Educators are the backbone of our public education system, yet all too often, don’t have resources at their disposal to prioritize their professional learning journeys. Learning and Leadership Grants enable educators to grow their leadership skills and invest in professional development to maximize their impact inside and outside the classroom.
Application Timeline
Application Period
December 16, 2024 - February 17, 2025
Notification: april
Overview
Learning and Leadership Grants are available to individual educators or groups of educators who are pursuing high-quality professional learning experiences that will enhance their classroom teaching, leadership skills, or professional partnerships.
- Individuals to participate in high-quality professional development like summer institutes, conferences, seminars, travel abroad programs, or action research.
- Groups to fund collegial study, including study groups, action research, lesson plan development, or mentoring experiences for faculty or staff.
Learning and Leadership grants are intended to provide resources for educators hoping to engage in professional learning that can be implemented in their classrooms.
We do not fund tuition or board certification.
Application Registration
The NEA Foundation recently transitioned to a new grants application system to provide an upgraded experience for our applicants and grantees. To receive access to an application, follow the steps below!
If you have any questions, please contact GrantsAndPrograms@nea.org
Visit the registration link. If you’re new to our system, select “Create Account” on the right-hand side to start your registration.
Respond to the question “What is your purpose for registering?” by selecting: “I am applying for the Grants to Educators” Application
Fill in details about your workplace.
Enter your NEA membership information, including your NEA membership number. To be eligible, you must be an active NEA member.
After you submit your registration, our team will review your information and verify your NEA membership status. This process may take up to 3 business days.
Once approved, you will receive an email with your login information, granting you access to the portal and application forms.
If your NEA membership is not active, you will not be granted access to the application portal.
“Through the generous support of the NEA Foundation Learning and Leading Grant, I attended the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) qualifying certification seminar. This inventory helps us understand the impact our work has on student learning and development.”
ANNE M. HORNAK, Associate Professor & Chair, Central Michigan University, MT. Pleasant, MI
Funding
Learning & Leadership grants will fund projects up to $5,000. Grants fund activities for 12 months from the date of the award.
Applicants must be teachers, education support professionals, or specialized instructional support personnel and must be current NEA members. Current NEA Foundation grantees are ineligible for this funding opportunity. A successful proposal will also make an individual ineligible for other NEA Foundation funding opportunities, until the grant is successfully completed and closed out.
*Education support professionals (ESPs) are defined as: paraeducators, school bus drivers or other transportation staff, custodial and maintenance staff food services staff, school nurses, health aides and other health and student services staff clerical staff, security staff, skilled trades staff, and technical services staff.
*Specialized instructional support personnel (SISP) include professionals such as school counselors, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, library media specialists, speech pathologists and others.
Grants are available to current members of the National Education Association who are educators in public schools or public institutions of higher education. We especially encourage education support professionals* to apply.
* Education support professionals are defined as: para-educators, school bus drivers, maintenance and custodial staff, food services staff, school nurses and student services workers, clerical and office assistants, school security officers, and technicians.
Unfortunately, the following groups may not apply as either the lead or partner:
- Educators who are not members of the National Education Association
- Employees, members of the board of directors, and immediate family members of the staff and board of the NEA Foundation
- Employees of the National Education Association
Grant funds can be used for travel, room, meals, registration fees, materials, etc. for individual grants. For group grants, funds can be used for educator stipends, substitute fees, materials, travel, meals, etc.
Grant funds cannot be used to pay indirect costs, grant administration fees, salaries, or lobbying or religious purposes.
