Team PA Best Places to Work in PA program

The Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania is a program that benefits both employers and employees. Employees from around the world can use the listing as a tool to find their next employer while employers use the survey to increase employee retention, refine corporate policy and ultimately boost profits.

The competition for a coveted spot on the 2012 list of the 100 Best Places to Work in Pennsylvania has officially opened. Nominations for these valuable awards are now being accepted online at www.bestplacestoworkinpa.com.

State Farm grants open

[from Philanthropy News Digest]
The State Farm Youth Advisory Board, a philanthropic program of State Farm, is accepting applications for youth service-learning projects designed to create sustainable local change in communities across the United States and Canada.

Each year through the program, thirty high school and college-aged youth oversee the granting of $5 million for student-led service-learning projects in the U.S. and the provinces of Alberta, New Brunswick, and Ontario in Canada. The board members research pertinent social issues, review grant applications, and ultimately decide the grant winners.

Projects must be designed to address the root cause of the following issues: access to higher education/closing the achievement gap, financial literacy, community safety and natural disaster preparedness, social health and wellness, and environmental responsibility.

Applicant organizations must be a K-12 public or charter school, or institution of higher education. Nonprofit organizations also are eligible if they are able to demonstrate how they plan to impact student achievement within the public K-12 curriculum.

Grants will range from $25,000 to $100,000. For complete program guidelines and the online grant application, visit the State Farm Youth Advisory Board Web site.

Contact:
Link to Complete RFP

SBIR grants open

Description

The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program stimulates technological innovation in the private sector by strengthening the role of small business concerns in meeting Federal research and development needs, increasing the commercial application of federally supported research results, and fostering and encouraging participation by socially and economically disadvantaged and women-owned small businesses.The SBIR program solicits proposals from the small business sector consistent with NSF's mission. The program is governed by Public Law 112-81 (SBIR/STTR Reauthorization Act of 2011). A main purpose of the legislation is to stimulate technological innovation and increase private sector commercialization. The NSF SBIR program is therefore in a unique position to meet both the goals of NSF and the purpose of the SBIR legislation by transforming scientific discovery into both social and economic benefit, and by emphasizing private sector commercialization. Accordingly, NSF has formulated broad solicitation topics for SBIR that conform to the high-technology investment sector's interests.The four broad topics are: · Biological and Chemical Technologies (BC) · Education Applications (EA) · Electronics, Information and Communication Technologies (EI) · Nanotechnology, Advanced Materials, and Manufacturing (NM)For detailed description of the four topics reference section V. Proposal Preparation and Submission Instructions, A.10. Research Topic. 

Link to Full Announcement

NSF Publication 12-548

National Transitional Jobs Conference Scheduled for April 12 -13 in Baltimore

The 2012 National Transitional Jobs Conference will be held on April 12 – 13 in Baltimore, Maryland.

The conference organizers note: 

"In 2011, six new federal funding opportunities were made available to support transitions to employment for America's most vulnerable jobseekers through subsidized employment and transitional jobs. Subsidized employment and transitional jobs demonstration projects being run by these federal agencies will shape the future of interventions and funding for employment services for the hardest to employ for many decades to come. Join us at the 2012 conference to learn more about how federal agencies are supporting subsidized employment and transitional jobs, agency priorities in the coming year and how hard to employ jobseekers fit into their efforts." 

The conference is designed to provide information about various city, state and federal efforts to support transitions to work and advancement for low-income, hard to employ individuals.   Speakers will address these issues of interest to the workforce community:  

• Federal funding that can support transitions to employment and advancement for low-income, hard to employ individuals.
  
• Serving the employment and workforce development needs of people with criminal records and/or those returning from incarceration, youth, veterans, non-custodial parents, people experiencing homelessness, low-income, older adults and others who face challenges to getting and keeping employment. 
  
