***Due to anticipated reductions in federal grant funds for Academic Year 2025-26, this program is currently on pause and we are not accepting applications at this time.***
The Indiana Language Roadmap initiative is offering competitive grants (up to $1,000) annually to support community projects throughout Indiana that align with the priorities of itsstrategic plan. You can learn more about past community projects below.
Applications for the community grants can be submitted online. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed monthly. Please review the application instructions below.
Application notes: You can save and return to your application later, but we recommend you complete your responses in thisMicrosoft Word documentbefore submission, in case there are issues with the website. After submission, you should receive a confirmation email with a PDF attachment containing a copy of your responses.
Such as the Kokomo Chamber of Commerce, or LUNA Language Services, or Jay School Corporation.
Project organizer’s email
This will be our primary method of contact with you, so please make sure it is an email address you use regularly.
Project title
Amount of funding requested
$1,000 maximum
Additional project collaborators
Please include names and affiliations. If you would like any of your collaborators to also receive emails about the project’s status directly from us, you may also include them here.
Description of project
300 words or less. Please describe the main goals and activities of your proposed project.
Intended audience for project
Who will benefit from this project? Please indicate the type of audience (such as K-12 students; community members; or local businesses) as well as the geographic scope of the audience (such as the state of Indiana, the town of Terre Haute, or the counties of X, Y, and Z).
Main outcomes/deliverables from the project
Project timeline
You can upload your timeline in the following formats: Microsoft word document, Microsoft excel sheet, or adobe pdf.
How will you measure success?
Ex. My project will be a success if it reaches 300 students, which can be determined through attendance records.
How does your project support one or more of the Indiana Language Roadmap's priorities?
Please refer to one or more of the specific priorities and their objectives as described in the plan. Check the details of theIndiana Language Roadmap Strategic Plan. For example, "My project addresses Roadmap Priority 4.1 to promote Indiana's global identity by holding a poster competition and printing the winning poster to hang in community venues."
Budget
The overall amount requested in your budget should match the amount of funding requested that you said previously in the application. You are welcome to indicate any additional funding that will support your planned project, such as in-kind support or additional funding (Please note if you are still applying for this funding). Upload your budget using a file format such as Microsoft Word document, Microsoft Excel sheet, or Adobe PDF.
Past Community Projects
About the project: Logansport Community School Corporation (LCSC) has a unique and amazing educational environment because we currently have students from 20+ countries. We would like to initiate positive interactions and collaborations by organizing a "Multicultural Festival;" a platform and a multicultural educational chance not only for LCSC but also for the entire Logansport citizens to have a chance to get to know different cultures. It is essential that we identify and highlight the accomplishments of people from different cultural backgrounds that resemble our citizens, which will make the immigrants feel supported, welcomed, and respected. We are thinking about providing the stage for the performance, the route of the parade, and the booths for displaying the artworks, clothes, pictures, decorations, food, and etc.
Contact: Yi-Chun LeFaure (linyi@lcsc.k12.in.us). Chinese teacher at Logansport High School.
Geographic scope: Logansport.
About the project: The Modern Languages program at Indiana University Southeast received $700 to provide stipends for students majoring in French, German or Spanish who will complete a local international engagement experience (IEE) during the 2020-2021 academic year. We have had an IEE requirement for majors since 2014. Students can fulfill the requirement through study abroad, a research project, or an experience involving linguistic and cultural interaction with local immigrant populations. Students who choose the local IEE may incur costs for transportation or a reduction in pay due to adjusting their work schedules to accommodate volunteer hours. This grant aims to provide support for these students.
Contact: Dr. Mindy E. Badía (mbadia@ius.edu). Professor of Spanish and International Studies.
Geographic scope: Louisville, KY, and southern Indiana (what we call locally "Kentuckiana").
About the project: With this grant our school library will have more available resources for our ELL and Mandarin teachers to help our students gain comprehension through the written language. Students will be able to learn to read fluently in the language they are learning. Their families will also be able to participate in their learning by reading along with them and listening to their child read to them in a different language.
About the project: Ten University of Indianapolis faculty members from different departments, schools, and colleges will join a year-long cohort to learn about comprehensive internationalization and agree to add a globally-themed activity, assignment, project, or unit to one or more of their courses. Over a series of seven meetings, cohort members will learn specific principles of comprehensive internationalization and global education, drawing from global learning resources and successful models developed by the American Association of Colleges & Universities, plus other local and international resources.
Contact: Dr. Karen L. Newman (newmankl@uindy.edu). Department of English and Assistant Director for Fellowships, Ron & Laura Strain Honors College.
Geographic scope: Indiana / integrating global and international perspectives into college-level coursework.
About the project: The Indiana Workplace English Collaborative is a group of Indianapolis-area English language training providers, business leaders, and community partners working together to improve access to workplace English training resources in the region. We will host a workplace English forum this October to identify community and business needs, to better understand the language and cultural needs of immigrant workers, and to learn how successful workplace English classes lead to more communicative employees, more efficient businesses, and stronger communities. Using data and knowledge gained from the forum, we will develop a master plan for implementation of the Indiana Workplace English Collaborative, and we will work with area businesses to conduct workplace English needs assessments and connect those businesses with qualified providers of workplace English training.
