For the People, By the People:

Power and Advocacy Leadership

Funding Opportunity and Request for Letters of Interest

Through its Center for Shared Prosperity, Carnegie Mellon University will fund up to—but not to exceed—$75,000 to consultants or nonprofit service providers in Southwestern Pennsylvania to design and pilot training materials that we will use with every Center team as they create plans and launch projects to create social justice in Pittsburgh. This training material should address key topics that empower the planning committee in their efforts to dismantle economic, cultural, social, and structural barriers that prevent under-resourced communities from thriving.

  • Establish approaches and strategies to help C3 teams develop authentic relationships and work in equal partnership with diverse communities.

  • Introduce C3 teams to decision-building models to plan effective meetings, lead collaborative processes, and build commitment for decision implementation. Facilitate a consensus decision-making process, and work with CSP facilitators to establish guidelines for use with C3 teams.

  • Design training to equip all C3 members with a shared understanding of equity, power, advocacy, and organizing.  

  • Collaborate with Center for Shared Prosperity (CSP) facilitators to run a pilot using the above-created tools in concert with C3 project planning and execution.

  • Refine developed materials based on pilot results, then train CSP facilitators to weave successful practices into all upcoming C3 projects. 

  • Synthesize and recommend resources for deeper study of power dynamics (visible, hidden, and invisible power) and dismantling institutional, systemic, and structural inequities for use with the C3 project's launch planning committees and, following launch planning, with all teams that launch each C3 project.

Funding Opportunity Details 

Eligibility

  • Provide documents verifying IRS-approved 501(c)(3) status or have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor

  • Operate within the Southwestern Pennsylvania region

  • Possess a deep understanding of and relationships with communities in the Pittsburgh Region

  • Demonstrate organizational capacity to meet proposal deliverables

  • Display a proven commitment to equity and social justice with prior experience working with organizations of similar size and scope

 

 Request for Proposal Timeline

  • Step 1:    submit a letter of intent (LOI) on October 7 at 5:00 p.m.

  • Step 2:    notify applicants of their status on October 11

  • Step 3:    proposals are due from invited groups on November 8 at 5:00 p.m.

  • Step 4:    interview finalists and contact references from November 28 and 29 

  • Step 5:    notify finalists of their status by December 9

  • Step 6:    issue a contract to the provider by January 2023*

  • Step 7:    anticipate the project to start in January 2023

Guidelines for Submitting Letters of Interest

There is a two-step application process. First, submit a letter of interest outlining how you would design and pilot the required training materials to help the Center. While it is not a formal proposal, the LOI gives CSP a high-level understanding of your work and its alignment with our priorities. Second, we will determine whether to invite your team or organization to submit a formal proposal. 

CSP welcomes submissions from a range of applicants including people of color, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and LGBTQIA+ people. We believe in centering these people in the work we do. Therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or members of other marginalized communities.

Watch the Virtual Information Session

Watch the Zoom information session to learn more about the details details of this opportunity with the Center for Shared Prosperity and answer any questions.  To view the session, click here. Attendance not a requirement to apply. 

Questions: Please email  Marlene J. Williams at  mjw79@andrew.cmu.edu