Deepening Equity in Grantmaking for Comparative and International Education Research: Philanthropic Grant Funding Overview and Grant Writing Workshop

Group Submission Type: Workshop

Description of Session

Bringing program staff and grantees from the Spencer Foundation, Oak Foundation, and the Jacobs Foundation into conversation with researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and other attendees at the 2026 CIES conference, this workshop has two overarching goals: 1) for participants to gain better understanding about the funding priorities and processes of each funder, and where their scholarship might find its best fit, and 2) for foundation staff to learn from participants about how to best support the field.

The first 90 minutes of the workshop will be dedicated to providing insight into the application and review process from both the grant-seeking and grant-making side. Program staff from each foundation will present their approaches to research funding and will consider the implications for comparative and international education scholarship. Grant recipients will draw on their experiences navigating the grant process and provide insights on how we can collectively foster critical research across diverse contexts. Each foundation pair (program staff and grantee) will have 20 minutes to present, and we will reserve 30 minutes for a question and answer session afterwards.

After a brief break, the remainder of the session will be an open coffee hour, where participants can meet with program staff and grantees from all three foundations for informal conversation.

Sub Unit

• Book Launches and Workshops / Workshop

Chair

• Rhoda Freelon, Spencer Foundation

Workshop Organizer

• Jenny F Zhang, The Spencer Foundation

Presenter

• Samuel Kembou, Jacobs Foundation