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Home » Bank of America Mentoring Initiative accepting applications until May 28

Bank of America Mentoring Initiative accepting applications until May 28

Submitted by Administrator on Sat, 05/26/2012 - 21:59

Invitation to Submit Proposal

2012 Bank of America Mentoring Initiative VII

Washington State Mentors (WSM) is seeking applications from Washington mentoring organizations that serve youth from low to moderate income households.  Eligible programs must include workforce education and job preparedness projects and activities that will help youth attain greater self-sufficiency and economic sustainability as adults in their mentoring program.

This is a one-time grant opportunity from the Bank of America Mentoring Initiative.  WSM is a public-private partnership dedicated to building the capacity of mentoring providers across the state. WSM is partnering with the Bank of America Charitable Foundation to support quality mentoring organizations that serve youth from low to moderate income households and foster positive youth development and academic success. 

In 2011, grants averaged $5,000.  Funds will be granted to a variety of mentoring programs and projects that specifically focus on:

  • Programming for middle school and high school students which assists with post-secondary access and college readiness.
  • Post-secondary access/success, job training, and workforce development and/or
  • Youth leadership programs that promote employment and community engagement.

Funds may not be used for events of any kind. In addition to the monetary award, grant recipients may be invited to participate in a celebratory event in your community with Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen. 

Applicants will be scored in groups according to the Bank of America market which they serve.  Bank of America markets are: King County, Northwest Washington, Southwest Washington, and Eastern/Central Washington.  Some restrictions apply. 

Due to the changes in this year’s BAMI guidelines, WSM is requiring that every applicant call to discuss their proposal prior to submission. Inquiry calls should be made to Janet Heubach or Peggy Gray at 425.416.2030.

Who should apply

WSM is inviting all of its members in the eligible counties that include workforce development and job preparedness as part of their mentoring programs to apply.  If you receive this announcement from a colleague, please contact WSM as soon as possible to discuss your eligibility.  Additional application criteria include:

  • At least 51 percent of the youth served must be from low- to moderate- income households.
  • A minimum of one year of successful program operation.
  • Offer workforce development and job preparedness activities as part of the mentoring program.
  • Located in and/or serve youth in one of the following thirteen counties: Benton, Chelan, Franklin, Island, King, Kitsap, Pierce, Skagit, Spokane, Thurston, Whatcom and Yakima counties.
  • Annual mentoring budget under $500,000.

How to Apply

Indicate Intent to Apply:  All applicants are required to contact WSM prior to submitting a proposal.  Prospective applicants must call Janet Heubach or Peggy Gray at 425.416.2030 with their intent to apply no later than May 21st.

Application Deadline (email only): Applicants must submit a completed proposal to Washington State Mentors via email only to jheubach@wamentors.org by 5 p.m., Monday May 28, 2012.

Please scan your complete application including attachments and email only one PDF document with your organization name as file name.  For those who do not have easy access to scanners, please plan accordingly.  Kinko’s and FedEx stores have scanners.

Do not consider your proposal successfully submitted until you have received an email confirmation. 

To apply, an organization also must be a member of Washington State Mentors and must agree to complete a WSM State of Mentoring Survey (www.wamentors.org).  WSM membership is free; it should take no more than five minutes to complete an application.  Membership applications are available in the Membership section of the WSM website (www.wamentors.org).

A completed application must include, in the following order:

Cover sheet

Project narrative (maximum length 3 pages) describing how your program encourages workforce education and job preparedness and how your program activities help youth achieve greater self-sufficiency and economic sustainability as adults.  Include the Use of Grant Funds (Table 1) in the 3 page narrative.

Attachments:

  1. A signed statement on organization letterhead from your executive director:
    1. Indicating that at least 51 percent of the youth served by your program are from low-to-moderate income households.  Please briefly describe the means used to ascertain this figure in that statement.
    2. Verifying that your organization does background checks for all mentors.
  2. Copy of your organization’s IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt determination letter.
  3. 2012 organization budget. If your mentoring program functions under a multi-program organization, e.g., Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration, Volunteers of America, Goodwill Industries, school districts, government agencies, etc. attach your mentoring program budget only.

Award Announcement.   Awards will be announced on the WSM website the week of June 18th.  Successful applicants will be contacted by Washington State Mentors. Non-selects will be notified by email.

Questions about the IFP

We look forward to talking with prospective applicants. Call Janet Heubach or Peggy Gray at 425.416.2030 or email us at jheubach@wamentors.org or pgray@wamentors.org.