Trellis Foundation is pleased to announce our December 2021 grant awards totaling $645,057 to support critical efforts aimed at understanding student needs to reduce postsecondary disparities. Awarded grantees seek to identify strategies and tools to reduce postsecondary barriers, improve equity of student outcomes, and increase policymakers’ understanding of the challenges Texans are facing in education and the workforce.

  • $299,057 to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) to develop and implement strategic financial frameworks, tools, and models to sustain the long-term financial and operational adoption of student success initiatives like Guided Pathways and Tackling Transfer. NACUBO will specifically bring together higher education Chief Business Officers to produce resources that will transform how institutions prioritize their use of financial and operating practices to reduce barriers to student success and improve equitable student outcomes.
  • $200,000 to Project MALES to develop and implement a research-in-action partnership between Project MALES/Texas Education Consortium for Male Students of Color and postsecondary institutions in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley (RGV). With a particular focus on the disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this partnership aims to address the ongoing and persisting challenges faced by male students of color in the South Texas and RGV region to improve their educational outcomes.
  • $75,000 to Texas 2036 to support their Aim Hire Texas initiative, a statewide consortium of advocates, employers, nonprofit organizations, and education and training providers working to improve the Texas workforce system. Through coalition-building, Aim Hire Texas seeks to identify strategies to align education and workforce training to boost more Texans into successful careers through research, analysis, and policy interventions for 2023 and beyond.
  • $71,000 to Higher Learning Advocates to support the launch of a student ambassadors program for postsecondary students to participate in advocacy and educational training on discrete higher education policy issues. The program aims to bridge the gap between the stories and lived experiences of students and federal policymaking by advancing student voices and equipping students with the tools and resources needed to engage in the federal policymaking process.

About Trellis Foundation

Trellis Foundation advances equitable educational opportunities in Texas by supporting postsecondary programs, practices and systems that reduce disparities and lead to success for low-income students and students of color. More information is available www.trellisfoundation.org.