Kentucky Workforce Development Grants

The 2024 States’ Economic Development Assistance Program (SEDAP), announced by the Delta Regional Authority (DRA), seeks applications for grants to target federal resources toward communities in the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions. With a focus on economically distressed counties and parishes, SEDAP aims to invest in community-based and regional projects across four congressionally mandated funding categories: basic public infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, business development with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, and workforce development. The program is designed to encourage job creation, regional collaboration, and funding partnerships, leveraging a total of $16,930,642, allocated across the eight-state DRA region with awards ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 depending on project type and application score.

This grant provides financial support ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 to small businesses owned by minorities, women, and veterans in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties in Northern Kentucky, helping them with various business improvement expenses.

This initiative provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations, local governments, and Tribal governments in coal-impacted communities to develop and scale innovative economic projects that create job opportunities and foster local economic transformation.

This funding opportunity provides $50,000 to nonprofit or quasi-government agencies in Kentucky with experience in treating opioid and stimulant use disorders to implement programs that incentivize recovery-oriented behaviors through positive reinforcement strategies.

CJI’s Leadership Circle is soliciting proposals from grassroots organizations led by formerly incarcerated and directly impacted individuals. The program aims to transform and reimagine the U.S. criminal legal system by building alternative community-based solutions and organizing to prevent the criminalization of marginalized identities and communities. This initiative directly aligns with CJI's mission to support meaningful, transformative, and systemic change within the criminal legal system, empowering future leaders who have often experienced incarceration themselves. The foundation's strategic priority is to support movement-building organizing that creates a new world, a "world they demand NOW." The target beneficiaries are formerly incarcerated individuals and directly impacted people, including primary family members, as well as marginalized groups within their communities (e.g., poor, houseless, young, elders, queer, trans, people with mental illness, people with disabilities). The program's impact goals include ending mass criminalization and incarceration, creating safe and healthy communities that do not rely on arrest and incarceration, and re-establishing rights and access for those formerly incarcerated or newly criminalized. The Leadership Circle's theory of change emphasizes shared authority among donors and community organizers, many of whom have lived experience with incarceration, to drive systemic change. The program prioritizes several key areas. This includes building alternatives to traditional carceral systems, investing in approaches that end mass criminalization, creating policies to reform and dismantle repressive legal systems, and uplifting the leadership and experience of those affected by the criminal legal system. Other focuses include re-establishing rights for formerly incarcerated individuals, promoting transformative and restorative justice, and supporting culturally appropriate healing programs connected to the criminal justice movement. CJI also has specific funding preferences for organizations led by formerly incarcerated individuals, groups operating in difficult political environments, those developing new leaders from marginalized backgrounds, and work addressing discrimination against incarcerated or detained people, particularly in the South, Indian country, and other rural areas. Expected outcomes and measurable results include the development of community-based interventions, changes in policies and institutions (like parole and probation), and a demonstrable commitment to systems change through organizing. The program seeks to empower new leaders, particularly from marginalized communities, and foster innovative collaborations among diverse organizations. While specific quantitative metrics are not provided in the description, the emphasis on "movement-building organizing" and "achieving systems change" suggests that the success will be measured by the demonstrable impact on criminal legal system reform and the empowerment of affected communities. CJI is particularly committed to supporting smaller, emerging organizations with budgets of $1 million or less, indicating a focus on grassroots impact and capacity building.

This grant provides funding to under-resourced communities in the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions to develop strategic plans that address local economic development challenges.

This funding opportunity supports innovative projects that improve employment outcomes for individuals with disabilities in states with historically low participation rates, encouraging collaboration and sustainable solutions.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to organizations in the Appalachian region for projects that promote economic diversification and workforce development in communities impacted by coal industry job losses.

This grant provides funding to nonprofit organizations in Lexington, Kentucky, that are working to improve housing access and prevent homelessness in the community.

This program provides funding to small, community-based organizations in Cincinnati to address local challenges such as homelessness, food security, and youth development through impactful initiatives and collaborative efforts.

This initiative provides training and funding opportunities for nonprofit organizations in the Appalachian region to strengthen their operations and better serve their communities.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to local nonprofit organizations serving residents of Henderson City and County for various community programs, excluding religious activities and event funding.

This funding opportunity provides financial support to nonprofit organizations in Louisville/Jefferson County that promote and sustain arts and cultural programs, enhancing community engagement and accessibility to the arts.

This program provides funding to nonprofit organizations and government entities for planning and feasibility projects that revitalize neglected urban areas within Duke Energy's service territories, promoting job creation and commercial redevelopment.

This funding opportunity supports projects in the Appalachian region that help individuals recovering from substance use disorders gain access to job training and employment services, fostering sustainable recovery and economic independence.

This funding opportunity supports nonprofit organizations in Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky, that provide programs aimed at reducing homelessness, enhancing financial stability, and increasing access to resources for targeted populations.

This grant provides $25,000 in funding and support to early-stage businesses in the Louisville area that are focused on innovation and economic development.