Educating All Learners Alliance Opens 2025 New Champions Fund to Support Leaders of Color and Allies who Support Students with Disabilities

The Educating All Learners Alliance will provide unrestricted grant funds to emerging leaders doing exceptional work in special education.

BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 9, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA), a coalition of over 160 partner organizations led by InnovateEDU, is launching the 2025 New Champions Fund.

Started in 2022, the New Champions Fund allows EALA to grant an annual unrestricted competitive sub-grant and provide a year-long mentorship to support leaders of color or allies of access and inclusion in education, who are actively working to support students with disabilities, including students who are marginalized or come from underserved communities, and those experiencing poverty. They will also grant three additional $5,000 sub-grants per year to runners-up, as determined by the panel of New Champions judges.

The purpose of this fund is to elevate the work and profile of emerging leaders doing exceptional work who may struggle to be recognized in traditional national fundraising or communication efforts. Winners will be selected by a judging panel composed of over 40 national leaders in education. The explicit intent of this work is to diversify the organizations, voices, and approaches leading the conversation on serving all students.

The primary requirements for applicants of the New Champions Fund include:

• Are you a leader(s) of community-based organizations (CBOs), schools and districts, non-profits, or for-profit organizations that are under $2 million in annual revenue?
• Are you a leader of color or an ally of advancing access and inclusion in education?
• Are you actively working to support students with disabilities, including students who are marginalized or come from underserved communities and those experiencing poverty?"

"The New Champions Fund is about recognizing and supporting leaders whose work often goes unseen but has a powerful impact on students who are too often left behind," said Aurora Dreger, Project Director of EALA. "These are the changemakers rooted in their communities, deeply connected to the challenges and strengths of the students they serve. This fund is our way of helping elevate their voices and expand their reach."

The New Champion will be supported by EALA through the following key areas:

• Funding: A one-year $35,000 unrestricted sub-grant.
• Mentorship: A one-year mentorship provided to leadership to accomplish strategic goals.
• Participation in National Events: EALA will work with the New Champions to spotlight their work through various media channels, podcasts, webinars, and national conferences to highlight the work of the organizations.

Past champions include:

• 2024: Lovisa Brown and Extreme Kids & Crew. Extreme Kids & Crew offers creative and recreational programs for children with disabilities and their families. Their inclusive play spaces and arts programming provide a supportive environment where children can explore, create, and connect, promoting joy, confidence, and community. The submitted project, Maker Girls, is a program for neurodiverse youth identifying as female.
• 2023: Kim Riley and The Transition Academy (TTA), a nonprofit organization created to improve postsecondary outcomes for high school special education students in Kansas City Public Schools and charter schools. The Transition Academy supports young people with autism or developmental disabilities to explore college or career options as they prepare to transition from school to life as an adult.
• 2022: Dena Simmons Ed.D and LiberatED centers radical love, healing, and racial and social justice in education so that all children can live, learn, and thrive in the comfort of their own skin. They work alongside youth, educators, and educational leaders in school and school district communities, particularly those that are predominantly Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other People of Color (BILPOC) and that have been systemically and institutionally marginalized.

The New Champions Fund application will close on Friday, April 30, 2025. For more information, visit EALA's website.

The Educating All Learners Alliance (EALA) is an uncommon coalition of organizations committed to resource sharing and community-building that supports the efforts of the education community to meet the needs of students with disabilities.

Contact: Laura McHugh, InnovateEDU, [email protected]

SOURCE InnovateEDU