Youth Social Entrepreneurs

[From Philanthropy News Digest] Each year, YouthActionNet selects twenty young social entrepreneurs to participate in its Global Fellowship Program. Participants are chosen for the program based on their records of success in achieving positive change in their communities, their innovative approaches, and their ability to mobilize their peers and community members in support of their social change efforts.

The year-long fellowship program includes a seven-day leadership retreat, year-long skills-building programs and resources in leadership and organization management, and networking opportunities.

The program is open to all young people between the ages of 18 and 29 (as of September 1, 2010). Applicants must be the founder or co-founder of an existing organization, or a project within an organization, with a demonstrated one-year track record of leading societal change. Proficiency in English is required; applications must be submitted in English.

Applicants must be available to attend the program's full retreat, October 1-8, 2010, in Washington, D.C. (all expenses paid).

Visit the YouthActionNet Web site for complete program guidelines and an application form.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Healthcare baby boomer training grant

[From Philanthropy News Digest] Civic Ventures, a think tank devoted to baby boomers, work, and social purpose, and the MetLife Foundation have announced that they will award six $25,000 Community College Encore Career Grants to institutions working to re-traini adults age 50 and over for careers in health and education.

The grants will support and highlight college programs that match the skills and interests of experienced adults with specific high-need careers such as home and community health workers, nursing, adjunct community college faculty, and teaching in areas of critical shortage.

Accredited two-year community, junior, and technical colleges offering associate degrees are eligible to apply. Community colleges that received prior Community College Encore Career Project grants are not eligible to apply for a second grant at this time.

For complete information, including the full Request for Proposals and application froms, visit the Encore program Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

Governor Rendell: Pennsylvania Committed to Education Reform, Will Apply for Second Round of Federal Race to the Top Grant Program

March 29, 2010 Harrisburg – Pennsylvania will press on with its education reform strategies and apply for the second round of federal Race to the Top grant funding, Governor Edward G. Rendell and Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said. The state learned that its application ranked 7th among the 16 finalists competing for the first-round grants announced by the U.S. Department of Education. Tennessee and Delaware received the only first-round grant awards.

States that did not receive a first-round award will be eligible to re-apply for round
two of the competition in June 2010, which will make available $3.4 billion.

School construction bonds

Washington — The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Department of Education today announced $11 billion in allocation authority to issue qualified school construction bonds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). Qualified school construction bonds can be used to finance the construction, rehabilitation or repair of a public school facility or for the acquisition of land where a school will be built. The full list of allocations by state can be found here.

Center for Rural PA Research Grant

The Center for Rural Pennsylvania is a bipartisan, bicameral legislative agency that serves as a resource for rural policy research within the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Center’s mission is to promote and sustain the vitality of the state’s rural and small communities by:

• administering grants to conduct research on matters relating to rural conditions;
• maintaining and disseminating a broad base of information on rural trends and conditions;
• publishing research and project results; and
• sponsoring regional and statewide forums on rural issues.

As part of the Center’s yearly Research Grant Program, the Board of Directors approves topics for research and demonstration projects. All projects must show a clear relationship to one or more of the Center’s mandated research areas, which are:

• rural people and communities;
• economic development;
• local government finance and administration;
• community services;
• natural resources and the environment;
• rural values and social change;
• educational outreach;
• agriculture; and
• health and welfare concerns.

US Labor Department awards more than $34 million to 6 high schools--4 in Philly

Funds will support mentoring, learning and employment strategies

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor announced more than $34 million in grant funding to six high schools that have been deemed persistently dangerous by state educational agencies. Funds will support programs that reduce violence and improve educational outcomes through mentoring, alternative learning strategies, employment and case management.

"Every good job begins with a good education and all students deserve to pursue that education in a safe environment," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "These grants will promote the type of learning environment that will help get these students on the right track to personal and professional success."

Each grant-funded program must include an adult volunteer mentoring component that integrates the other strategies. Anti-bullying efforts, student courts, peer mediation, anger management classes, crisis intervention strategies, increased involvement of parents and teacher training also will play important roles in reducing violence.

Educational activities can include school restructuring efforts and alternative learning strategies aimed at getting at the underlying causes of violence, high dropout rates and low student achievement in the schools. The strategies implemented by programs should create reforms that have a positive impact on entire schools. Target groups include at-risk youth, such as vulnerable ninth graders, and those individuals who present the greatest challenges in terms of misconduct, truancy and poor school performance. Expected outcomes for the initiative include decreased dropout rates, a reduction in school violence, and improved student behavior and academic performance.

