Futuros Campesinos Grant - Request for Proposals Application
The UC Merced Community and Labor Center conducts research and education on community, labor, and environmental issues in the San Joaquin Valley and beyond. The Center’s Future of Farmwork Program strives to transform agricultural work into a safe, fair, sustainable, and prosperous field. The Futuros Campesinos grant will further this goal by enabling farmworker-serving organizations to design and strengthen education and training programs serving for farmworkers at risk of displacement and ineligible to receive support through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (hereafter "excluded farmworkers").
California’s agricultural workers are confronting unprecedented challenges despite having few citizenship or worker protections. In recent years, California’s agricultural sector has faced disruptions due to a changing climate, including droughts, wildfires, floods, and excessive heat. Farmworkers also face displacement due to increased automation which is changing the nature of farm work while eliminating jobs. The result has been historic disruptions to farm work and employment that will only increase as the climate changes and some farming operations transition to automated farming practices.
The Futuros Campesinos Grant Program is designed to build the capacity of organizations that serve and support excluded farmworkers to develop and build high-road training programs that increase excluded farmworkers’ access to education, skills, and employment opportunities. All grant recipients will participate in a UC Merced Community and Labor Center-led workshop series to learn about excluded farmworker engagement best-practices, high-road economic development, popular education models, and strategies for addressing the unique employment barriers that excluded workers face. The grant program will also provide funding for qualified organizations to design and/or implement training and education programs for excluded farmworkers.
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Funding Tiers
Organizations may apply for funding under one of three tiers.
- Tier 1 – Up to $50,000 (Capacity-building awards): For organizations developing internal capacity around training programs and outreach to excluded farmworkers. Funding will support participation in the workshop series, staff training, the development of materials, and outreach activities.
- Tier 2 – Up to $100,000 (Planning and development awards): For organizations designing new employment and training programs that serve excluded farmworkers and are seeking targeted development support. Funding will support participation in the workshop series, staff training, the development of materials, outreach activities, needs assessments, curriculum development, planning activities, and supportive services.
- Tier 3 – Up to $150,000 (Implementation awards): For organizations ready to implement or expand comprehensive, worker-centered employment and training programs that directly serve excluded farmworkers. Funding will support participation in the workshop series, staff training, the development of materials, outreach activities, program costs, and supportive services for program participants.
Click Here to download Futuros Campesinos Grant Guidelines and Application
