Mentor Kansas, in partnership with the Kansas Volunteer Commission, is proud to announce a new mini-grant opportunity to help volunteer and mentor organizations in Kansas build their capacity around social justice.
Mentor Kansas and the Commission strive to increase power, representation, and agency among historically marginalized communities. We believe in the fair treatment of all people in a society, including respect for the rights of and equitable distribution of resources among members of a community.
The Social Justice Capacity Building mini-grant focuses on initiatives or projects that support social justice and addresses one of the following:
- - Access, Inclusion and participation in all programs, services and opportunities.
- - Empowerment of individuals and communities to voice what is most important to them.
- - Action to recognize injustice and navigate differences of power, privilege and oppression.
Funding highlights:
- - Guidelines are available here
- - Application available here as an MS Word Document
- - Grant applications are due December 16, 2021 at 5:00 PM
- - Grant period is from January 1 - June 30, 2022
- - For other questions, email Paula Smith at psmith@ksde.org
ONLINE COURSE ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
The Kansas Volunteer Commission presents five Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) learning sessions intended to provide participants with an introduction to DEI concepts and vocabulary. The course developed by Dr. Bongi Wenyika, addresses the following topics: History, Immigration, Assumptions and Myths About What is American; Definition, Dimension and Types of Diversity; Dynamics of Inequality; Understanding Disability by Challenging Ableism Through Inclusive Practices; Raising Awareness of LGBTQIA Challenges in Communities.
The DEI course will open in Google Classroom on March 29th and participants will have access for one year. This is an on-demand course that participants can progress through at their own pace.
Each learning session in the course will have a pre-recorded video and a workbook in Google Classroom. The workbooks will contain: activities to be completed while following along with each video; homework and reflective activities to help participants think about what they have learned; resource lists for further learning around each topic.
In addition, the Google Classroom will have a general DEI resource library with resources that are not specific to the course but are relevant to DEI work and learning.
The cost for the entire five-part DEI course is $25. Once registered, invoices will be sent the Friday following the registration date. Invoices must be paid before access to the course will be granted. Credit cards are not accepted. Scholarships are available upon request.
If you have questions, please email Meg Pearson at mpearson@ksde.org.
