Announcing the '1619' Education Impact Grant

The Pulitzer Center is excited to announce our newest 1619 Education initiative, the 1619 Education Impact Grant. This grant program marks a new phase in our work directly resourcing educators and students engaging with The 1619 Project.

Program Overview:

For three years, our 1619 Education Network has helped us curate a digital resource library with nearly 100 curricular resources and demonstrate the impact of utilizing The 1619 Project as an instructional tool for classrooms of students at all age levels. In 2024, we are transitioning to an impact grant program in place of the Network, inspired by the ways our alumni took a simple program goal and built multi-classroom, school-wide, and community-based learning experiences for students. The 1619 Education Impact Grant will allow us to focus support on collaborative and innovative projects that engage educators and students and lead to sustained impact beyond the individual classroom level.

As an official education partner of The 1619 Project since its original publication in The New York Times Magazine nearly five years ago, the Pulitzer Center has engaged hundreds of educators and administrators working across a variety of educational contexts to better understand and better teach the history and legacies of slavery in the United States. Programs like the 1619 Education Network, the 1619 Afterschool Partnership, and the 1619 Law School Initiative have impacted thousands of educators and students through the development of curriculum and other digital resources, the facilitation of dozens of events and webinars each year, and the direct instruction by our education partners in their own schools, classrooms, and communities. It has been continuously clear that the exploration of The 1619 Project helps students and educators accomplish academic goals and equips students and educators to engage curiously, critically, and empathetically with the country’s past, present, and future.

This year, as we mark the fifth anniversary of The 1619 Project, we look forward to the opportunity the 1619 Education Impact Grants will provide to further amplify the project and empower learning communities.

We invite educational professionals working with students and educators in K-12 learning environments to apply for Education Impact Grants to finance educational projects that utilize at least one resource from The 1619 Project to:

1. Improve the awareness and critical thinking of students and/or educators about the legacies of slavery in the contemporary United States, and the contributions of Black Americans to every aspect of U.S. society
2. Equip students and/or educators to take action and make change that advances racial justice

We are seeking projects that go beyond the individual classroom level to engage large groups of learners on the school, district, and/or community level. We encourage smaller districts and/or educators working in alternative learning environments to collaborate and apply as a multi-site or multi-organizational project. We hope that this grant program, like our 1619 Education Network before it, will develop a national, multidisciplinary community of practice among educators.

Program Details:

What We Fund

1. Individual schools, programs, or collaborative projects engaging multiple schools/programs, with an estimated reach of at least 500 people within the grant period of maximum five months ($1,000-$3,000)

• School or program-wide curriculum initiatives.
  • Examples include: School-wide reading initiatives, social justice awareness campaigns, student symposia. 
• Family and community engagement events. 
  • Examples include: Public student performances, community action or service programs, partnerships with cultural institutions or community organizations.
• Exhibitions of student engagement with The 1619 Project content. 
  • Examples include: Photography/art exhibitions, spoken word/dance/theatrical recitals, public displays of student research/writing.

2. District, multi-site, or multi-organizational projects with an estimated reach of at least 2,000 people within the grant period of maximum five months ($3,000-$5,000)

• Partnerships among schools and cultural institutions or community organizations. 
  • Examples include: Integration of The 1619 Project materials into a field trip program for multiple schools, a public exhibition and/or event highlighting student work that is shared at a widely visited local event supported by local/national institutions, a series of digital campaigns and/or educational resources co-created and shared by multiple institutions.
• District-wide projects and/or curriculum initiatives. 
  • Examples include: Integration of The 1619 Project resources into district/organizational curriculum and training on that curriculum, integration of The 1619 Project resources into digital training/resources reaching multiple districts or networks, development and teaching of lessons/units engaging The 1619 Project across multiple schools and districts.
• Partnerships across multiple schools, districts, education programs, and/or schools of education that result in student impact. 
  • See examples above.

Eligibility Requirements

• Applications are open to educators working with K-12 students and educators in the United States and U.S. territories.
• Applications are open to educators in all learning environments including schools and districts, libraries, and education programs in carceral facilities.
• Applicants should have an active leadership role in the learning environment(s) they’re proposing to work with.

Applicants applying for multi-site or multi-organizational projects should have all relevant parties sign our commitment to participate to submit with their application.

• Letter of commitment [.pdf version]
• Letter of commitment [.docx version]

Project Duration and Timeline

1619 Education Impact Grants will begin on June 15, 2024 with projects active and completed before December 1, 2024. The maximum duration for implementation of a proposal is five months. Once funding has been approved and the funding agreement with the Pulitzer Center is signed, funds will be transferred to the selected lead applicant. Formal start and end dates for the project will be established in the support agreement. Applicants must submit financial and narrative reports at the end of the period, detailing costs and outcomes. A template will be provided for applicants to detail costs and outcomes.

Successful program applicants will also be expected to contribute to the Pulitzer Center’s broader set of 1619 Education resources by sharing insights learned through project implementation and examples of student and/or community impact. Selected grantees will work with the Pulitzer Center Communications team to publish examples of impact.

• 2024 Grant Timeline: 
  • April 15: Application deadline
  • Late April-Late May: Interviews for grant finalists
  • May 31: Applicants notified
  • June 15-July 1: Program onboarding and grants administration
  • July-November: Project implementation 
  • December 1: Project narrative and financial reports due
• By December 1, 2024, each project lead will submit:
  • A financial report that includes a final budget outlining how funds were spent
  • A narrative report describing program activities and providing evidence of impact
  • A completed closing survey that provides both quantitative and qualitative data on the program
  • A blog post that summarizes the project activities, student/community engagement, and examples of impact, to be published on the Pulitzer Center 1619 Education materials collection website.

Criteria for Selection

All submitted project proposals should:

• Utilize and be inspired by the themes of The 1619 Project and include at least one resource from The 1619 Project as a central part of the project. 
• Describe the project audience and why this audience needs this project.
• Present intended short-term and long-term impacts for student and/or educator audiences that align with one or both of the following outcomes:
  • Improving the awareness and critical thinking of students and/or educators about the legacy of slavery in the contemporary United States, and the contributions of Black Americans to every aspect of U.S. society
  • Equipping students and/or educators to take action and make change that advances racial justice
• Present a cohesive plan for assessment of project success and impact over time
• Provide a description of the project budget 
• Align with the Pulitzer Center’s diversity, equity, and inclusion mission.
• Demonstrate a need for Impact Grant funding

How to Apply

• Prepare relevant documents including project summaries, resumes/CVs, and letters of commitment from all project leaders
• Complete the online application in Submittable by Monday, April 15 at 11:59pm EST.

Please reach out to [email protected] with any additional questions or requests for accommodations.