The Human Services Program at The Kresge Foundation announced today a new funding and learning opportunity as part of its Next Generation (NextGen) Initiative, now in its second year. As part of this initiative, Kresge will invest in those nonprofit organizations and public agencies working to advance the social and economic mobility (SEM) of families.

The initiative is a two-year program consisting of three components: 1) leadership development; 2) development of a community of practice; and 3) the creation of organizational and cohort action plans designed to advance and accelerate SEM using a two-generation, whole-family approach. Grants of up to $500,000 over two years will be awarded to up to 10 human service organizations and/or agencies. As part of this initiative, grantees will participate in a learning and collaboration network that will include two meetings per year.

“We saw tremendous growth and innovation from the first set of grantees we partnered with in NextGen’s first year,” said Joelle-Jude Fontaine, senior program officer with the Human Services Program. “In our second year, we’re eager to build off this tremendous progress to further knowledge sharing, an enhanced community of practice and leadership development for the human services field.”

As part of the Foundation’s commitment to advance the human services sector and accelerate opportunity for people with low income, Kresge seeks to invest in public and private human service organizations that are improving SEM for children and families. These high-performing organizations are characterized as: person-centered; outcomes-based; data-driven; applying a racial equity lens; and focused on greater sector impact and systems change. Additionally, these organizations adhere to sector best practices such as brain-science informed and two-generation, whole family approaches. Applicants should also be working toward a generative business model as defined by the Human Service Value Curve.

To apply, submit a proposal through Kresge’s online grantee portal between December 3, 2018 and no later than 12 p.m. (EST) on January 28, 2019.

If you have previously been a Kresge grantee, please use your existing Fluxx credentials to apply. If you are a new partner to Kresge, you will need to register for an account for your organization before applying. Please know that it can take 5 to 7 days to receive your Fluxx credentials.  You can find a guide to using Fluxx here.

There is an FAQ document, which provides more details. If you have questions, contact: [email protected].