The Ascend Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) initiative requests proposals for the Parent-Powered Solutions Fund.
Donor Name: Aspen Institute
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 09/08/2023
Size of the Grant: $12,500, $25,000 and $50,000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Parent-Powered Solutions Fund is the first parent-led fund model of its kind – designed, led, and evaluated by Ascend Parent Advisors to the Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Postsecondary Success for Parents (PSP) initiative and funded by Imaginable Futures. This fund was created by parents to provide financial resources to programs that support parents in completing postsecondary programs, including workforce development, career and technical education, and baccalaureate degree programs.
Goals
- The Parent-Powered Solutions Fund has five goals:
- Support solutions that make pursuing postsecondary degrees and credentials accessible and equitable for parents.
- Foster the growth of organizations that provide individualized, holistic support (e.g., emotional, personal, professional, financial) to parents and their children.
- Place parent voices and their experiences at the center of philanthropic decision-making.
- Expand opportunities to share parent and family narratives and recommendations with practitioners, policymakers, and philanthropists at local and national levels.
- Surface and support solutions that parents believe are most effective.
Priority
Priority will be given to applicants whose organizations:
- Bring a racial, gender, and economic equity lens to their work;
- Utilize existing tools, knowledge, and strategies informed by research;
- Include parents in decision-making;
- Hire students who are parents to serve other student parents;
- Serve the children of the parents in their program;
- Bring a holistic approach to their work; and
- Contribute to the geographic diversity of the fund.
The fund will support and advance solutions, practices, and innovations that support student parent engagement and postsecondary completion. Among other methods of direct engagement, resources can be used to include students who are parents in decision-making processes, hire students who are parents, include parents as consultants on work, etc.
Funding Information
- Organizations may apply for awards of $12,500; $25,000, and $50,000.
- Selected partners will have a yearlong term, with grants awarded on November 15, 2023, and ending on October 15, 2024.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the Parent-Powered Solutions Fund grants, applicant organizations must be:
- Working to implement or expand undergraduate (or first postsecondary credential) programs and policies that benefit parents and engage them in their creation and iteration.
- Serving parents with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
- Committed to documenting and sharing results, learning, data, and tools with the field.
- A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (K-12 schools are eligible to apply if they fit within the funding parameters) including, but not limited to, programs that support postsecondary access and completion for parents and programs that provide supports during the summer before enrollment.
- Located within the United States.
For more information, visit Aspen Institute.
