Funding Opportunity: Improve Outcomes for Boys of Color

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just announced a new call for proposals for 10 grants of up to $500,000 each. The Forward Promise initiative is looking for innovative, community-based projects working to strengthen health, education and employment outcomes for middle school and high school-aged boys and young men of color. The projects should have preliminary evidence of impact in the following areas:

• Alternative approaches to harsh school discipline that do not push students out of school;
• Solutions that focus on dropout prevention and increasing middle school retention and high school graduation rates;
• Mental health interventions that tailor approaches to boys and young men who have experienced and/or been exposed to violence and trauma; and
• Career training programs that blend workforce and education emphases to ensure that students are college-and career-ready.

From the RFP:

Forward Promise reflects the Foundation’s belief that it is essential to focus on what makes people healthy—or unhealthy—from a perspective that includes factors outside of the medical care system. Social influences rooted in our neighborhoods, housing, schools, jobs, and economic security have a powerful effect on our health. Across most of these areas, however, boys and young men of color often have limited positive options. With this initiative, and together with other foundations and organizations active in this arena, we want to vastly expand the potential for boys and young men of color to grow up healthy, obtain a good education, and find meaningful employment. Together we can realize a future where young men of color have the opportunity to become healthy adults who contribute to their communities and society.
Have a program with the potential to achieve fundamental breakthroughs in improving outcomes for young men of color? The application deadline is October 10, 2012. Learn more about Forward Promise and submit a proposal today!

For more grants and funding opportunities, check out our Opportunity Board!

Liz Wu is a Digital Accounts Manager at Prichard Communications, where she oversees digital outreach for Reclaiming Futures and edits Reclaiming Futures Every Day. Before joining the Prichard team, Liz established the West Coast communications presence for the New America Foundation, where she managed all media relations, event planning and social media outreach for their 6 domestic policy programs. Liz received a B.A. in both Peace and Conflict Studies and German from the University of California at Berkeley. She tweets from @LizSF.