The Lake Michigan School Food System Innovation Hub supports school and food system leaders who have transformational ideas—but who may not have access to the resources or experience necessary to pursue federal funding opportunities.
That’s why the Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), which convenes the United States Department of Agriculture-funded grant-making initiative, puts the utmost care into reaching applicants all across Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
This effort began with a five-month process to strategically develop the request for applications (RFA). Key to the RFA design was a committee primarily made up of people in the communities the Innovation Hub aimed to reach. Participants included local food producers, a caretaker of a student with low food access, and others. Focusing on shared interests and collaboration, the RFA-Development Committee created two RFAs for the Spark and Innovation Collaborative Awards, releasing the first round of transformative funding in February 2024.
Applicants are invited to submit their materials as written responses or audio files. The Innovation Hub also developed and offered several supports for applicants, such as:
- Recognition and Help from Local Leaders. The Innovation Hub’s State Lead partners play important roles in their state’s food system and school landscapes. They’re, therefore, able to identify strong candidates and, later, support them through the application process. State Leads have helped grant applicants develop project ideas, form and manage partnerships, connect with resources, write their applications, and more.
- Federal Funding Guidance. Many strong candidates may not apply for Innovation Hub funding because they don’t understand federal funding procedures and compliance. To address this, IPHI’s Grants and Contracts Manager set up office hours, offered one-on-one support, and produced a short video to help applicants and eventually grantees navigate the process.
- On-Demand Videos. Understanding that applicants have different levels of knowledge and limited spare time, the Innovation Hub team created 15 short informational videos. The topics covered range from general grant writing tips and best practices to Innovation Hub-specific overviews of application questions and available supports.
- Project Inspiration and Ideas. Interested applicants can browse the Innovation Hub website for lists of inspirations for their projects and ideas to consider. Created by Action for Healthy Kids—the Innovation Hub’s assessment, training, and evaluation partner—these lists are based on a series of interviews with State Leads and focus groups with food system players, school food professionals, and community partners.
- Application Portal Support.To support applicants with varying levels of comfort with technology, IPHI offers online grant application portal office hours. State Leads also helped applicants in their states submit their applications.
- Advance Funding. Typically, food system development grants are structured as reimbursement grants, which can be difficult for smaller schools, farms, and organizations. The Innovation Hub is very proud to have structured Innovation Hub grants to give grantees funding up front, so they always have operating funds on hand to advance their projects.
IPHI works continuously to improve the Innovation Hub’s support offerings for future rounds of funding. Through a series of listening sessions, both regionwide and in each participating state, they heard from applicants and from people who thought about applying for an Innovation Hub grant but did not end up doing so.
Grateful for the thoughtful feedback that will inform the process for the next round of funding, IPHI was also proud to learn that overall, applicants felt well-supported to apply to the RFA.
One participant shared, “I just want to reiterate how much I appreciated the accessibility of this grant. No question felt too stupid, and it didn’t feel like I had to already know how USDA grants work in order to apply. Thank you so much for being so helpful at every stage of the process!”