The Knight Foundation has announced their second Knight Cities Challenge – a grant with a pool of $5 million to be awarded for city-improving ideas. Applications can be submitted by anyone, professional, student or amateur. Projects must take place in, or benefit one or more of the 26 knight communities (see below) across the United States, and focus on one or all of three key drivers of city success: attracting and retaining talent, expanding economic opportunity, and creating a culture of robust civic engagement.
The initial application simply asks three questions, with an answer of 100 words or less for each: what you’re proposing to do, why it makes sense in the city and to write a little bit about the team that will execute it. Final projects will be approved by the Knight Foundation board of trustees, with advice given by expert readers and panelists, many of whom are from Knight Communities. The initial process will review and evaluate ideas based on the aforementioned three drivers of city success, and the proposal’s execution plan. Finalists will be scored against five criteria: impact, innovation, inspiration, learning and capacity.
Applications must be submitted online by October 27, 201 5 at noon ET. Learn more about the Knight Foundation and Knight Cities Challenge here.
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Per university policy, all grant applications (federal and non-federal) must be reviewed, signed and submitted by the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs regardless of the amount of the request. Contact osrp@iit.edu or call at 312.567.3035 for more information on submitting a proposal.