EQUITABLE EDUCATION

Annual Funding Opportunity

Meyer's 2021 Annual Funding Opportunity will open on March 15, apply by Monday, April 19.

Each year the Equitable Education portfolio considers proposals that further our vision of eliminating the predictable gaps in public education and ensuring increased opportunity for priority students.

About Equitable Education

In a flourishing and equitable Oregon, each of our nearly 600,000 students have the opportunity to succeed in school. They enter ready to learn, develop a love of learning in a relevant, engaging and supportive environment and graduate with a plan for postsecondary and career success.

Through the Equitable Education portfolio, Meyer contributes to this vision by investing in strategies designed to eliminate the predictable gaps in the public K-12 system. Now more than ever, equitable investments in public education must be our primary objective. Meyer’s commitment to both direct practice and systems-level change remains as we seek to shift the culture of statewide, regional and local institutions towards more equitable strategies designed to improve outcomes for all students.

Learn more about Meyer's vision for equitable education

Equity commitment

Equity is a central tenet in all Meyer’s grantmaking.

All applicants — regardless of where in their equity journey they may be today — must demonstrate a commitment to ongoing growth through the integration of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) principles into both their external programming or services and internal structures and operations.

Learn more about how Meyer thinks about equity at mmt.org/applicant-resources/diversity

Funding goals

All proposals must advance one of the following funding goals:

• Advance education equity through systems- and policy-level change
• Improve priority student achievement and college and career readiness

Meyer has identified several intended outcomes under each of these goals. Applicants will be asked to indicate which goal (only one) and which of its associated outcomes (up to two) their proposed work best supports. Applications that do not make a strong and clear connection to at least one of Meyer’s intended outcomes will not be successful.

Read the full details on our Equitable Education core funding goals, intended outcomes and examples of what we may fund in this round.

Available funding

Investments in the Equitable Education portfolio will reflect a mix of rural and urban grantees that offer, through an equity lens, a vision and approach to analyzing current disparities and directly addressing how to eliminate those disparities so that all students in Oregon have the opportunity to obtain a meaningful public education.

This portfolio makes investments to both rural and urban grantees that offer, through an equity lens, a vision and approach to eliminating barriers disproportionately experienced by the following priority students:

English Language Learners (ELL)
First-generation college students
Indigenous students
Students of color
Students with disabilities
Students in or aging out of foster care
Students living on low-incomes
LGBTQ students

Our support for these populations will include investments in rural, underserved communities. See mmt.org/apply/applicant-resources/rural for more information.

We achieve these goals through investments in the expansion and improvement of direct practice and the design and implementation of systems-level change efforts that eliminate disparities and elevate achievement for our priority students. Our investment strategy also includes supporting critical system inputs designed to shift the culture of statewide, regional and local institutions to build new approaches to addressing old challenges. These inputs are the best expression of Meyer’s values — they elevate community influence, strengthen organizations in the field, grow an engaged workforce and align institutional response with community need. They’re essential to developing an ecosystem where innovative ideas and people can thrive.

The Equitable Education portfolio is committed to approaching its work with the following principles:

Student-centered: Priority students are at the center of our work, and investments support eliminating disparities and improving long-term outcomes.

Recognizing community leadership & assets: We partner in ways that honor and respect the talents, cultures and assets of the communities in which we engage.

Community self-determination: We recognize community expertise and agency in determining the most effective solutions.

Authentic engagement & partnerships: We encourage engagement and collaboration that includes diverse communities and reaches across the boundaries of private and public sectors.

Data-driven strategy: Data and information are used to inform and reinforce our direction and investments.

Measuring progress on our investments is essential to identifying key levers for impact and amplifying them. Whether it’s through changes in public policy, systems and institutional practices or student achievement, the Equitable Education portfolio measures positive impact for priority students at key education benchmarks:

Kindergarten readiness
Third grade reading
Ninth grade on-track
High school graduation and college/career readiness
K-12 attendance

What doesn't fit

The following are not strong fits for Equitable Education’s annual funding opportunity:

Education programs with universal, one-size-fits-all strategies not specifically designed for priority students regardless of school and/or district demographics

Direct early education services; rather, we will focus on supporting students during the transition between early education programs and kindergarten as well as preparing public schools to offer a smooth transition from home to school

Strategies to address college retention and completion

Building or capital campaigns

K-12 private schools

New or expanded programming developed without meaningful engagement with the priority population it’s intended to impact

Environmental education programming not specifically designed to meet the academic, social or cultural needs of priority students

Grant Types + Amounts

Capacity Building Support — primarily supports internal organizational and collaborative needs

• Capacity building grants will be $10,000 to $185,000 total over one to two years. Grants for short-term interventions by an outside consultant who assists an organization with specific projects are typically smaller

Project — primarily supports programmatic work

• Project grants will be $10,000 to $185,000 total over one to three years. Generally, smaller awards support grassroots organizations and larger awards support multiple years

• For collaboratives, we will consider up to $250,000 total over two years. To learn how Meyer defines a collaborative for this purpose, please learn how Meyer defines a collaborative for this purpose

Operating Support — unrestricted support

• Awards will be up to $100,000 per year over one to two years and are sized in relation to the organization’s annual operating budget such that Meyer’s operating grant does not constitute more than approximately 20 percent of the organization’s total annual budget

• General operating support will be awarded only to organizations, collaboratives and key intermediaries that address priorities of this portfolio’s priority populations and demonstrate an internal DEI commitment and stability and success in their core work

Learn more about these types of grants at mmt.org/apply/grant-types

Who we fund

We seek to partner with organizations that:

• Share our goals and vision for change

• Are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in their organizations and partnerships

• Have a track record of effective work directly related to our funding priorities or have identified such work as a strategic and mission-aligned priority over the grant period

• Collaborate with other organizations in their community, within the same sector and/ or across sectors

• Recognize and can articulate the intersection between their organization’s work and broader policies and systems

• Have effective leadership that engages a base of community support

• Demonstrate the administrative capacity, financial planning and organizational commitment to implement their proposed project

• Are committed to understanding and evaluating the impact and effectiveness of their work

Note: Organizations that have an active multi-year grant through a previous Meyer Annual Funding Opportunity are not eligible to apply for a 2021 Annual Funding Opportunity grant except in specific cases. For more information, please see the Eligibility and Alignment section at mmt.org/resources or contact your assigned Meyer program staff.

Eligibility

To determine if your project is a good fit, please review the following information:

• Our Approach

• Who We Fund

• Applicant Resources

• Equitable Education Goals + Outcomes

Application process

Meyer uses a one-step application process for our annual funding opportunity. Applications are welcome from any eligible organization seeking to advance one of the portfolio’s goals.

Applicants should:

Create or update their profile in GrantIS, Meyer’s online application portal. The activation process can take several days, so please be sure to set up your account well in advance of the application deadline.

New GrantIS users, please visit: https://grantis.mmt.org/questionnaire to create an account.

Applicants with existing GrantIS accounts, please visit https://grantis.mmt.org/ and check that your organization’s information (e.g., mailing address, Board members, etc.) is up to date.

Submit their grant application no later than 5 p.m. on Monday, April 19.