Michelson 20MM is committed to helping individuals and communities impacted by the criminal justice system forge a brighter, more prosperous future through educational attainment. In keeping this pledge, we’re launching our latest Michelson Spark Grants funding round.

Our Smart Justice funding cycle will be open for proposals from September 2, 2025 to September 16, 2025. Through it, we seek to fund macro level projects that support systems-level strategies, creating impact at scale and informing public policy. The vision for the Spark Grant Program is to introduce an innovative just-in-time grantmaking process to fill urgent needs for higher education organizations that are well-aligned with our focus areas.

The Smart Justice Initiative (SJI) at Michelson 20MM launched in 2019 to leverage higher education as a catalyst for personal transformation and justice reform. SJI components include higher education in prison, reentry, supporting justice-involved students on campus, workforce development and economic success, racial justice, and gender justice, with a particular focus on policy and systems change. Previous Smart Justice grantees include the Forestry and Fire Recruitment Program, UCI LIFTED, the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, Impact Justice, Root and Rebound, Vera Institute of Justice, RAND Corporation, and the Campaign for College Opportunity.

Funding Cycle Focus Areas

We are interested in supporting projects that advance:

• Efforts that scale and increase higher education and workforce development pathways for incarcerated individuals pursuing firefighting careers
  • Projects that facilitate employment in firefighting careers for incarcerated firefighters, including efforts that fully certify them to pursue a firefighting career upon release and those that facilitate their employment in these careers post release.
  • Policy advocacy work that supports incarcerated firefighters.

• Initiatives with innovative approaches to higher education in prison (HEP) programming
  • Innovative efforts that address housing for individuals reentering the community including efforts centering specific underrepresented populations. 
  • Transfer pathways that help HEP programming participants with Associates degrees to seamlessly enroll in programs offering Bachelors degrees.
  • Efforts that expand HEP programming at the California State University and/or University of California systems
  • Policy advocacy efforts that facilitate the scaling of HEP programming across California higher education systems and carceral facilities.

• Projects that help ensure the quality of education being provided in HEP programs
  • Efforts that promote/improve consistency in data collection to better understand the impact and tell the story of HEP programs. 
  • Programs that promote, ensure, or evaluate race equity in accessing HEP programs 
  • Projects that improve training for HEP program educators and include appropriate pedagogy/practice that ensures a quality education for incarcerated students. 
  • Efforts focused on increasing higher education retention and completion rates for individuals in prison and individuals being released from prison, 
  • Policy advocacy work that help ensure the quality of education being provided in HEP programs.

• Efforts that analyze the landscape of HEP programming in California to support the  launching of a California HEP consortium, a group that will advance recommendations on best approaches in HEP/Reentry programming and policy statewide 

Funding Cycle Details

• We will be awarding grants up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions looking for support of projects that hit one of the focus areas outlined below. Please note your project must address at least one of our focus areas in order to be considered.
• We welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.
• The Spark Grant Program is available to United States–based nonprofits and educational institutions. For this round, we have decided to focus our impact on organizations that are doing work in California. Organizations whose work does not impact California will be ineligible for this opportunity. 

Join Us to Learn More

On August 26th, Senior Director of Programs and Strategic Initiatives, Miguel León, and Director of Operations and Programs, Ryan Erickson-Kulas, will host an informational webinar, which will provide an in-depth overview of the Spark Grants program, highlight past awardees, and go into detailed updates on the smart justice funding cycle.

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About the Michelson 20MM Foundation

Michelson 20MM is a private, nonprofit foundation working toward equity for underserved and historically underrepresented communities by expanding access to educational and employment opportunities, increasing affordability of educational programs, and ensuring the necessary supports are in place for individuals to thrive. To do so, we work in the following verticals: Digital Equity, Intellectual Property, Smart Justice, Student Basic Needs, and Open Educational Resources (OER). Co-chaired and funded by Alya and Gary Michelson, Michelson 20MM is part of the Michelson Philanthropies network of foundations.

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