Today's grants are being awarded to four schools within the School District of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, one in the Schenectady City School District of New York and one in the Baltimore City Public School System in Maryland. One school, with an enrollment of fewer than 1,000 students, will receive $3.4 million. The others, with more than 1,000 students each, will receive $6.27 million each.

For more information on schools receiving funding today, visit http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/PD_OnePagers.pdf. For more information on the range of Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration programs, visit http://www.doleta.gov.

Education Personal Finance Challenge

[From Ed.gov] Washington — Starting this week, students from across the country may begin the National Financial Capability Challenge for a chance to be recognized by the Obama Administration for their outstanding achievement. The Challenge, which was unveiled in December 2009 by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, is an awards program designed to increase the financial knowledge and capability of high school-aged youth across the United States. It challenges high school teachers and other educators to teach the basics of personal finance—and rewards students, educators, schools, and states for their participation and performance. With more than 5,000 educators already registered, students from across the country are expected to take the voluntary online exam in the coming weeks. The Administration also announced today that the deadline for educators to sign on has been extended to April 9, 2010, which is the final day to administer the exam.

Educators who registered for the Challenge received a free Educator Toolkit to complement their own lesson plans to teach students the basics of personal finance in preparation for the voluntary online Challenge exam and beyond. The window for educators to begin administering the exam begins today and ends on April 9. Once the exam results are in, educators and top-scoring students will be recognized for their achievements, along with states that had the highest Challenge participation.

All high school teachers and other educators working with U.S. high-school aged students (ages 13-19) are encouraged to register for the Challenge, download the Educator Toolkit, prepare their students, and administer the online exam. Educators who have been teaching students about personal finance for years, as well as those who never have before are urged to join this national initiative today.

For more information about the National Financial Capability Challenge, go to http://challenge.treas.gov/educator_info.htm

PA discusses Race to the Top

[From Recovery.pa.gov] Harrisburg – Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak and a team of state and local education leaders will discuss Pennsylvania’s vision for education reformduring a March 17 meeting with federal officials regarding the state’s Race to the Top grant application.

“We are looking forward to making our case for why Pennsylvania has become a national leader in education reform and why it should be among the few states that continues to lead the way through Race to the Top initiatives,” Zahorchak said, noting that Pennsylvania is eligible for up to $400 million in federal funds for its education reforms.

Pennsylvania was recently named among the 16 finalists for a Race to the Top grant. A team of representatives for each of those finalists – 15 states and the District of Columbia – will have private meetings with federal education leaders this month to discuss their respective grant applications.

Community Based Job Training Grants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration today announced the availability of approximately $125 million in funds for Community-Based Job Training Grants.

"We are delighted to be able to create opportunities for working Americans to train for high-demand occupations with the help of community colleges and community-based organizations," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "These grants will help workers across the country prepare for good jobs. Funding community colleges and career centers ensures that we will reach a broad base of individuals in need."

Community-Based Job Training Grants will be awarded through a competitive process to support workforce training for high-growth/high-demand industries through the national system of community, technical and tribal colleges. In order to be eligible for consideration under this solicitation, an applicant must be: (1) an individual community or technical college, such as a public community college, a nonprofit community college, a tribally controlled college or a tribally controlled university, (2) a community college district, (3) a state community college system, (4) a One-Stop Career Center in partnership with its local workforce investment board that specifies one or more community or technical colleges where education/training activities will occur or (5) another entity proposing to serve an educationally underserved community without access to community or technical colleges that meets requirements outlined in the solicitation for grant applications.

It is anticipated that awards will range from $1 million to $3 million each. The exception is that applications including three or more community, technical or tribal colleges will be considered consortium applications and may request awards ranging from $1 million to $5 million. Additionally, ETA expects to allot up to $50 million of the total designated funds to organizations that have never received a Community-Based Job Training Grant.

The solicitation for grant applications is published in today's Federal Register. It provides background information and the closing date, describes submission requirements, outlines the process that eligible entities must use to apply for funds and details how grantees will be selected. To view the full solicitation online, visit http://www.doleta.gov/grants/find_grants.cfm.

For additional assistance in applying for these grants, interested parties should review ETA's online suite of resources for grant applicants. These tools introduce potential grantees to ETA grants and provide examples to guide applicants through the process. The site also includes "Grant Applications 101," an interactive, self-paced tutorial. The toolkit is available at http://www.workforce3one.org/page/grants_toolkit.

