2023 Community Collaboration Challenge

US-based community-based organizations (CBOs), schools, districts, local government organizations, or non-profit organizations that are interested in serving as a leader in their community to spur cross-sector collaboration and/or to establish a local or state-level partnership for student success. For profit organizations and individuals are not eligible. 

The Community Collaboration Challenge is for communities of all sizes in all locations in the United States. 

Great! We encourage you to apply! An organization may apply for more than one site. 

The intention of the funds is to convene various stakeholders. These $5,000 stipends are to be used to host local 1-2 day connector events that bring together school and district leaders, local non-profits, colleges and universities, student and family groups, local government agencies, and other community leaders in conversation about where and how to bring more evidence-based, people-powered supports to young people in schools and in out of school settings.    

Organizations in all U.S. states and territories are eligible to apply.

National non-profits with regional, state, and/or local programs are eligible to apply.

1. Expenses related to hosting events and convening stakeholders are the allowable uses of this funding.

2. Stipend funds may not be used for any of the following purposes: to attempt to influence legislation or the outcome of any specific public election; to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive; or to undertake any activities for a non-charitable purpose.

3. Stipend funds may not be used for purchases of alcohol or first or business-class travel. 

There are no matching requirements associated with this funding. 

No, this is not a federal grant, nor is it a grant from a government entity. No federal funding is being used for this program. The Community Collaboration Challenge is a stipend program created by the NPSS Support Hub, based at the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University with generous support from the New York Life Foundation.  Stipends will be issued by Johns Hopkins University.

We are looking to identify and fund 12 local, regional, or state-level groups committed to getting more evidence-based, people-powered supports to children and youth in their communities.

Should a state or local government agency be awarded the stipend, the NPSS Hub team will work with the awardee to ensure that the fund’s flow is in alignment with local rules and regulations.

The ideal event is unique to every community and its needs and assets. The goal of the stipend program is to organize a community response that meets the scale and scope of identified student needs.  For example, if a local school system identifies 200 students in need of tutors, mentors, success coaches, post-secondary transition coaches, and/or wrap-around around or integrated student support coordinators, the effort will be to convene and discuss how the community can come together to provide, train, and support the people power to meet that need. Awardees will be provided with a toolkit with guidance and resources along with technical assistance to support their work to design and execute their catalyzer event.

Yes. Grantees will have access to technical assistance from the NPSS Hub in the form of tools, guidance, access to networks, support identifying local high-quality student support providers, and connections to other communities. The NPSS Hub will host two required calls for all grantees, with additional optional collaboration calls made available during the grant period. We will also send awardees a toolkit to support the design and execution of their catalyzer event.

The application for the Community Collaboration Challenge is now open now and closes on March 3rd. Awards will be announced in late March.

Applications/Requests for Proposals are due on March 3rd and awardees will be announced in late March. We anticipate that awardees will use the funding to host events in the spring or summer of 2023 in the lead up to implementation in the 2023/2024 school year.

This program is the first of its kind launched by the NPSS Hub. Awardees will be provided with a toolkit and technical assistance to support their design and execution of a successful event. The NPSS Hub will also collect feedback from grantees.

The NPSS Hub recently released voluntary quality standards which are designed for use by schools, districts, state education agencies, youth-serving organizations, foundations, community groups, and others to better understand essential components of quality, set goals as part of existing or emerging continuous improvement processes, set goals when designing new programs, and consider prospective partners. These voluntary quality standards define elements of quality across the five NPSS student support roles – tutoring, mentoring, student success coaching, postsecondary transition coaching, and wraparound/integrated student support coordination. They are essential to any effort to recruit, train, place, and support staff and volunteers in programs that are safe, supportive, and effectively engage students and families and can be useful in your work to identify high-quality student supports in your community. Please note that a community is not required to meet all aspects of the voluntary quality standards in order to be eligible for the Community Collaboration Challenge. The goal of the Community Collaboration Challenge is to convene relevant stakeholders in a community to plan for the implementation, expansion, or improvement of student supports.