• Jumpstarting or advancing your city or state's investment and support of employment and advancement strategies for low-income, hard to employ individuals

National Transitional Jobs Network Website

National Transitional Jobs Network Conference

Conference Agenda

Registration

Hotel Information  (The discounted room rate is available until March 25)

Town Hall mtg

Join us at a Town Hall Meeting

If the reduction in state funding for education, health and human services is an issue that is important to you, we strongly encourage you to attend a Town Hall Meeting on Wednesday, March 28th at the Blasco Library in the Hirt Auditorium. Registration is at 1 p.m. The program is from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

United Way of Erie County, the Nonprofit Partnership and the Erie Community Foundation invite you to learn more about the Commonwealth's proposed fiscal year 2012 budget including the "block grant" approach to funding human services at the county level. The discussion will also include strategies that local nonprofits can employ to withstand anticipated reductions in funding that directly affect our neighbors in need.

Joining us will be Tony Ross, President of United Way of Pennsylvania, and a representative from Gov. Tom Corbett's administration. United Way of PA has taken the lead on the state budget issue, hosting a series of town hall meetings across the state in 2011 and again this year. The Erie town hall meeting is one of eight being held across the state in March and April.

In addition, Bob Wooler, Director of The Nonprofit Partnership, will moderate a panel discussion that includes the following panelists:
• Jonathan Evans, President/CEO of Safe Harbor Behavioral Health
• Shari Gross, Director, Erie County Department of Human Services
• Michele Zieziula,CEO, Northwest PA Workforce Investment Board
• Dr. Bob Light, Senior Assoc. Dean for Research, Graduate Studies and Outreach, Penn State Erie
• Patrick Herr, Associate Director, Community Shelter Services

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Mike Jaruszewicz at 814.456.2937 ×227.
In advance of the town hall meeting, you may want to read a recent op-ed piece written by Shari Gross entitled "State cuts of social programs could be 'catastrophic.'" Here is the link.

Nonprofit Training Resource Fund

[from Philanthropy News Digest] The TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A., is accepting grant applications for the Non-Profit Training Resource Fund.

The Non-Profit Training Resource Fund provides donations to support job training, education, and growth opportunities for employees of nonprofit organizations. Grants will be awarded to eligible organizations for employees to attend approved classes and courses that will enhance their job performance. In 2012, the program will award a total of $200,000 in grants. Organizations will be eligible to receive no more than $1,000 per calendar year. Grant amounts are to cover tuition only.

To be eligible, organizations must be tax-exempt under IRS Code 501(c)(3) and not be classified as a private foundation, and must be located within a TD Bank, N.A. market area. Applicants must have a mission/focus that promotes one of the following: affordable housing for low- to moderate-income individuals; increased economic (small business) development; financial literacy for low- and moderate-income youth, individuals, or families; and afterschool or extracurricular programming for low- and moderate-income children.

Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed monthly. Visit the TD Bank Web site for complete program guidelines and the application form. Link to Complete RFP

Youth offender grant open

DOL announces availability of $20 million for grants to help young offenders gain career skills and rejoin community life

03/15/2012 12:30 PM EDT

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of approximately $20 million in grant funds to provide employment-related training and support services to youth who have been involved in the juvenile justice system. The purpose of these grants is to improve the long-term labor market prospects for former offenders, ages 14 and older, in high-poverty, high-crime areas by focusing on training for in-demand industries and occupations within their communities.

Calvert Foundation Launches Campaign to Advance Women's Economic Empowerment

The Calvert Foundation has announced the launch of the Women INvesting in Women INitiative (WIN-WIN), which will invest at least $20 million in high-impact organizations and projects worldwide that create opportunities for women lacking access to traditional credit and funding sources.

Women represent nearly half the nation's top wealth holders and control some $20 trillion in spending globally. WIN-WIN will work to leverage that capital and mobilize women investors as lead providers of capital to the fund. A lead grant of $1 million from the Citi Foundation will enable Calvert to deploy funds to microfinance institutions and community development financial institutions that are investing in women-focused small businesses and critical services that affect low-income women and their families.

