The Light Awards Grant

The Light Awards provide funding up to $30,000 over two years for professional learning projects designed by teachers. Targeting teams of educators, the program aims to enhance teaching effectiveness and student inspiration. Eligible projects must demonstrate potential for widespread impact and foster a community of practice. Applicants must be full-time teachers in California, and the program supports innovative training, tool development, and collaboration while ensuring adherence to specific guidelines regarding team composition and project funding restrictions.

Note: The deadline is for the Letter of Inquiry only. You can sign up here for occasional email updates from the LIGHT Awards program to notify you when the next application process opens, let you know about approaching deadlines, provide application tips, and share what our grantees are doing.
We honor and inspire great teachers—like you—by funding a professional learning project of your own design.
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.
What we fund:

• Train with expertsCreate a learning communityBuild new toolsImagine your own innovation
• Project Requirements
• The LIGHT Awards Program supports teacher participation in experiences that fulfill some or all of the following criteria:

Renew educators’ passion for and commitment to teaching.Demonstrate relevance for teachers.Have the potential to have school-wide, district-wide, and/or system-wide impact.Enhance teacher leadership skills.Cultivate a community of practice.

Eligibility

Team MembersA team is composed of three to six members, with preference given to teams of at least four members.At least three of the team members must be full-time classroom teachers (defined by spending at least 60% of time in the classroom).Specialists, TOSAs, and/or instructional coaches may be included on a team. There needs to be a minimum of three full-time classroom teachers on the team and an explanation of why the role of the additional member(s) is essential to the success of the project.One paraprofessional is eligible to participate on each team.Administrators may not be team members unless the project cannot happen without their participation.One team member must be identified as the Team Contact; the Team Contact must spend a portion of their time in the classroom.ExperienceApplicants must be at least in their second year of teaching when submitting the application.Location & Type of School(s)Elementary, middle, high schools, and cross-school projects are eligible.Applications from teachers at brand-new schools (in their first year of operation) will not be considered.Team members must teach in traditional public or charter schools OR in private schools that serve a majority (50% or above) free-and-reduced lunch-qualifying students. Eligibility is limited to the following California counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo.VicinityTeam members can be at the same school in the same or varying grades/subjects OR teams members can come from from different districts in the same or varying grades/subjects.In all cases, the mix of educators should make sense for the proposed project.EndorsementProject has support from the principal of each participating school.If invited to submit an application, teams will be required to provide a letter from each principal explaining that the principal endorses the project and articulates any support the principal is able to provide, such as providing feedback, fostering leadership within teams, providing release time, and remaining open to the benefits of teacher-driven innovation.If a principal is unavailable to write the letter, applicants should reach out via email to explain the circumstances.The LIGHT Awards team will work with them to determine an appropriate alternative.Funds for equipment and classroom supplies can be requested as a component of a project, but must be justified based on their integration with the proposed project and must not exceed $5,000 for a $20,000 proposal or $8,000 for a $30,000.Light Awards can be used to pay for substitute teachers when team members are participating in project related events and activities.

Ineligibility

Teacher’s aides and part-time teachers are not eligible.Current LIGHT Award grantees are not eligible.Project Restrictions- When developing your project and budget please be aware that the LIGHT Awards cannot be used for the below purposes.The LIGHT Awards does not fund one-time events, master’s program tuition, board certification costs, nor travel outside of the U.S.The LIGHT Awards does not award grants to solely purchase technology equipment and classroom supplies.LIGHT Awards funds cannot be used to compensate team members for the time they spend on their projects. LIGHT Awards funds cannot be used to cover team members’ childcare costs.The LIGHT Awards does not consider submissions led by staff or administrators.