Teachers who pursue Fund for Teachers’ transformational learning experiences catalyze these problem-solving experiences for themselves and students, ultimately changing schools and communities.
Full-time teachers in the continental US, Hawaii, and Alaska in public, private and charter schools are eligible to apply if they meet the following requirements:
Student and substitute teaching do not count towards the three-year requirement. If the applicant has three years’ experience by the time of their fellowship, Fund for Teachers considers them eligible. Previous recipients must wait for five years before reapplying. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the application guidelines prior to starting an application.
Fellowship grant applications are accepted annually from October to January and are completed entirely online. Prepared in three parts: Coversheet, Proposal and Budget, applicants are encouraged to register early to best understand obligations and objectives. Fund for Teaches also invites applicants to visit the Online Learning Center for resources to support you in the ideation, preparation and implementation of your fellowship.
Fund for Teachers also offers a grant exclusively for past FFT Fellows: Innovation Circle Grants. Innovation Circle grant applications are accepted annually from March to April. Different from our Fellowship grant, Innovation Circle grants are designed around a predetermined set of topics. Fellows will still design a learning experience but will also participate in a ‘circle’ of Fellows to stimulate and support innovation. Circles will meet for approximately 10 hours over the course of the year to design innovative solutions to their problems of practice. Circle themes change annually. Check back here in March for the 2025 circle themes and timeline for submission.
Fund for Teachers utilizes a committee of community members, past grant recipients, educators, and donors to select our grant recipients.
Each committee utilizes the same process, scoring criteria, and scoring standards. Before a committee receives grant proposals to review, each application is screened for eligibility and completeness. Applications failing to meet Fund for Teachers eligibility criteria or those not considered complete will not be sent to the selection committee. Grants are awarded based on merit and available funding; consequently, the number of grants awarded varies each year.
