The Wichita Collective Impact Initiative brings together the community, nonprofits, businesses and government entities to focus on educational success and workforce readiness.
Donor Name: United Way of the Plains
State: Kansas
City: Wichita
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 04/03/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $25,000
Details:
The Wichita Collective Impact (WCI) initiative is a place-based strategy to strengthen equity in Wichita by transforming education and workforce development starting in the 67214 ZIP code. Funded through a $2 million gift from Wichita-based Cargill Protein North America, the three-year initiative will be jointly led by the Greater Wichita YMCA, United Way of the Plains and Wichita State University Public Policy Center.
Education advancement achieved through quality early childhood education, greater middle school reading and math proficiency, and increased high school graduation rates is a key step to reaching and maintaining workforce readiness within the community. The ultimate outcomes of the Wichita Collective Impact are to have more students engaged in ready-to-work programs, increase diversity and number of jobs created, improve local post-secondary enrollment and reduce mid-career departures. This initiative aims to build a stronger Wichita for all by creating a more equitable place to learn, work and succeed.
2023 Summer Grant Focus: Increase Access to Quality Early Childhood Education
- Sixty percent of young people entering kindergarten in Wichita Public Schools (WPS) come in without the fundamental reading skills of recognizing ‘Letter Names’ and ‘Letter Sounds’. In addition, forty percent of students entering WPS are not able to regularly recognize numbers or a number of grouped objects (‘Number Sense’).
- The focus of this round of funding is summer programming serving students entering Kindergarten, first or second grade in the fall of 2023. Students must be living and/or attending a school in or around the 67214 ZIP code, including 67219, 67220, 67208, 67218, 67211, 67202, 67201, 67203 and 67204. This area has been identified as an area where residents are significantly underserved in education.
- For this grant cycle, WCI intends to give out investments up to $25,000 for those organizations who can align with Wichita Public Schools strategic plan to:
- Grow parent participation in Ages & Stages Questionnaires (ASQ) that pinpoint developmental progress in children.
- Boost competencies among all student served in the program using approved age appropriate curriculum
- Engage parents in the literacy activities
Goals
Through volunteerism, shared expertise and financial grants, they will achieve collective impact that strengthens equity through educational success and workforce readiness.
- Educational Success
- Increase access to quality early childhood education
- Improve third grade reading
- Improve seventh grade algebra
- Increase graduation rates
- Improve teacher representation
- Workforce Readiness
- Increase number of students engaged in ready-to-work programs
- Increase diversity and number of jobs created
- Improve local post-secondary enrollment
- Reduce mid-career departures
Eligibility Criteria
The following requirements must be met for an organization to be eligible for funding through the Wichita Collective Impact process:
- The organization must be a 501(c) (3).
- The proposed program must concentrate its efforts and services within in and around the 67214 service area, as defined above.
- The proposed program must work towards the goals defined in this application guide.
- Organizations must not discriminate based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, age, religion, disability, medical condition, sex or gender (including pregnancy), gender identity and/or expression (including transgender identity), sexual orientation, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law.
For more information, visit United Way of the Plains.
