The Mind Trust opens application for Talent Innovation Fund
Funding seeks to support implementation of creative solutions to talent recruitment and retention challenge in Indianapolis schools.
Indianapolis – (March 3, 2020) – The Mind Trust, an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit organization, is now accepting applications for the Talent Innovation Fund, an award designed to address the challenge of recruiting and retaining high-performing talent in Indianapolis. Districts, individual schools, school networks, or organizations serving students in Indianapolis’ Center Township may apply for funding that will support the implementation of innovative strategies to enhance the city’s education talent pool. The Talent Innovation Fund is part of The Mind Trust’s strategy to support great schools by developing and sustaining a pipeline of high-performing, diverse instructional talent.
“This is a unique opportunity for Indianapolis school leaders and educators to implement creative ideas to develop and retain high-performing teachers,” said Sara Marshall, Senior Director of Talent at The Mind Trust. “We are excited to find and support locally-created solutions that can help solve the talent challenge in our city.”
Initiatives or programs supported by the Talent Innovation Fund will address the need for Indianapolis schools to recruit and retain excellent instructional talent, provide opportunities for development of current instructional staff, and increase diversity of instructional staff to better reflect student demographics.
Often, when efforts to address teacher recruitment, development, and retention are created, they are removed from classroom-level connections. The Talent Innovation Fund seeks to support initiatives that stem from local knowledge and experience and can be key drivers in strengthening the city’s education talent pool.
“Highly effective educators are essential to great schools,” said Brandon Brown, CEO of The Mind Trust. “We are excited to see what ideas local schools and organizations put forward to help Indianapolis schools recruit and retain gifted educators.”
About the application. The Talent Innovation Fund application is open from Tuesday, March 3, 2020 to Friday, April 3, 2020. Applicants may be from an individual school or from a local district, school network, or organization that serves K-12 students. School applicants may be from Indianapolis Public Schools, IPS Innovation Network Schools, or charter schools within Center Township.
Funding decisions will be announced by Friday, May 22, 2020 with implementation occurring during the course of the 2020-2021 school year. Click here for more information and for links to applications.
For more information about the application and selection process, please contact Sara Marshall at smarshall@themindtrust.org.
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About The Mind Trust
The Mind Trust is an Indianapolis-based education nonprofit organization that works to build a system of schools that gives every student in Indianapolis, no exceptions, access to a high-quality education. The Mind Trust does this by building a supportive environment for schools through policy and community engagement, empowering talented educators to launch new schools, and providing existing schools with the support they need to hire world-class talent and achieve excellence. Since 2006, The Mind Trust has supported the launch of 29 schools and helped place more than 1,500 teachers and school leaders in Indianapolis classrooms. More information can be found at themindtrust.org.