To learn more about Fight For Children's grantmaking, contact Jeff Travers at 202-772-0436 or jeff.travers@fightforchildren.org. Please note, Fight For Children is not currently accepting grant proposals and does not accept unsolicited grant proposals at any time.

AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation
AppleTree Institute for Education Innovation is executing a pioneering effort that brings together entrepreneurial innovation in early childhood education, ongoing rigorous evaluation, and public and private investment to close the achievement gap before children enter kindergarten. AppleTree’s four charter schools educate 320 children ages 3 and 4 in Washington, DC. Fight For Children is proud to provide matching funds for AppleTree’s 2010 $5 million federal Investing in Innovation grant, which will support AppleTree’s work to refine, codify and document its successful Every Child Ready model, as well as provide resources to more than double AppleTree’s charter school enrollment by 2015. www.appletreeinstitute.org

Children's National Medical Center
Children’s National Medical Center is the only exclusive provider of pediatric care in the metropolitan Washington area. Fight For Children is pleased to collaborate with Children’s National on an innovative three-year community assessment of families living in DC’s Parkside neighborhood and their behaviors affecting diet, recreation, and health care. Children’s National will use funds from Fight For Children to focus specifically on the well-being of infants and toddlers This project is part of the DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative, a coordinated effort led by Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, which aims to dramatically improve education and health care in Parkside by coordinating a wide range of social, medical, and educational programs. www.cnmc.org

City Gate
City Gate is best known for high quality out-of-school time programs for underserved children and youth in the District of Columbia. It also operates parent outreach programs in public housing projects in Northeast and Southeast DC. Fight For Children’s grant will allow City Gate to use content developed as part of Fight For Children’s Ready to Learn DC program to help parents understand the value of quality early childhood education. As part of the work funded by this grant, City Gate is operating a 13-week training session for parents at the Merrick Center in Ward 8. www.city-gate.org

Teach For America DC
Fight For Children is pleased to support Teach for America’s efforts to provide early childhood teachers with tools to effectively monitor the progress of children in their classroom. Teach For America DC will refine assessment tools that are part of the Creative Curriculum program used in most DCPS and some charter schools. Teach For America DC is aligning these tools with its own proprietary assessment system and training its early education corps members to use these tools effectively. The organization ultimately intends to share its work with all early childhood education teachers in schools where its corps members are assigned, potentially affecting dozens of teachers through Washington, DC. www.teachforamerica.org

University of the District of Columbia’s Early Childhood Education Leadership Institute (ECELI)
Fight For Children has awarded ECELI a grant to train educators at Sunshine Learning Center, a well-respected early childhood learning center in Ward 8, to receive certification in early childhood education, and in turn to train staff at three other centers in Ward 8. Effectiveness of the professional development training will be assessed by the progress of the centers’ children on standard early education assessments, including ECKERS, ELLCO, and CLASS. The program will also provide coaches to the staff at all four centers. www.udc.edu/ncue

K-12 STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

Grants in this category address the achievement gap by improving the quality of education for low-income children in Washington and support programs that strengthen teaching and learning; provide access to quality educational opportunities; and establish community partnerships that further student  success.

Archdiocese of Washington Tuition Assistant Program
The Archdiocese of Washington works to keep Catholic education as affordable as possible, particularly for those children who may not have access to a high quality DCPS or DC Public Charter School. Fight For Children is pleased to support the Archdiocesan Tuition Assistance Program, available to DC students applying to or currently enrolled in Catholic schools within the Archdiocese. Over 97 percent of students that graduate from Catholic high schools go on to attend college. www.adw.org

DC College Success Foundation
DC College Success Foundation (DC CSF) is a non-profit organization created in 2006 to expand the number of low-income and underrepresented high school students that enter and complete college. DC CSF administers numerous programs to benefit DC students, including the Costco DC Scholarship Fund. www.dccollegesuccessfoundation.org

DC Public Education Fund
The mission of the DC Public Education Fund (DCPEF) is to dramatically improve student achievement in the District of Columbia by serving as a strategic partner to businesses, foundations, community leaders, and individual donors in supporting high-impact programs within DC Public Schools. Fight For Children was proud to support DCPEF’s coordination of the District of Columbia’s application for the Federal Race to the Top grant completion. This successful application resulted in the award of $75 million in new federal funds, which will ultimately reach over 92% of children attending DC Public Schools and DC Public Charter Schools. www.dceducationfund.org

DONOR DESIGNATED GRANTS

From time to time, donors request that their gift to Fight For Children be directed to other organizations serving children in Washington, DC, whose goals are consistent with Fight For Children’s mission of improving the lives of low-income children.

Best Friends Foundation
The Best Friends Foundation produces an evidence-based, developmentally sound curriculum designed for middle and high school students. The Foundation’s programs promote self-respect and provide young men and women the skills, guidance and support they need to reject violence and illegal drug and alcohol use. Through peer lead support groups, the Foundation creates a positive environment that increases self-esteem and promotes academic achievement. www.bestfriendsfoundation.org

DC College Access Program
The District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP) encourages and enables DC public high school students to enter and graduate from college. Fight For Children supports DC-CAP’s work within the DC charter school system, including efforts to provide counseling and information to students and parents. www.dccap.org

Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Community Partnerships Program
The Kennedy Center presents the greatest performers and performances from across America and around the world, nurturing new works and young artists, and serving the nation as a leader in arts education. This contribution supports the Kennedy Center’s Community Partnerships Program, a collection of programs that integrates arts education into culturally diverse communities in the Washington, DC public school system. www.kennedy-center.org

Marine Corp Law Enforcement Foundation
Proceeds from the auction of an American flag held during Fight Night 2010 were given to the Marine Corps – Law Enforcement Foundation, a foundation that provides scholarships for higher education to the children of Marines or federal law enforcement personnel who have made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country. www.mc-lef.org

Venture Philanthropy Partners
Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) is a philanthropic investment organization that helps improve lives and boost the opportunities for children and youth of low-income families by investing in great leaders to build strong nonprofit institutions in the National Capital Region. Fight For Children and our Chairman Joseph E. Robert, Jr., are proud to invest in VPP’s second fund and support its innovative approach to dramatically improving the capacity of DC’s non-profit organizations. VPP’s current investments include KIPP DC and Year UP National Capital Region. www.vppartners.org

FIGHT NIGHT CHAIRMAN’S CHOICE

Each year, the Chairman of Fight Night selects a local non-profit organization to receive a special grant from Fight For Children. Fight For Children is proud to support Richard Kay, Fight Night 2010 Chairman, and Hospice Caring and its Camp Caring program. Camp Caring is an annual weekend bereavement camp for children ages eight to fourteen who have experienced the death of a loved one. Trained adults, including elementary and secondary school counselors, help children understand what grief is and learn ways to express and cope with their grief. Children who participate in the program are far more likely to not fall behind in school and ultimately be successful in their lives.