Community Collaboration Challenge

2026 Community Collaboration Challenge

Supported by the Leon Lowenstein Foundation.

With support from the Leon Lowenstein Foundation, the Challenge provides $5,000 – $10,000 awards to communities across the country and is designed to support collaboration that expands and pilots evidence-based K-12 student supports in the form of high-impact tutoring, mentoring, student success coaching, postsecondary transition coaching, and/or wraparound/integrated student supports.

Through our 2026 Challenge, the Partnership for Student Success is distributing $168,000 in Community Collaboration Challenge awards to 20 communities across the country from 18 states and DC. Awardees will use these funds to support local collaboration in their communities and to pilot or expand evidence-based student supports between March and October 2026.

The 2026 cohort was selected from a competitive group of over 700 applicants submitted from communities in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Awardees Include:

 

State Community Impacted Organization
CA Santa Monica Step Up Tutoring, Deans for Impact, & Elevate Teaching
DC Washington The Literacy Lab
DE Wilmington Reading Assist
GA Atlanta Communities In Schools Atlanta
IL Chicago Chicago Public Schools, Network 17
IN Merrillville Uthiverse Incorporated
KS Lawrence SparkWheel, Inc.
MD Rockville Montgomery County Public Schools
MD Baltimore University of Maryland, Baltimore County
MI Monroe Monroe Family YMCA
MN Minneapolis Minneapolis Public Schools, Roosevelt High School
MO Springfield Center for Rural Education, Missouri State University
MT Helena Helena Indian Alliance
NY

Brooklyn

 Mindset Math
NC

Durham

 North Carolina Central University
OH Steubenville Ohio Valley Youth Network/Sycamore Youth Center
OR Portland Open School Inc
PA Philadelphia Career & Academic Development Institute
SC Columbia Fact Forward
TX Houston iEducate

CCC awards have supported a range of catalyzing opportunities. Read more about previous funding cycles below.

Learn more about the importance of collaboration to support student success. Community Spotlights included 2023 and 2024 Community Collaboration Challenge awardees:

Download Planning Toolkit for Collaborative Goal-Setting Events

 

This Toolkit of Planning Collaborative Goal-Setting Events is specifically intended to support community, school, and district leaders in bringing together key stakeholders in their communities to identify shared assets and challenges, and consider where and how they might bring tutors, mentors, student success coaches, post-secondary transition coaches, and/or wraparound/integrated student supports to students in their communities. This guide was created to help you plan a local collaborative goal-setting convening and includes considerations for the planning process, invitees, program elements, and follow up that you may choose to use in your own planning.

VIEW TOOLKIT FOR GOAL-SETTING EVENTS

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As of January 19, 2025, this website no longer represents the National Partnership for Student Success public-private partnership.

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