Calling All Innovators: Apply to Family Prosperity!
Sarah Haight | February 4, 2020 | Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community
Family prosperity isn’t what it could be in America – and we are looking for partners ready to change that in meaningful and groundbreaking ways.
The Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community (Family Prosperity) is a learning and action community committed to finding the most effective and innovative solutions to problems that affect working families with low incomes. The second phase of Family Prosperity will introduce a new cohort of innovators.
Organizations are invited to submit a letter of intent (LOI) to participate in the second phase by February 21, 2020. The LOI opportunity is open to the field and will be followed by a Request for Proposals for those who are selected to reach the second round of selection.
Ascend will select a cohort of up to 20 leading organizations with strong policy expertise and/or on-the-ground service delivery expertise; passionate about innovation; achieving greater impact; and working collaboratively with a focus on families 200 percent or below the poverty line and an emphasis on solutions that move those families into living-wage, quality jobs. Organizations will be selected in June 2020 for a two-year grant.
Download the LOI here and the budget template here. Responses should be single-spaced. Please direct any questions related to submission to Lucy Gibson, program associate, at lucy.gibson@aspeninstitute.org; please direct questions related to content or the project to Sarah Haight, associate director for network and outreach, at sarah.haight@aspeninstitute.org.
An informational webinar recording can be found here, and the Powerpoint slides can be found here.
Learn more about Family Prosperity here.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How firm is the deadline?
- Firm. Responses are due by email to aspenfamilyprosperityloi@aspeninstitute.org by 5:00 pm EST on February 21, 2020. We cannot consider responses sent to other email addresses nor later than that time.
- Is the requirement for the lead applicant tied to a 509(a) status or just the 501(c)(3) classification? Can a 501(c)6 apply?
- Applicants must have 501(c)3 status. We are also able to consider 509(a) status organizations. 501c6s may not apply.
- What role is RWJF playing in this initiative?
- RWJF is the primary funder of the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community. They support the overall initiative and leaders from the Foundation will participate in convenings. They are not part of the selection process for Family Prosperity.
- We have a federally-funded grant allowing for 15% indirect costs. Can we use that indirect percentage for this grant?
- We cannot consider requests that exceed 12% indirect costs.
- Can organizations partner, and if so, how much is grant that they can apply for?
- We encourage partnerships, particularly for those organizations that do not have 501c3 status (such as public sector agencies). The grant amount is the same for joint submissions as it is for single submissions, which is between $75,000-$125,000 over two years.
Related Posts
The Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community Phase II sought to find and foster the most effective and innovative strategies to accelerate social and economic mobility for working families with low incomes. To do so, we elevated the voices and expertise of families with lived experience, were guided by 14 advisors, and we brought together 20 …
In a blog post authored by Trene Hawkins of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend's Managing Director Marjorie Sims shares how Ascend harnesses parent and caregiver leaders’ expertise to create policy and systems change in communities and organizations.
As an organization with a vibrant Early Head Start program and a two-generational approach to alleviating poverty, All Our Kin has been a proud partner in Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Innovation Community. Being part of this group among 20 partnering organizations has given All Our Kin the opportunity to bring its innovative model …
Mom and Son Duo Reflect on Family Prosperity Convening Read More »
For many of us with young children at home, the pandemic hasn’t just disrupted our lives — it’s turned them upside down, erasing the boundaries between home and work. We’re seeing more and more stories about parents, especially mothers and specifically mothers in low-wage jobs, struggling to balance being a breadwinner and a caregiver. Only 1 …
Breadwinning and Caregiving Don’t Have to Be Incompatible Read More »
Poverty is the result of poor policy choices. These choices reflect our national values and decide who deserves access to opportunity to achieve their dreams and who does not. This flawed mindset has led to persistent inequities and a hollowing of our shared humanity. Change is possible. The choice is ours.
In an op-ed co-authored by Aisha Nyandoro of Springboard to Opportunities and Trene Hawkins of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ascend’s Marjorie Sims states the need to honor Black women with bold policies so that future generations can truly thrive. For even as we are achieve historic successes, racist and sexist systems, structures, and narratives persist and prevent our equity and dignity. …
Centering Black women in policy is key to future families’ prosperity Read More »
On Tuesday, June 1st, 2021, Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Innovation Community hosted a panel discussion about the recently proposed federal legislation on paid leave. This webinar presented how and why this proposed legislation matters and shared opportunities to advance paid leave locally and nationally. Watch Now Presenters and Panelists Vicki Shabo – New …
Black History Month is a time for celebration and an intentional moment to pay tribute to generations of Black Americans who have contributed to our society. It is also a time to look inward, asking if the work that we are doing today helps to further advance Black communities, or if it instead stifles. Is what we are doing enough to break through rigid obstacles and nurture an environment that truly gives space for families and individuals to meet their full promise and live their values; and in turn, have communities thrive?
In the last year, families have endured and adapted to myriad unknowns, and too often they’ve had to figure it out without basic support and resources. Yet, as new research conducted by Ascend at the Aspen Institute (Ascend) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) discovered, there is widespread support across political ideologies for solutions that …
Centering Families in Policy Solutions in 2021 and Beyond: What Parents Know Read More »
Earlier this year, Ascend launched the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community, our initiative for breakthrough innovations and collaborations that position families to reach educational success, economic prosperity, health and well-being. As we look toward 2021, opportunities and challenges abound for work-family supportive policies – namely, the future of child care. More than ever, families are …
Our world has changed. The wave of uncertainty touched off by the pandemic is becoming an ongoing process of relearning how to live, work and care for our families. A powerful national movement for racial justice around the world is making clear that we need a new social contract. Our nation faces a reckoning with …
Announcing: New Community of Family Prosperity Innovators Read More »
[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”9px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”] Ascend at the Aspen Institute’s Family Prosperity Innovation Community is a collaborative, multilayered community that develops breakthrough innovations to strengthen parents’ and families’ access to employment opportunities, economic security, and health and …
Contact: Lindsay Broyhill Ascend at the Aspen Institute lindsay.broyhill@aspeninstitute.org Bold Leaders to Advance Innovative Strategies for Families’ Health and Economic Prosperity Aspen Institute Launches New Partners and Advisors in Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community Washington, DC – Ascend at the Aspen Institute is proud to announce the new partners and advisors the Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community, Ascend’s initiative for breakthrough innovations and collaborations that position families to reach educational …
The last few weeks and months have been profoundly challenging, and illuminated clearly the need for a sea change in the way our country engages with and supports families and communities with low incomes. At Ascend, we are particularly focused on deepening and elevating our efforts to address structural racism, including how systemic inequities impact …
New Report: Principles and Innovations to Drive Family Prosperity Read More »
Family prosperity isn’t what it could be in America – and we are looking for partners ready to change that in meaningful and groundbreaking ways. The Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community (Family Prosperity) is a learning and action community committed to finding the most effective and innovative solutions to problems that affect working families with …
RFP Submission Guidelines for Aspen Family Prosperity Innovation Community Read More »