Note: This Application is Now Closed

New Profit is committed to being responsive to the needs of proximate social entrepreneurs and partners. In response to specific feedback we have received, our team elected to update two of the eligibility criteria for applicants to the Equitable Education Recovery Initiative.

Our updated criteria are as follows:

1. 1. Entrepreneurs must be full-time (at least 30 HOURS / WEEK) AS OF March 1, 2022.
   2. Organizations must have at least 12 MONTHS of programming in the community complete by March 1, 2022.

Selected organizations will receive a $200K unrestricted Catalyze Investment grant along with New Profit cohort-based capacity-building support and participation in a peer learning community—all over the course of three years.

Feel free to reach out to catalyze@newprofit.org with any questions.

NOTE: If you have already applied – thank you! Your application will be read as submitted, and there is no need to re-submit. However, if you would like to update any part of your application, you are welcome to do so by submitting a new application here.

______________________________________________

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for our Equitable Education Recovery Initiative. This initiative will provide each of 24 organizations a $200K unrestricted Catalyze Investment grant along with New Profit cohort-based capacity-building support and participation in a peer learning community—all over the course of three years. We are looking for community-based organizations providing ELA/math tutoring, whole child supports, and/or postsecondary advising to K-12 students in one or more of the following geographies: Denver Metro, Memphis/Nashville, and/or any part of California’s Central Valley from Fresno to Sacramento, plus Oakland.

About New Profit’s Catalyze Investments

New Profit’s Catalyze offers a synergistic support model to work with and towards the needs of each organization, creating value across several dimensions. This includes a peer learning community in each cohort, 1:1 personal coaching for the entrepreneur, consultations with external content experts, New Profit’s tested capacity-building framework and tools, as well as $100,000-$200,000 in unrestricted support over one to three years. Our team works to catalyze the innovations of organizations led by leaders from underrepresented communities through various initiatives including: Civic Lab (democracy entrepreneurs), Postsecondary Innovation for Equity (postsecondary innovators), Unlocked Futures (entrepreneurs impacted by the criminal justice system), and now the Equitable Education Recovery Initiative.

While each cohort has different needs, the base of our capacity-building program consists of: 

• • Refining systems theory of change and connecting it to a compelling story of impact
  • Assessing organizational strengths and capabilities and areas for improvement
  • Building effective boards of directors
  • Developing effective practices for managing teams/stakeholders 
  • Identifying effective practices for operational excellence in order to execute against organizational strategy (fundraising, finance, HR, and communications) 
  • 1-2 additional topics cohort members identify as areas of need

We are seeking the most innovative social entrepreneur-led organizations in our country. For this investment cycle, we are prioritizing investing in leaders of color, with an emphasis on Black, Latina/o/x, and Indigenous leaders.

About the Equitable Education Recovery Initiative

It is no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the inequities of our education system. McKinsey & Company reports that students in predominantly Black schools ended the 2020-2021 school year six months behind in math and reading, and students in predominantly Hispanic schools ended the year six months behind in math and five months behind in reading. This is in contrast with students in predominantly white schools who ended the school year four months behind in math and three months behind in reading. Similarly, students in predominantly lower-income schools finished the school year seven months behind in math and six months behind in reading, compared with students in higher-income schools who finished the school year four months behind in math and three months behind in reading.

As the school year starts—and states and districts work to support education recovery, drawing from unprecedented federal funding—we recognize there is an incredible and urgent opportunity at hand. It is an opportunity to elevate and expand programs with the most potential to have meaningful impact on our K-12 students not just for short-term recovery, but also for long-term necessary transformations of our education systems in service of equity. We know many community-based organizations are deeply embedded in their localities and are well positioned to co-create programs that will meet the needs of their students, particularly those who have historically been underserved by our system—the same students for whom the pandemic has had the most detrimental impact.

To that end, New Profit’s Equitable Education Recovery Initiative will invest $4.8M, providing $200K in unrestricted Catalyze grants to each of 24 organizations working across three geographies. Each organization will also receive New Profit cohort-based capacity-building support and participation in a peer learning community over the course of three years.

