• Applications from individuals will be accepted July 25 – September 21, 2022 (5:00 PM CST). Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals within 6 weeks of the deadline.
• Individuals can apply for grants of up to $5,000. No matching funds are required.
• Accessibility Fund: Applicants also can choose to request an additional stipend of up to $250 for services such as American Sign Language interpretation or captioning to help make events more accessible to everyone.
• Please use the location-specific application. Select the proposal that aligns with where your organization is based, regardless of where programming takes place. Illinois Humanities is committed to geographic diversity and equitably serving the entire state.

• Grants will be awarded to individuals for projects anywhere in Illinois. In order to continue strengthening partnerships developed through Envisioning Justice programming, individuals from the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply: East St. Louis, Decatur, Carbondale, Galesburg, Urbana-Champaign, and the Bloomington-Normal Metro Area. However, grants will not be limited to these communities. All individuals across the state are encouraged to apply.
• Applicants for this category include, but are not limited to: artists, humanists, community organizers, policy makers, journalists, and community advocates.
• Organizations must be non-profits with either 501(c)3 status or as designated by the State of Illinois. For-profit groups are not eligible. However, a for-profit organization might be a partner in a collaboration
• Priority will be given to projects that are regional or statewide in scope, or that focus on communities that are a) the site of a prison or jail, b) include communities that are experiencing significant incarceration, and/or c) that have experienced significant demographic change as a result of the criminal legal system.
• All selected grantees will be asked to report to Illinois Humanities on grant-funded activities; provide text, photos, audio, and/or video reporting; let Illinois Humanities know of grant-funded events at least a week in advance; be willing to participate in a survey during the grant period; and to work with Illinois Humanities on evaluation, if requested.

• Applications will be accepted from July 25 – September 21, 2022 (5:00 PM CST). Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals within 6 weeks of the deadline.
• Organizations can apply for grants up to $6,000. No matching funds are required.
• Accessibility Fund: Applicants also can choose to request an additional stipend of up to $250 for services such as American Sign Language interpretation or captioning to help make events more accessible to everyone.
• Please use the location-specific application. Select the proposal that aligns with where your organization is based, regardless of where programming takes place. Illinois Humanities is committed to geographic diversity and equitably serving the entire state.

• Grants will be awarded to projects led by organizations anywhere in Illinois. In order to continue strengthening partnerships developed through Envisioning Justice programming, organizations from the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply: East St. Louis, Decatur, Carbondale, Galesburg, Urbana-Champaign, and the Bloomington-Normal Metro Area. However, grants will not be limited to these communities. All organizations across the state are encouraged to apply.
• Applicants for this category include, but are not limited to: humanities, arts, and cultural organizations, community-based organizations, social-service agencies, support-service providers who work with currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, and youth media groups.
• Organizations must be non-profits with either 501(c)3 status or as designated by the State of Illinois. For-profit groups are not eligible.
• Priority will be given to: initiatives that are regional or statewide in scope, or that focus on communities that are a) the site of a prison or jail, b) include communities that are experiencing significant incarceration, and/or c) that have experienced significant demographic change as a result of the criminal legal system.
• All selected grantees will be asked to report to Illinois Humanities on grant-funded activities; provide text, photos, audio, and/or video reporting; let Illinois Humanities know of grant-funded events at least a week in advance; be willing to participate in a survey during the grant period; and to work with Illinois Humanities on evaluation, if requested.

• Applications from partnering organizations will be accepted July 25 – September 21, 2022 (5:00 PM CST). Applicants will be notified of the status of their proposals within 6 weeks of the deadline.
• Partnering organizations can apply for grants of up to $12,000. No matching funds are required.
• The application should be submitted to the portal by the lead agency in the partnership (i.e., the one that would receive and administer funds).
• Accessibility Fund: Applicants also can choose to request an additional stipend of up to $250 for services such as American Sign Language interpretation or captioning to help make events more accessible to everyone.
• Please use the location-specific application. Select the proposal that aligns with where your organization is based, regardless of where programming takes place. Illinois Humanities is committed to geographic diversity and equitably serving the entire state.