Contact: Matthew Hume (mhume@iu.edu). Assistant Director of the International Center for Intercultural Communication at IU Indianapolis.
Geographic scope: Marion and surrounding counties
About the project: The International Center presents Indiana’s first and only professional development series devoted to global leadership. This five-month course will expand participants' cultural knowledge through a collaborative curriculum convened and connected with established and rising global leaders. Each of the five sessions offers a unique theme related to improving global leadership. Participants can expect an overview of cultural competency, insights to global leadership in corporate, humanitarian, and governmental settings, and the opportunity to network with global leaders from across Indiana.
About the project: The Pathway to Literacy project (2021-2022), led by the Immigrant Welcome Center in collaboration with Exodus Refugee Immigration, Indy Reads, and other Adult Basic Education providers in Indianapolis, is focused on meeting a gap in services for the immigrants of our city, namely those who arrive with limited formal schooling and limited literacy skills. The Pathway to Literacy team, which is a cohort of educators, is focused on developing, piloting, and disseminating curricular materials and assessment tools for teachers working with beginning literacy-level adult English language learners. Two 10-week pilot classes occurred in 2020 and 2021, with a third-round beginning in August 2021.
The Adult ELL Pathway to Literacy Initiative (2020-2021) is a collaborative effort between the Immigrant Welcome Center and English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs around Indianapolis to meet the need highlighted in recent immigrant research for English classes for immigrants with limited literacy skills (in English and possibly in their native language). The initiative includes conducting a 10-week online pilot class, starting in August 2020, for beginning literacy-level learners, using level-appropriate assessment methods. The aim of the program is to aid the learners along the literacy pathway, to get them to the starting line of the many wonderful Level 1 Adult Basic Education classes around the city, and to ultimately help them feel more empowered and enabled to thrive in their new city.
Contact: Ginger Kosobucki (gkosobucki62@gmail.com). English Learning Director; English Learning Consultant, Immigrant Welcome Center.
Geographic scope: The project is focused on the immigrant population of the Indianapolis metro area (including Marion County and surrounding counties), with the future potential of expanding beyond Indianapolis to other immigrant communities around the state.
About the project: We will provide education on Alzheimer's Disease and other dementias in Spanish. We seek to partner with community organizations with a large number of constituents who are Spanish language speakers. We will also provide a community forum to listen to the needs of people and help shape the future of our programs.
Contact: Stephanie Laskey (stlaskey@alz.org). Program Director, Alzheimer's Association Greater Indiana Chapter.
Geographic scope: 73 counties in the state of Indiana.
About the project: We are using the Latino Family Literacy Project resources to increase early college awareness and family reading routines. The project engages parents in reading with their children, reflects the experiences of Latino families, and is centered around universal themes. We are using the project's built-in evaluation process to measure the success of what the parents learned in class and identify parents who could take a leadership role in the project in the future.
Contact: Rachel Sever (rsever@msdwt.k12.in.us). ENL Coordinator at MSD Washington Township.
Geographic scope: MSD Washington Township, Marion County, Indianapolis, IN.
About the project: The Indianapolis Sister Cities Teacher and Student Outreach Committee (TASOC) identified three local-global champions for student-led interviews that would be recorded and ultimately uploaded to the TASOC website. The interviews included former Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard; Raju Chinthala, Founding President of Hyderabad-Indianapolis, Sister City Partnership and President, Indiana-India Business Council; and Zeno Tutino, President of the Indianapolis-Monza Sister City Committee, Honorary Consul of Italy in Indiana. The TASOC organizes a biennial conference, and in June 2020 the Global Connections in Action Conference included our first global champion interview as the first plenary session. The second and third interviews were included in presentations at the Indiana Sister Cities Symposium in September and the Indiana Council for the Social Studies conference in October.
Contact: Susan Tomlinson (susan.tomlinson.tasoc@gmail.com). President, Indianapolis Sister Cities Teacher and Student Outreach Committee.
Geographic scope: The student-led interviews were conducted by Indianapolis high school students. The three conferences were online, so in addition to attendees from throughout Indiana, there was participation from multiple states and countries.
About the project: We provided Spanish language tutoring for students attending a dual immersion Spanish/ English program. These students engaged in virtual learning in our facilities with help from our Spanish-speaking staff.
Learn about projects around the state that are supporting our multilingual and multicultural Indiana Hoosiers, network with others, and discuss how we can strengthen our globally connected communities.
Funding Available for High School Student Language Assessment Fees
***Due to anticipated reductions in federal grant funds for Academic Year 2025-26, this program is currently on pause and we are not accepting applications at this time.***
Teachers can fill out the nomination form at: go.iu.edu/8qXV
The funding will cover the exam fees of selected students who are planning to obtain Indiana’s Certificate of Multilingual Proficiency. Teachers may nominate more than one student, but preference will be given to students taking proficiency exams for less commonly taught languages, with financial need, and from a variety of school districts. Your school must be able to award Indiana's Certificate of Multilingual Proficiency.
Funding is provided by Indiana University's U.S. Department of Education designated National Resource Centers.
Contact lroadmap@iu.edu with questions about the nomination application or funding.
IU Global