The William T. Grant Foundation, in partnership with the Spencer, Bezos Family, and Doris Duke foundations, has announced the winners of this year’s Institutional Challenge Grant. 

Grants totaling nearly $2.6 million were awarded to the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Illinois Chicago, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Virginia to work with local nonprofits or public agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of a trauma-informed restorative justice program in diverting youth, particularly Black and Latinx youth, from the juvenile justice system; examine the potential of a principal preparation program to reduce racialized student achievement disparities; reduce barriers to college and career readiness for youth of color and youth from low-income backgrounds; and leverage research to reduce disparities in early postsecondary course participation for Black and Latinx youth, English learners, students with disabilities, and students from low-income families. 

Established in 2017, the program encourages university-based research institutes, schools, and centers to grow existing research-practice partnerships with public agencies or nonprofit organizations to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. To that end, grantees are expected to shift their policies and incentives to value collaborative work and enhance the capacity of the partner organization to use evidence from research in decision making. The program’s 12 previously funded partnerships are demonstrating success in all three areas. For example, after one partnership identified gaps in the placement of Black and Latinx youth in city summer internship positions, the partners piloted a new job-matching process, which preliminary findings suggest reduced racial inequalities in job placement. 

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we should not be surprised to have learned that youth of color and low-income youth have been particularly hard hit,” said William T. Grant Foundation president Adam Gamoran. “These grants will address challenges in the education and justice systems, where we witness many inequities. That is why we are particularly delighted that the Bezos Family Foundation joins the Spencer Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation, and the William T. Grant Foundation this year to support this important work, enabling us, for the first time, to award four grants.” 

For more information about each of the 2023 partnerships, see the W.T. Grant Foundation website.

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Drazen Zigic)