What if you could design the professional learning of your dreams?

We honor and inspire great teachers—like you—by funding a professional learning project of your own design.

find out if you're eligible

We're strengthening math instruction by aligning it with how students think.

We're using mindfulness to help teachers & students build emotional resilience.

We’re using play to infuse classes with more choice, wonder, and delight.

We're learning and sharing better strategies to help multilingual learners.

We're building staff and student capacity for leadership and school connectedness.

We’re bringing indigenous voices into our music curriculum.

We’re leading peer observations to root out racial inequities and foster an affirming learning community for all.

We’re modernizing our World Language program to improve proficiency.

We’re focusing on best practices and equitable instruction to strengthen our dual immersion learning community.

We're collaborating across five sites to adapt literacy instruction for the digital age.

We are implementing STEM strategies in our classrooms to send students soaring towards creative solutions.

Driven By  Teachers

You and your team — a group of teachers — are invited to apply for LIGHT Awards funds. Our grants (of up to $30,000 over 2 years) can be used to support your growth as teachers, your effectiveness as educators, and your ability to inspire and mentor students.

Proven Results

An independent research study after 10 years confirmed: the LIGHT Awards experience has had a significant positive impact on teachers’ professional identities.

Many reported increased happiness, joy, and satisfaction in their work as a result of their involvement.

See the Impact Study
(chart) 97 percent experience meaningful professional growth
experienced meaningful
professional growth
Private: County Map 1
Sonoma County Napa County Yolo County San Joaquin County San Mateo County Alameda County San Francisco Santa Clara County Santa Cruz County Sacramento County Solano County Contra Costa County Marin County San Benito County Monterey County

Sonoma County

3 PROJECTS

see the projects

Napa County

no projects yet

Yolo County

4 PROJECTS

see the project

San Joaquin County

8 PROJECTS

see the projects

San Mateo County

12 PROJECTS

see the projects

Alameda County

42 PROJECTS

see the projects

San Francisco

22 PROJECTS

see the projects

Santa Clara County

24 PROJECTS

see the projects

Santa Cruz County

1 PROJECT

see the project

Sacramento County

no projects yet

Solano County

no projects yet

Contra Costa County

3 PROJECTS

see the projects

Marin County

3 PROJECTS

see the projects

San Benito County

no projects yet

Monterey County

2 PROJECTS

see the projects

Are you eligible?

N

project team of 3-6 experienced teachers

N

elementary, middle or high school

N

public or charter school

N

private school if 50% students from low income families

N

in one of the California counties shown

 Click or touch interactive map to see awards by county.

 

see eligibility details
see what we fund

What we fund

Train

with experts

Create

a learning community

Build

new tools

Imagine

your own innovation
see funded projects
see criteria details

Get the professional learning of your dreams

sign up for news from the LIGHT Awards program

(We'll let you know when applications are open.)

Important Dates

Oct 5 – Nov 14, 2023 LOIs Accepted for 2024 Grant Cycle (rolling submissions)
By mid-Dec 2023 Invitations to Apply Extended to Selected LOI Submissions
Spring 2024 LIGHT Awards Grants Made

Keep In Touch

Sign up for occasional email updates from the LIGHT Awards program. We’ll let you know about approaching deadlines, provide application tips, and share what our grantees are doing.
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Copyright ©Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation. All rights reserved. LIGHT Awards is a program of Intrepid Philanthropy Foundation, San Francisco, CA. Website by Garnet Creative.

Contact us at info(at)lightawards.org or use our contact form.