• These grants will be awarded to partnering organizations for projects anywhere in Illinois. To continue strengthening partnerships developed through Envisioning Justice programming, organizations from the following areas are particularly encouraged to apply: East St. Louis, Decatur, Carbondale, Galesburg, Urbana-Champaign, and the Bloomington-Normal Metro Area. However, grants will not be limited to these communities. All organizations across the state are encouraged to apply.
• Applicants for this category include, but are not limited to: humanities, arts, and cultural organizations, community-based organizations, social-service agencies, support-service providers who work with currently and formerly incarcerated individuals, and youth media groups.
• Organizations must be non-profits with either 501(c)3 status or as designated by the State of Illinois. For-profit groups are not eligible. However, a for-profit organization might be a partner in a collaboration
• Priority will be given to: initiatives that are regional or statewide in scope, or that focus on communities that are a) the site of a prison or jail, b) include communities that are experiencing significant incarceration, and/or c) that have experienced significant demographic change as a result of the criminal legal system.
• All selected grantees will be asked to report to Illinois Humanities on grant-funded activities; provide text, photos, audio, and/or video reporting; let Illinois Humanities know of grant-funded events at least a week in advance; be willing to participate in a survey during the grant period; and to work with Illinois Humanities on evaluation, if requested.

Simply submit an application using the form within the Cook County or non-Cook County portal depending on your geographic location. Select the Envisioning Justice grant category you are interested in applying for: individual, organization, or organizational partnership.  You will be asked to describe who you are, what you plan to do, how you plan to carry it out, and how support from Illinois Humanities would help make it possible. If you’d like feedback in advance, we encourage you to contact us with questions or ideas no later than 2 weeks before the stated grant deadlines.

Individuals, non-profit/tax-exempt organizations, and collectives seeking funding for projects addressing mass incarceration and/or various topics that bring forth possibilities for a more just society. This is intentionally open-ended as we understand the complexity of mass incarceration and the compounding issues that expand its reach and ongoing harm to marginalized communities. For-profit entities are not eligible for these grants.

Grant opportunities are available for projects that take place in Illinois. Illinois Humanities is committed to equity in how funds are dispersed across the state, and geographic diversity will be a priority in our selection process.

Organizational partnership funds are meant for collaborative projects and programs involving at least two organizations where all parties are actively engaged in the development, planning, and implementation stages. For your proposal to qualify, you must make it clear how each partner is critical to one or more component of your project or program in your application.

Note: Venue space does not qualify unless the partner also has an integral role in shaping the public program.

No. Illinois Humanities is actively working to ensure that Envisioning Justice is an ongoing program offered through our organization with grant-making as a critical component.

Yes, you can apply to more than one category, with a maximum of two in this round. However, you can only be awarded one Envisioning Justice grant at any given time. Recipients of Community Grants, Activate History, and COVID-19 Emergency Relief and Recovery grants are eligible.

Illinois Humanities is overseeing this grants program, and an advisory committee consisting of staff and outside advisors from across Illinois has been assembled to assess applications.

The humanities are the examination of what it means to be human through the interpretation and discussion of all forms of thought, interest and expression. While we value traditional humanities disciplines, such as art history, literature, languages, law, history, and philosophy, our emphasis is on the public humanities, which means that we look at the humanities as more than an academic discipline.

For us, the public humanities are a mode of inquiry and conversation that aims to engage, support, or challenge the ideals, beliefs, tensions, and prejudices of the communities in which we live. We believe that important thought can happen outside of the academy – in neighborhood institutions, schools, churches, and at kitchen tables across the country. We are especially interested in instances of the public humanities that promote civic engagement – in raising critical issues facing everyday people and conducted with the hope of increasing their desire for staying engaged. Rather than being defined by rigid disciplinary boundaries, it is the humanistic lens, which emphasizes curiosity, questioning, and dialogue, that matters most to us.