PA Cyber Charter School Expo

[From Erie Blogs.com] The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School will hold a free Information Expo in Erie on March 30^th from 5-8 pm. The expo, to be hosted at the Ambassador Banquet Center, will explain how the schools work: the curriculum, materials, and technical and instructional support. Teachers, administrators, admissions counselors and technical support staff will be present to answer any questions. Interested families may register at www.pacyber.org.

Graduate Psychology Education Program

This program addresses the interrelatedness of behavior and health and the critical need for integrated health care services. Grants will be awarded to assist eligible entities in meeting the costs to plan, develop, operate, or maintain graduate psychology doctoral, doctoral internship, and doctoral residency programs accredited by the APA. These programs must foster an integrated approach to health care services and address access for underserved populations by training psychologists to work with underserved populations including children, the elderly, victims of abuse, the chronically ill or disabled; and in areas of emerging needs.

Eligible entities are accredited health profession schools, universities, and other public or private nonprofit entities, including faith-based organizations and community based organizations. To receive assistance, the eligible entity must demonstrate that the training within an accredited psychology training program will occur in collaboration with two or more disciplines. Disciplines include, but are not limited to, family medicine, general internal medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychiatric nursing, psychiatric/mental health nursing, substance abuse counseling, social work and dentistry.

Target Stores Grant Program to Support Arts and Literacy Programs for Children and Youth

[From Philanthropy News Digest] Through its 2010 Store Grant program, Target will provide direct support to K-12 schools and other nonprofit organizations that foster a love of reading and provide art experiences.

In the Early Childhood Reading category, Target will fund programs that foster a love of reading and encourage young children, preschool through third grade, to read together with their families. Reading grants support programs such as library storytimes and family reading nights. In the Art and Culture in Schools category, Target will fund in-school arts programs that enhance student's classroom curriculum by bringing arts and cultural experiences such as in-school performances, artist-in-residency programs, and workshops to schools.

To be eligible, an applicant organization must be federally tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, a school, a library, or a public agency. Grants in the amount of $2,000 each will be made for programs taking place between September 1, 2010, and August 1, 2011. Visit the company's Web site for complete program guidelines and application instructions.

Link to Complete RFP

Enhancing the Mathematical Sciences Workforce in the 21st Century

The long-range goal of the EMSW21 program is to increase the number of well-prepared U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents who pursue careers in the mathematical sciences and in other NSF-supported disciplines. EMSW21 tries to do this with three separate components: The Vertical Integration of Research and Education (VIGRE) program supports activities that involve the entire department and span the entire spectrum of educational levels from undergraduates through postdoctoral associates; Research Training Groups (RTG) support the training activities of a group of faculty who have a common research interest; Mentoring through Critical Transition Points (MCTP) involves a larger group of faculty but focuses on specified stages in the professional development of the trainees.

Partnerships for Innovation Program

The goals of the Partnerships for Innovation Program are to: 1) stimulate the transformation of knowledge created by the research and education enterprise into innovations that create new wealth; build strong local, regional and national economies; and improve the national well-being; 2) broaden the participation of all types of academic institutions and all citizens in activities to meet the diverse workforce needs of the national innovation enterprise; and 3) catalyze or enhance enabling infrastructure that is necessary to foster and sustain innovation in the long-term. To develop a set of ideas for pursuing these goals, this competition will support 12-15 promising partnerships among academe, the private sector, and state/local/ federal government that will explore new approaches to support and sustain innovation.

Department of Energy Issues Requests for Applications for Nuclear-Related Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships

Washington, D.C. – The Department of Energy has issued two Request for Applications (RFA) for scholarships and fellowships as part of its efforts to recruit and train the next generation of nuclear scientists and engineers. The Department’s Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP) will provide approximately $5 million for scholarships and fellowships for students enrolled in two-year, four-year and graduate engineering and science programs related to nuclear energy at accredited U.S. universities and colleges.

The Requests for Applications include a RFA for Scholarships and a RFA for Fellowships. The Scholarship and Fellowship Program aims to attract the brightest students to science and engineering disciplines related to nuclear energy, such as Nuclear Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemistry, Health Physics, Nuclear Materials Science, Radiochemistry, Applied Nuclear Physics, and Nuclear Policy at universities and colleges located in the U.S.