"Investment in the ingenuity and ambition of women is critical if we hope to have any success as a more equitable global society," said Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit. "Expanding financial inclusion and fostering innovation are both central to Citi's mission, and the WIN-WIN program embodies both of these core commitments. The Citi Foundation's support of this cutting-edge Calvert Foundation initiative will provide critical financing with the power to advance economic opportunity for underserved women around the world. "

“Calvert Foundation, With Grant Support From the Citi Foundation, Launches Groundbreaking $20 Million Campaign to Advance Women's Economic Empowerment Globally.” Calvert Foundation Press Release 3/08/12.

Getting the Most from Your University Partnerships

Thursday, April 19, 2012 - 9:00 to 11:00 am, Cathedral of St. Paul, 134 West 7th Street, Erie.

Presented by The Nonprofit Partnership and Gannon University.

Strong partnerships between local universities and nonprofits have never been more important. Nonprofits need the expertise, resources, and student energy that institutions of higher education bring while the universities themselves are increasingly community-minded and are seeking high quality service and learning opportunities for students and faculty. This session will offer an overview of the various types of experiential education that ties the two together: community service, service learning, internships, work-study, and community-based research. We will also focus on sharing practical tips on how to design and structure learning partnerships that work for all partners. While the session will be based on Gannon opportunities, the take-aways are universal and will help to maximize value with unversity partnerships everywhere. Following the workshop, attendees will be invited to take part in the remainder of Celebrate Gannon with mass, lunch, and a showcase of community-based student projects.

For more info: http://www.thenonprofitpartnership.org

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YouthBuild Grants

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA), U.S. Department of Labor (DOL, or the Department), announces the availability of approximately $75 million in grant funds authorized by the YouthBuild provisions of the Workforce Investment Act [29 USC 2918a]. YouthBuild grants will be awarded through a competitive process. Under this solicitation, DOL will award grants to organizations to oversee the provision of education, occupational skills training, and employment services to disadvantaged youth in their communities while performing meaningful work and service to their communities. Based on FY 2012 funding, DOL hopes to serve approximately 5,210 participants during the grant period of performance, with projects operating in approximately 75 communities across the country. 

Link to Full Announcement

DOLETA Find Grants

Job readiness, financial education for Domestic Violence survivors

If you did not receive funding from The Allstate Foundation in 2011, they are currently accepting Letters of Intent (LOI) in the areas of Teen Safe Driving and Financial Empowerment for Domestic Violence Survivors. The Allstate Foundation is NOT accepting unsolicited requests for other programming. Online LOI are due by March 30.  After review of your LOI, you will be notified by April 16 if your organization will be invited to submit a full grant application. If invited, full applications will be due by June 1.

Please note, The Allstate Foundation will only have one grant cycle in 2012. To submit a LOI, please use one of the following links:

·         LOI Form for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations

·         LOI Form for municipalities (city, state or federal government entities)

·          

This application is for non-renewal applicants only. If your organization received a grant from The Allstate Foundation in 2011, you may be contacted by your Allstate relationship manager by March 1 to submit a full proposal by June 1.  If your proposal is time-sensitive, please contact your relationship manager directly.

Domestic Violence
The Allstate Foundation offers grants that provide financial education, job readiness and job training, matched savings, and other financial empowerment tools to help domestic violence survivors build their financial independence and stay free from violence. Learn more about the funding guidelines for this Allstate Foundation priority program.

DOL TAA Training Grants Program

The U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) announces the availability of up to $500 million in grant funds to be awarded under the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grants program. The TAACCCT grants program provides eligible institutions of higher education, as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), with funds to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs that can be completed in two years or less, and are suited for workers who are eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) for Workers Program ("TAA-eligible workers") of the Trade Act of 1974 (as amended) 19 U.S.C. 2271-2323, as well as other adults. Eligible institutions may be located in the 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or the U.S. territories; however, the competitiveness of institutions in the U.S. territories under this SGA may be impacted by their limited opportunity to serve TAA-eligible workers. The Department intends to fund multi-year grants to eligible institutions for either developing new education and career training program strategies or for replicating existing evidence-based design, development, and/or delivery strategies for such programs. 

Link to Full Announcement

DOLETA Find Grants