We are seeking leaders who are working to provide math/ELA tutoring, whole child supports, and/or postsecondary advising to K-12 students in their community. We define each of these as follows:

• • Math/ELA Tutoring: Engaging with students on rigorous math and/or ELA academic content in 1-on-1 or small group formats.
  • Whole Child Supports: Developing deep relationships with students to provide a structured and integrated combination of mentoring relationships and social emotional support while partnering with educators to enhance school and classroom environments.
  • Postsecondary Advising: Supporting students to successfully navigate from high school to various postsecondary pathways, including to conventional two- and four-year institutions of higher education as well as to alternative and innovative pathways to credentials and careers. 

We are specifically looking to support a cohort of eight organizations in each of the following three geographies:

• • Fresno/Oakland/Sacramento: We will select eight organizations working in any part of California’s Central Valley from Sacramento to Fresno, plus Oakland.  
  • Denver Metro: We will select eight organizations working in any part of the Denver Metro area, including Arapahoe County, Jefferson County, Adams County, Douglas County, the City and County of Broomfield, Elbert County, Park County, Clear Creek County, and Gilpin County.
  • Memphis/Nashville: We will select eight organizations working in Memphis and/or Nashville.

New Profit is focused on investing in organizations with leaders who center equity in their work and are proximate to the communities we collectively aim to serve. As Bryan Stevenson says, “There is power in proximity. Get close to people and communities who are at risk—and stay close. We don’t have to have the answers; instead, we have to want to get close.” For this investment cycle, we are prioritizing investing in leaders of color, with an emphasis on Black, Latina/o/x, and Indigenous leaders. These leaders often have the expertise born of proximity, but are significantly underrepresented at all levels of social sector leadership and face the largest disparities in terms of funding and support in the sector today.

Eligibility

Organizations applying to the Equitable Education Recovery Initiative must fit the following criteria to apply. If your organization does not meet the eligibility criteria at this time, you may sign up here to be notified of future funding opportunities at New Profit.

We define a social entrepreneur (often the CEO, Executive Director or equivalent title) as both the leader and final decision-maker of an organization’s internal and external strategy, daily operations and financial decisions—outside of your board, the buck stops with you.

• • Organization or fiscal sponsor must be a 501(c)(3)
  • Organization’s work must be focused on ELA/math tutoring, whole child supports, and/or postsecondary advising in one or more of the following regions: Denver Metro, Nashville/Memphis, and/or any part of California’s Central Valley from Sacramento to Fresno, plus Oakland (see definitions of focus areas and regions above)
  • Organization must have at least 12 MONTHS of programming in the community complete by March 1, 2022.
  • Organization must have an annual budget of less than $2.25 million
  • Social entrepreneur (CEO/ED) must work for organization on a full-time (~30 hours/week) basis as of March 1, 2022
  • Social entrepreneur plans to stay at the organization through the end of 2024
  • Social entrepreneur must commit to engaging in monthly 1:1 coaching, six multi-day in-person/virtual convenings and three to four 2-3-hour virtual learning sessions over the course of three years (2022-2024). If or when it is safe to resume in-person gatherings, some convenings may be held in Boston, MA while others may be held regionally. The first convening will be held virtually April 6-8, 2022.

Resources

Note: This application is now closed.

The deadline to submit an application was 5pm ET on October 20, 2021. If you were unable to attend the information session on 9/17, we have shared the recording and slide deck below.

• • Information Session Recording (Note: this session was recorded prior to the deadline and applicant criteria updates at the beginning of this post. Please refer to those updates as guidance for your application submission.)
  • Information Session Slide Deck (Note: These slides were created prior to the deadline and applicant criteria updates at the beginning of this post. Please refer to those updates as guidance for your application submission.)
  • Application Guide
  • Application Template
  • FAQ 

For any questions, please contact catalyze@newprofit.org.

About New Profit

New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that backs social entrepreneurs who are advancing equity and opportunity in America. New Profit exists to build a bridge between these leaders and a community of philanthropists who are committed to catalyzing their impact. New Profit provides unrestricted grants and strategic support to a portfolio of organizations led by visionary social entrepreneurs to increase their impact, scale, and sustainability. It also partners with social entrepreneurs and other cross-sector leaders to shift how government and philanthropy pursue social change to ensure that all people can thrive. Since its founding in 1998, New Profit has invested over $350M in 130+ organizations and unlocked over $1.7B in government funding for social innovation through the America Forward Coalition’s collective advocacy efforts.