The Rappaport Family Foundation in San Francisco has announced that it plans to invest up to $2 million over the next two years in initiatives and efforts to mobilize and train student leaders to protect and strengthen democracy in the United States.

Since 2010, the foundation has awarded more than $1 million through its Spark Initiative in support of innovative and promising strategies aimed at igniting civic engagement among community college students. In the latest grant cycle for the initiative, the foundation will award grants ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 in support of efforts to transform American communities by strengthening the leadership, voice, and agency of students across the country — with a focus on community college students.

"We want to be surprised," said the foundation's founder and CEO, Deborah Rappaport. "We are willing to invest in unconventional approaches and untested ideas to build the leadership of students."