NoVo Foundation is committed to supporting the spread of social and emotional learning (SEL) practices in schools and districts nationwide. We know practitioners have some of the most inspiring, effective and innovative ideas in the field. NoVo Foundation, in partnership with Education First and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, aims to seed projects that foster social and emotional competencies in students in grades PK-12. Whether you have an idea for a new initiative or want to expand or continue an existing project, we want to hear from you.
For the 2022–23 school year, we invited applications for the SEL in Action Awards from two applicant pools:
Key changes to the SEL in Action Awards program from previous rounds of the grant program are summarized below:
We sought applications which build and foster much greater compassion, to honor the assets and lived experiences of students, to build skills in people and groups to embrace and understand differences, and to work through challenges to promote healing from all forms of trauma and harm. We can—and must—create space for educators and students to imagine, build and lead us toward a better future built on racial and gender equity, social justice and restorative practices.
Though all proposals were welcome, we were also seeking proposals that specifically support one or more of the following student populations:
We will also give priority to projects that:
Previous awardees have told us how important this grant has been to their work. Hear their stories through these two-minute testimonials:
2022 Summary: In our seventh and final year, we received nearly 500 applications from 40 US States and the District of Columbia. Through a competitive process, 32% of applicants were selected: 85 educators and 55 districts.
2021 Summary: In our sixth year, we received nearly 400 applications from 47 US States and the District of Columbia. Through a competitive process, 33% of applicants were selected: 64 educators and 61 districts. Read more about the award-winning projects here.
2020 Summary: In our fifth year, we received nearly 800 applications from all 50 US States and the District of Columbia. Through a competitive process, 19% of applicants were selected: 105 educators and 41 districts. Read more about the award-winning projects here. You can also view these project descriptions using an interactive search at this site: http://selforteachers.org/innovation-awards/
2019 Summary: In our fourth year, we received over 1,300 applications from all 50 US States, the District of Columbia and one US territory. Through a competitive process, 11% of applicants were selected, 101 teachers and 40 districts. Read more about the award-winning projects here. You can also view these project descriptions using an interactive search at this site: http://selforteachers.org/innovation-awards/
2018 Summary: In our third year, we received over 1,000 applications from more than 45 states. Through a competitive process, 12% of applicants were selected, 90 teachers and 34 districts. Read more about the teacher award-winning projects here. Read more about the district award-winning projects here. You can also view these project descriptions using an interactive search at this site: http://selforteachers.org/2018-innovation-awards/
2017 Summary: In our second year, we received over 800 applications from more than 40 states. 2017 was the first year we awarded district-level grants. Through a competitive process, 12% of applicants were selected, 67 teachers and 30 districts, with the complete list of selected awardees available here. We created a book to celebrate the achievements of these grantees, which can be found here: http://selforteachers.org/2017-resources/
2016 Summary: In our first year, we received a total of 430 teacher applications from 164 districts in 34 states. In August 2016, Education First announced 25 innovation awards to individual teachers and teams of teachers in 14 states. Find the list of 2016 recipients and descriptions of their projects here.
For more information about our support of SEL, see our SEL Teacher Practice website and publications Social and Emotional Learning: Looking Back, Aiming Forward and Social and Emotional Learning: Why Students Need It. What Districts are Doing About It.
