LANL FOUNDATION NEWS
Los Alamos National Laboratory Foundation is thrilled to announce the recipients of their 2020 Education and Community Outreach Grants. These are competitive awards, distributed once a year to selected schools, school districts, non-profits, and Pueblo or Tribal Communities in LANL Foundation’s seven county service area (Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe, and Taos counties).
LANL Foundation is awarding $304,444 to 65 grantees representing a spectrum of organizations and projects in this 2020 award cycle, reflecting increased funding from prior years, and a deepened investment in New Mexico communities in this time of global crisis.
“Through our grants program, we seek to support and invest in change-making, innovative organizations, schools, and communities. Through these investments in relationships, we work with our expert and visionary grantees to plant seeds of skills, confidence, and opportunity with and for students, teachers, families, and thought-leaders,” Sylvan Argo, Grants Manager at LANL Foundation, said.
This year, the range of causes supported by the Education and Community Outreach Grants includes:
- Early childhood education in nature, art, and science
- Parenting support, financial literacy, and life skill education for families
- K-12 summer educational programs for urban and rural youth
- K-12 teacher & classroom volunteer training programs
- K-12 STEM, literacy, wildlife, cooking, nutrition, writing, arts and music education
- Extracurricular support for children with diverse learning needs
- Social-emotional support for grieving children
- Domestic violence prevention education
- Youth mental illness and suicide prevention
- At-risk teen workforce development training
- Career readiness education for college-bound students
- Ecological restoration community projects
- Arts education for adults with diverse-abilities
- Native language, culture, history, and indigenous knowledge preservation programming
- Nutrition, seed saving, and food security programs
For a full list of 2020 grantees, click here: https://www.lanlfoundation.org/grants/current-grantees.
In past years, the cap on awards was set at $2,500. Recipients this year received varying amounts up to $5,000, a 100 percent increase in the potential amount from previous cycles, for a wider range of approved expenses. This expansion of support is based on LANL Foundation’s response to a Center for Effective Philanthropy 2019 Grantee Perception survey of past recipients.
“Our staff and Board listened to this feedback and other requests – and voted to increase the grant amount from $2,500 to $5,000, as well as increase the overall Outreach Grants budget to allow for more Community Outreach grants, and to allow for organizations to apply for operational funding in the Outreach Grants cycle,” Argo said.
“Though small in scale, these Outreach Grants help us fulfill our belief that community organizations and schools are best poised to effectively and efficiently address some of the most pressing issues facing our students and families. We are blessed in Northern New Mexico to have great non-profits that are passionate about their mission and are creative and thrifty in delivering their services. We are humbled to support the dynamic non-profit and school leaders that do so much for all of us and our communities,” LANL Foundation Executive Director Jenny Parks said.
As part of LANL Foundation’s commitment to collaborative impact with grantees, the new plan for providing support beyond the grant dollar in 2020 is a grantee cohort composed of this year’s recipients, with opportunities for networking, connection, training, and professional development.
“We look forward to learning with and from our grantees – and to better understand how we as a Foundation can show up in service to our grantees, partners, and communities,” Argo said.
About the LANL Foundation
Since 1997, the LANL Foundation has been investing in education, learning, and human potential in Northern New Mexico. Through our diverse programming and collaboration with key partners, we work to ensure that all New Mexicans have the skills and confidence they need to be self-sufficient lifelong learners who are engaged in their communities.
For 25 years, the LANL Foundation has been serving Northern New Mexico communities, enhancing students’ access to academic and technical opportunities, leading to quality jobs by supporting the growth of college and career readiness in schools, districts, communities, and Pueblos, Tribes, and Nations.
For more information visit: http://www.lanlfoundation.org.