Two-year programs that lead to a certificate or minor are also included, such as Nuclear Power Technology, Nuclear Maintenance Technology, Nuclear Engineering Technology, and Radiation Protection Technology. Undergraduate scholarships will average $5,000 per year. Three scholarships may be awarded up to $25,000 to distinguished undergraduate students. The maximum award for fellowships will be $50,000 per year over three years.

Students must matriculate at an institution that is participating in the program to be eligible for either scholarships or fellowships. Two-year or four-year U.S. universities and colleges that are not on the current list of participating institutions listed in the RFAs may apply to a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) to administer scholarships and fellowships through Grants.gov under FOA # DE-FOA-0000176 that was issued on March 4, 2010.

Students need to apply to the Scholarship and Fellowship RFAs by April 26, 2010 through the Nuclear Energy University Programs website to be considered for an award. The Department anticipates notifying students by June 2010 of its selections with awards planned for July 2010.

Comcast Leaders and Achievers

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers Philosophy:

• To give young people - the leaders who will build and shape our communities - every opportunity to be prepared for the future.
• To engage youth in their communities and help them increase their self-esteem, develop a sense of citizenship and an ethic of service, and become stronger leaders.
• To demonstrate the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

Nomination/Application Process

All nominations for the Leaders and Achievers Scholarship Program must be made exclusively by the Principal or Guidance Counselor. Principals and home-school instructors may e-mail comcast@applyists.com to verify school eligibility status and to request program materials.

A student nominated by a Principal or Guidance Counselor must:

• be a full-time high school senior
• demonstrate a strong commitment to community service and display leadership abilities in school activities or through work experience
• have a grade point average of 2.8 or higher.

Carnegie Corporation announces $17.5 million in grants

[From Philanthropy News Digest] The Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced twenty-two grants totaling nearly $17.5 million to organizations working in the United States and around the world.

First-quarter grants awarded as part of CCNY's national program include $3 million over eighteen months to the New Teacher Project and $1.5 million over two years to the National Immigration Forum for general operating support; $1 million over two years to the Center for Community Change for its immigrant and community voter engagement work; $1 million over two years to Uncommon Schools to identify and disseminate best practices designed to improving student achievement; and $1 million over one year to Public Interest Projects to establish a collaborative fund for encouraging nonpartisan voter engagement.

Through its international program, Carnegie awarded $2 million over two years to the Eurasia Foundation for interdisciplinary research and training centers in the Caucasus; $600,000 over twenty months to the National Security Archive Fund for its Eurasia Initiative; $590,600 over three years to TrustAfrica to support a policy dialogue series on higher education transformation in sub-Saharan Africa; and $500,000 over two years to the American Council for International Education to support a center for advanced study and education in Belarus.

For a complete list of grantees, visit the Carnegie Corporation Web site.

“Carnegie Corporation of New York's Board Approves 22 Grants Totaling $17,471,800.” Carnegie Corporation of New York Press Release 3/10/10.

Investing in Innovation Fund

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the Department of Education's final priorities and the grant application for the $650 million Investing in Innovation Fund (i3). The fund, which is part of the historic $5 billion investment in school reform in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will support the development of path-breaking new ideas, the validation of approaches that have demonstrated promise, and the scale-up of the nation's most successful and proven education innovations.

Individual school districts or groups of districts can apply for the i3 grants, and entrepreneurial nonprofits can join with school districts or a consortium of schools to submit applications. To qualify for the competitive grants, applicants will need to address one of the four areas that are driving the Obama administration's school reform agenda: supporting effective teachers and principals; improving the use of data to accelerate student achievement; complementing the implementation of standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and careers; and turning around persistently low-performing schools.

Applications will be due in mid-May and grants will be awarded in September. In the coming weeks, officials from the Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement will hold informational workshops in Atlanta, Baltimore and Denver that will be web-accessible. President Obama has proposed an additional $500 million of the i3 program in his fiscal 2011 budget.

Applications available here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/innovation/index.html

Financing Strategies for Youth-Service Organizations

The Finance Project has published a new volume - Cutting Cost, Keeping Quality: Financing Strategies for Youth-Serving Organizations in a Difficult Economy

-- which may be of interest to the workforce community.

The introduction to the publication notes, in part:

Youth-serving organizations are likely to face many challenges in 2010. Notwithstanding signs the economy is improving, continued cuts in state budgets and foundation giving will translate to less funding for many youth programs, most of which already experienced reductions in 2008 and 2009. The strain of the recession also means the vulnerable populations that many youth programs support will need services now more than ever. To maintain high-quality services with limited resources, youth-serving organizations need to embrace a strategic and proactive approach to their financial management.

