Pulitzer Center Update October 15, 2025
Announcing the K-12 Education Grant Program: Global Health
What is impacting our communities’ health? How can engaging students and/or educators in global health reporting bridge divides, surface solutions, and inspire action that improves health outcomes? The Pulitzer Center invites applications from individuals and organizations serving K-12 students and/or educators to explore these questions as part of the K-12 Education Grant Program.
Applicants to this professional learning, community-building, and grant funding opportunity will propose an educational project that engages students and/or educators in global health topics using Pulitzer Center journalism and creative engagement methodologies. Selected participants will revise their project plans as part of a series of workshops, and then have the opportunity to apply for grants of up to $1,500 to implement their projects.
Program Overview and Timeline
The K-12 Education Grant Program: Global Health includes three components:
1. Initial proposal: Applicants submit a proposal for an educational project that will:
- Impact at least 500 K-12 students and/or educators in their local communities.
- Engage Ode to Healthy Futures OR one or more Pulitzer Center-supported global health news stories from the list provided as a central resource for the project(s).
- Increase students’ and/or educators’ critical understanding of a global health topic.
- Explore the role the news media plays in the global public health ecosystem.
- Provide students and/or educators with a structure or opportunity to apply their learning and create sustainable change.
2. Winter incubator: Accepted participants engage with journalists, the Pulitzer Center Education team, and one another in professional learning about health, journalism, and participant-centered engagement. Informed by these collaborative workshops, participants refine their proposed projects. Participants who meet all incubator program expectations will receive a $300 stipend for their contributions and have the opportunity to submit formal proposals for grants of up to $1,500.
3. Project implementation: Accepted proposals are funded for implementation during spring 2026. Program participants will schedule at least one check-in/consultation meeting with a Pulitzer Center Education team member during the implementation stage. Participants will document and share the impact of their projects with the Pulitzer Center and their program colleagues by June 2026. Projects will be evaluated on how they increase audience learning about a global health topic, and how audiences apply their learning to support health outcomes for them and their communities.
The Pulitzer Center is prepared to fund all projects accepted into the program, but reserves the right to rescind the project grant if participants do not attend program workshops and/or demonstrate that a project meeting grant requirements will not be possible in spring 2026. 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 applicants working with smaller groups to collaborate and apply as a multisite or multiorganizational project.
Timeline:
Program Commitments
Upon accepting an offer to join the K-12 Education Grant Program, selected applicants commit to participating fully in all components of the program. Participants agree to:
- Attend and participate actively in three incubator workshops and at least two check-in/consultation meetings (one before project implementation, and one afterward).
- Workshop and refine a project proposed through their application that will engage at least 500 educators and/or students in global health using at least one Pulitzer Center-centered news story.
Implement their project in spring 2026. - Document the impact of their project through photos, surveys, the collection of student/educator work, and/or other means appropriate to the project.
- Reflect on the impact of their project and the incubator program through a feedback survey and a blog post to be published on the Pulitzer Center website.
- Submit a final budget report (template provided).
Eligibility Requirements
Proposed projects must serve an audience of at least 500 K-12 students and/or educators in the U.S. and U.S. territories. Therefore, applicants should have an active leadership role in an institution that serves an established community of students and/or educators. Institutions may include libraries, museums, community centers, schools, bookstores, and afterschool organizations.
Applicants proposing a multisite or multiorganizational projects should have all relevant parties sign the commitment to participate form that is submitted with their application. The primary applicant will be responsible for deliverables, including attending all workshops, and for communicating with the Pulitzer Center. Optionally, up to two collaborating partners may also attend workshops, if their participation is confirmed in advance.
Criteria for Education Project Proposals
Applicants will be asked to submit an initial proposal for an educational project that they will then incubate through workshops if selected for the program. All submitted project proposals should…
- Describe the proposed project audience and why this audience needs this project.
- Present intended impacts for student and/or educator audiences that:
- Increase their understanding of a global health topic and how it relates to their local communities
- Apply their learning to improve health outcomes in their communities
- Provide an estimation of the project budget/final grant request.
- Align with the Pulitzer Center’s diversity, equity, and inclusion mission.
- Demonstrate a need for grant funding.
Applicants should start by selecting one of the following project options.
Option 1: Engage Students and/or Educators in the Ode to Healthy Futures Poetry Project
Ode to Healthy Futures is a free, digital poetry writing tool created by the Pulitzer Center in partnership with Wick Poetry Center’s Poets for Science. It offers short health science texts and audio recordings, writing prompts, and an option to immediately share your poem in an online gallery. For applicants planning to use Ode to Healthy Futures, the proposed plan should introduce students and/or educators to the platform, guide an exploration of one or more of the texts housed there, and have them write and share poems using the platform. The Pulitzer Center may be able to provide two 3’x7’ fabric banners with information about Ode to Healthy Futures and QR codes leading to the poetry writing tool for grantees who want to display them in a space that would reach their audience, such as a school library or museum lobby. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to consider how students and/or educators may build on their engagement with the Ode to Healthy Futures platform in other meaningful ways for their communities.
Option 2: Build Your Own Project Around a Global Health Story Relevant to Your Community
Explore this list of eligible news stories and select a story that is relevant to the students and/or educators you plan to reach through your project. Then, devise an education project that engages them in that story and guides them in applying their learning to improve health outcomes in their communities.
Example projects for both options 1 and 2 could include:
- A school-, organization-, or library system-wide reading and/or workshop initiative
- Integration of the reporting project and topic into a student field trip experience
- An awareness campaign and/or local community action informed by the reporting project
- A professional development symposium or series for educators
- A photography/art exhibit that engages students and/or educators in the health topic and reporting you select
- An exhibit, performance, or other public showcase of student engagement with the reporting project in a highly visited space
How to Apply
- Prepare materials, including initial project proposal, resumes/CVs, and letters of commitment from all project leaders.
- Complete the online application in Submittable by Sunday, November 23rd at 11:59pm EST.