LEARNING for Equity Grants

LEARNING for Equity Grant Application

LEARNING for Equity grants support small-to-medium-sized projects designed by a team of educators, usually (though not exclusively) from the same school.

Award amounts range from $1,000 to $15,000

Come discuss project ideas & get feedback at an upcoming Grants Office Hours

See this list of LEARNING for Equity Grants, Awarded Fall ’22

Check out this side-by-side comparison of LEARNING for Equity and LEADING for Equity grants.

Priority Funding Areas

LEARNING for Equity proposals are prioritized where they clearly support at least 1 of the Schools Fund’s priority funding areas:

Explicit About Equity

LEARNING for Equity proposals will be evaluated based on the following equity dimensions:

For whom? (Who is the proposed audience?)
By whom? (What relevant qualifications does the educator team have?)
What? (What is the intended curriculum or content?)
How? (What is the chosen pedagogy? How will the project be implemented?)

Read more about what the Schools Fund means by “equity.”

Collaboration

LEARNING for Equity grants aim to grow equity-informed practice beyond individual classrooms and into the fabric of grade level, subject area or whole school systems. As such, proposals are evaluated on the project team’s capacity for aligning their work and sharing best practices.

Project teams are comprised of a Project Lead (who is usually the applicant), a Project Co-lead (optional), and Collaborators who are specifically named in the application. Collaborators must be fully committed to implementing the project. LEARNING for Equity proposals from a single educator will not be accepted.

Who Can Apply

LEARNING for Equity grants are open to teams of current BUSD staff members, both classified and certificated.

Community organizations may partner with BUSD staff and be listed as a Co-lead but a BUSD staff member must serve as the Project Lead.

Please consider whether a LEADING for Equity grant may be a better fit. See this side-by-side grants comparison.

Are you a current grantee interested in re-applying for the same or similar project?
Read more our criteria for re-applying HERE

Grantee Requirements

We ask grantees to participate in the following:

Start-of-the-year: Conversation on Goals & Evaluation*
Mid-year: Project Check-in (brief, via email)
End-of-year: Final Reflections (written form)

*ONLY for projects awarded $10,000 & above

Questions?

Come to an upcoming Grants Office Hours or email Duffy Ross: duffyross@berkeley.net

Investing in Recovery to Level the Playing Field

With a mission laser-focused on equity, the Berkeley Public Schools Fund seeks to amplify existing and seed new work that levels the playing field for BUSD students furthest from opportunity.

Grant Timeline: 2023-24

The ’23-24 LEARNING for Equity grant application will open in Wed, February 15, 2023
The application deadline will be in Mon, April 10 2023
All applicants will be notified of funding status by the Fri, May 24, 2023
Grantees will be able to access their funds starting July 1, 2023

Grantwriting Tools

LEARNING for Equity Grants Office Hours, Spring ’23
LEARNING for Equity Grants Awarded Grants Awarded Fall ’22
LEARNING for Equity Grants Awarded Grants Awarded Fall ’21
LEARNING for Equity Grant Guidelines
LEARNING & LEADING Budget Considerations
LEARNING for Equity Application Questions
LEARNING for Equity EXAMPLE Budget & Blank Budget Template
LEARNING For Equity EXAMPLE Grant Application
LEARNING & LEADING Side-by-side Comparison
Schools Fund Reflections on Year 1 of New Equity Grants
Other Grantmaking Organizations for Educators

For Current Grantees

Once a grant has been approved, payments can be requested by completing an Equity Grant Funds Request form.
If you are paying BUSD staff for their time, please carefully read these Instructions for Completing BUSD Timesheets
Interested in re-applying? See our Criteria for Approving Repeat Projects

LEARNING for Equity Grant Application