This research brief highlights three effective financing strategies that successful youth-serving organizations are using to maintain quality services despite difficult economic The brief provides examples of how organizations have implemented these strategies and offers tips to help leaders consider how best to adapt these strategies to their unique context ...

... (The research) was informed by interviews with leaders of 17 youth programs and organizations from across the country that experts identify as using effective financial management strategies. These programs and organizations vary in their size and scope; some have budgets of less than $200,000 and serve youth in well-defined communities, while others serve youth nationwide and have budgets as large as $30 million. The programs and organizations serve both urban and rural areas. They also vary in their primary areas of service, including afterschool, mentoring, dropout prevention, gang prevention, and juvenile delinquency services, though most of them provide services in multiple areas.

Pennsylvania joins "Complete College America"

[Philanthropy News Digest] The Carnegie Corporation of New York has announced that seventeen states have pledged to dramatically increase the number of young adults with a college degree or credential.

In addition to the states' commitment, Carnegie, the Lumina Foundation for Education, and the Ford, Bill & Melinda Gates, and W.K. Kellogg foundations have pledged to commit a total of $12 million over five years to Complete College America. Established in 2009, the Washington, D.C.-based organization is working to help states implement a range of strategies designed to bring needed change to and improve college completion efforts nationwide.

By joining the Complete College America Alliance of States, participating states will agree to set degree goals, develop and implement action plans to meet those goals, and collect and report student outcome data on progression toward the goals. To help achieve those goals, states will receive in-depth technical support from leading experts on improving college success, including assistance in building consensus for reform, developing policy action plans, guidance on applying for and effectively using federal funding to produce more degrees, and annual networking opportunities.

Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

The Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (TUES) program seeks to improve the quality of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students. This solicitation especially encourages projects that have the potential to transform undergraduate STEM education, for example, by bringing about widespread adoption of classroom practices that embody understanding of how students learn most effectively. Thus transferability and dissemination are critical aspects for projects developing instructional materials and methods and should be considered throughout the project's lifetime. More advanced projects should involve efforts to facilitate adaptation at other sites.

The program supports efforts to create, adapt, and disseminate new learning materials and teaching strategies to reflect advances both in STEM disciplines and in what is known about teaching and learning. It funds projects that develop faculty expertise, implement educational innovations, assess learning and evaluate innovations, prepare K-12 teachers, or conduct research on STEM teaching and learning. It also supports projects that further the work of the program itself, for example, synthesis and dissemination of findings across the program. The program supports projects representing different stages of development, ranging from small, exploratory investigations to large, comprehensive projects. Full announcement available here.

NSF: STEM Education Distributed Learning

This program aims to establish a national network of learning environments and resources for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels. The program has four tracks: Pathways projects are expected to provide stewardship for the content and services needed by major communities of learners; Pathways II projects are expected to move beyond the major stewardship goals and use Stage II support to ensure the expansion and stability of an original Pathways effort; Services projects are expected to develop services that support users and resource collection providers by enhancing the impact, efficiency, and value of the NSDL network; and Targeted Research will focus on investigating the educational impact of networked digital resources. The existing NSDL Resource Center will provide collaboration assistance across all projects; undertake strategic partnership development on behalf of projects particularly with respect to non-academic entities; coordinate and, in some cases, perform thematic research and evaluation studies related to the program; synthesize findings across the portfolio; and disseminate findings of the accomplishments of the NSDL program. The NSDL Technical Network Services project operates NSDL's infrastructure and NSDL.org; provides technical support for NSDL tools, services, and collections management; supports Pathways and other NSDL projects in contributing resources and collections to NSDL; and engages the NSDL community in identifying priorities for services developments.

In FY2010, the program will accept proposals for large grants in 1) the Pathways track, 2) Pathways - II, 3) specific sub-tracks of Services, and 4) Targeted Research. In all tracks, the program will also accept proposals for small grants that extend or enhance results from existing services, collections, or targeted research activity to enlarge the user audience for the NSDL network or improve capabilities for the user.Technology-intensive projects that explore specific topics that have immediate applicability to collections, services, and other aspects of the development of the NSDL network should seek small grant support under the Services section of the program. In addition the program particularly encourages proposals for small grants from institutions and organizations new to NSDL that look to establish partnerships with existing Pathways project activities. Full announcement available here.