see whether these systems lead to more funding wins, but they’ve absolutely helped me become more organized and intentional about the process, which is important when you’re an (admittedly often scatterbrained) independent creator wearing so many hats.

And I have to say, I’m extremely grateful for Grants for Creators. I’ve recommended this resource to so many people because it’s just that valuable. There are opportunities out there that independent creators might never hear about otherwise, and having a platform that helps bring those opportunities to light can make a real difference.

For people like me, who are trying to sustain independent work and tell important, often underreported stories, access to that information means everything. So the ONE thing I’ll be doing for sure is staying subscribed.

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