Imagine Learning: Signature Grant Program

Overview

The Imagine Learning Foundation, the philanthropic wing of the Imagine Learning company, works to foster the well-being of learners and the people who support them at home and in their communities.

According to the foundation, schools can better develop healthy and supportive learning environments when social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are extended from classrooms into homes and communities. To that end, the foundation aims to bridge the meaningful connection between SEL in the classroom and SEL outside the classroom by facilitating access to social-emotional learning at home and in the community. By bringing SEL into life beyond the classroom, the foundation wishes to activate a learner’s full community and support system to ignite more breakthroughs in every learning environment. 

At the Imagine Learning Foundation (ILF), our mission is to foster the well-being of learners and the people who support them at home and in their communities. Schools are better able to develop healthy and supportive learning environments when social and emotional learning (SEL) programs are extended from classrooms into homes and communities. At the Imagine Learning Foundation, we aim to bridge connections between classroom learning and positive learning environments outside the classroom by promoting and expanding access to SEL at home and in the community.

What We Do
Social and emotional learning — specifically supporting students in learning life and social skills — has the power to create positive environments and more engaged communities. Our efforts are geared toward driving family and community support for the well-being of learners and the people who support them, to help students thrive both inside and outside the classroom.

The Power of Social and Emotional Learning at Home and in the Community
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of learning and applying the knowledge and skills to care for emotions, social relationships, and each individual’s sense of self. Extending access to this process outside of the classroom has the potential to foster healthy learning environments and address longstanding disparities in student opportunities and outcomes. These tools become more powerful and support learner well-being and learning success when they extend into the home.

Community support — be it from family, allies, or educators — has a meaningful positive impact on students’ social and emotional health. Students will be in a better position to succeed if their learning environments and experiences at school and beyond include social and emotional learning. We engage students and connect families and communities to help students apply these foundational life skills and strategies in all aspects of their lives and relationships.

Why Now?
We’re emerging from a period that has pushed the education system beyond its limits and brought to light many areas where our schools and students need more resources, new tools, and different ways of approaching persistent challenges.

The pandemic has challenged students, teachers, and their families and left many with feelings of anxiety, depression, and other emotional and mental health challenges. The impact has garnered attention and brought resources to problems such as inequitable access to digital devices and connectivity, but it did not adequately address the longstanding problem of learner, family, and educator well-being.

The Imagine Learning Foundation is driving the expanded use of knowledge and tools focused on student well-being in homes and communities to address this fundamental need.

Signature Grants
We are funding the Imagine Signature Grant Program to amplify national non-profit organizations’ efforts that advance our mission to:

• support initiatives that foster the learning and well-being of youth and their families and educators at home and in the community
• study the impacts of social, physical, mental, and emotional well-being on accelerating student achievement across diverse communities

Grant Awards 

The ILF will award up to $300,000 or more in total grant awards to new and/or existing grantees. Grant awards are anticipated to be in the range of $50,000 - $100,000 each.  

The Imagine Learning Foundation invites proposals from national organizations whose actions support our mission to foster the well-being of learners and those who support learners at home and in their communities. Grant application key dates and deadlines for submitting proposals for the upcoming year will be posted as available.

Inaugural Grant Recipients
We are delighted to announce Erika’s Lighthouse and Up2Us Sports as the inaugural recipients of the Imagine Learning Foundation’s Signature Grants. Each organization received $100,000 to support social and emotional learning beyond the classroom.

Important Deadlines

• Funding Announcement: November 2022
• Application Opens: January 2023
• Application Deadline: April 30, 2023, at 5pm PDT
• Application Review: May/June 2023
• Award Notifications: June 2023