Grant Opportunities

Our mission is to champion efforts to prioritize community goals that challenge racial inequities and advance excellent, student-centered public education for all New England youth. We are not reviewing unsolicited proposals. Our grantmaking and staff time are focused on partnerships that we proactively develop alongside organizations in our core grantmaking strategy. We do encourage you to subscribe to our email list so you may be notified when we do have open funding opportunities and take time to learn more about our current funding opportunities below.

EVENT SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY

It is important to support organizations, communities, and schools that have one-time events in close alignment with our mission, vision, and values. The Foundation’s Event Sponsorship fund is one of the ways in which we seek to demonstrate financial support focusing on K-12 public education efforts that center community members as decision makers, combat the school-to-prison pipeline, value the voices and safety of Black, Brown, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian American and young people of color, and honor the backgrounds and lived experience of traditionally marginalized communities.

The Foundation is proud to have supported hundreds of organizations across the region through our Event Sponsorship program. Over the last several years, the number of sponsorship requests the Foundation received has increased exponentially, requiring us to assess, clarify, and tighten our criteria, eligibility, and selection process. It is essential for the Foundation to support organizations and communities with one-time events that closely align with our mission, vision, and values. Please carefully review the Criteria and Eligibility sections below before submitting a request.

SPEAKERS BUREAU

The Nellie Mae Speakers Bureau is a dynamic group of education, youth, and community leaders who are advancing racial equity in public education. The Nellie Mae Speakers Bureau seeks to amplify these voices by mobilizing students, parents, community advocates, and educators to share their stories about how they are leading work to change the system for the better.

Alumni of the Bureau include youth and community organizers, educators, parents, and advocates who offer a unique variety of perspectives on equity, community and youth voice, student-centered learning, and much more. We are always looking for individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds who are leading the efforts to dismantle structural racism and other inequities while building and implementing more equitable solutions in our education systems. Nellie Mae matches Speakers Bureau members with opportunities to hone and amplify their voices and educate the public on how to create a better future for our young people through brand development, media training, speaking opportunities, interviews, one-on-one coaching, and other endeavors.

This is a 12-month commitment (January – December 2025), with an expected 5-10 hour time commitment each month. Please don’t hesitate to forward this opportunity on to others in your network. Applications are due October 29th.