program

Institutional Challenge Grant

Awarded Grants

Grant

Bridging Institutions to Close Youth Opportunity Gaps

This grant will strengthen an emerging partnership between the University of Virginia and Albemarle County Public Schools.
Ben Allen
University Of Virginia
2023 – 2028
$999,484
Grant

Strategic Partnership for Advancing Research Knowledge and Leadership for Equity (SPARKLE)

This grant will strengthen an existing partnership between the Center for Urban Education Leadership at the University of Illinois-Chicago and the Chicago Public Schools.
Decoteau Irby
University Of Illinois
2023 – 2027
$649,715
Grant

Disrupting Inequalities Along the Path to College and Career: A Partnership between Metro Nashville Public Schools and Vanderbilt University

This grant will strengthen the Nashville Partnership for Educational Equity Research, a partnership between Vanderbilt University and Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, in understanding and addressing disparities in early postsecondary opportunities.
Sean Corcoran
Vanderbilt University
2023 – 2028
$999,380
Grant

Restoring Justice and Reimaging Research: Building Community to Disrupt the Cycle of Violence and Enhance Research-Practice Partnerships

This grant will support a partnership between the University of Texas at Austin, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, the Excellence and Advancement Foundation, the Amala Foundation, and Youth ...
Becky Pettit
University Of Texas
2023 – 2028
$999,988

Articles & More

Funding / Institutional Challenge Grant

Selection Committee – Institutional Challenge Grant

Selection Committee – Institutional Challenge Grant
Blog Post

Learning by Doing Together: Improving Education Policy in Puerto Rico through a Research-Practice Partnership

Puerto Rico’s public school system was facing a daunting process of reconstruction even before the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2017, the devastating force of Hurricane María destabilized the entirety ...
Gustavo Bobonis
,
Emily Goldman
,
Orlando Sotomayor
,
and Damarys Varela-Vélez
Learning by Doing Together: Improving Education Policy in Puerto Rico through a Research-Practice Partnership
News
  •  Jun 5, 2023

Bezos Family Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation Award Grants to Four Partnerships Addressing Social Issues

The William T. Grant Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and the Bezos Family Foundation are delighted to announce the winners of the 2023 Institutional Challenge Grant competition. The Institutional Challenge ...
Bezos Family Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation Award Grants to Four Partnerships Addressing Social Issues
Webinars

The Institutional Challenge Grant: An Overview of the Program and How to Apply

In this webinar, William T. Grant Foundation Senior Program Officer Jenny Irons and President Adam Gamoran discuss the background and goals of the Institutional Challenge Grant program and provide an overview of eligibility details, required materials, and review criteria. Jenny ...
Foundation Staff
The Institutional Challenge Grant: An Overview of the Program and How to Apply
News
  •  Jan 18, 2023

Announcing the 2023 Institutional Challenge Grant Finalists

This year’s proposals include partnerships that will examine programs, policies, or practices that seek to reduce racial and economic disparities in K-12 educational outcomes; improve college enrollment, attendance, and completion among youth of color and youth from low-income families; ...
Announcing the 2023 Institutional Challenge Grant Finalists
Blog Post

Advancing Engaged Research: How Two Deans are Fostering Change through the Institutional Challenge Grant

One of the namesake challenges of the Institutional Challenge Grant is creating structural changes within research institutions in ways that value research-practice partnerships. In other words, we ask that applicants “...
Foundation Staff
Advancing Engaged Research: How Two Deans are Fostering Change through the Institutional Challenge Grant

Subscribe for Updates

The William T. Grant Foundation invests in high-quality research focused on reducing inequality in youth outcomes and improving the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States.
Contact Us
60 E. 42nd Street, 43rd Fl. New York, NY  10165
info@wtgrantfdn.org
Privacy Policy Plagiarism Policy Transparency Statement
© 2026 William T. Grant Foundation