Seed Grant Program - Recommended Proposals, Spring 2024 Cycle
| Organization | TITLE | REGION SERVED | PROJECT DESCRIPTION | THEMES | AMOUNT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) | Vermont Local Government Institute | Statewide | This program helps new and mid-career managers, assistant managers, and department supervisors, even career-changers new to local government gain the essentials skills to lead their teams and support their communities. | Policy & Governance | $55,000 |
| Vermont Academy of Science and Engineering (VASE) | STEM Mentors in Rural Communities | Statewide | VASE would like to partner with UVM to support rural communities that do not have the local resources and/or know-how to support STEM activities in these underserved regions. | Community Schools | $10,000 |
| UVM College of Education and Social Services | Leveraging the Vermont Community Schools Research-Practice-Partnership | Addison County, Caledonia County, Chittenden County, Orleans County, Washington County, Windsor County | A dynamic collaboration designed to enhance, support and study the implementation and sustainabilty of the community school model in Vermont. | Community Schools, Access to Health Care in Rural Areas, Policy & Governance | $300,000 |
| Institute for Agroecology | Seeding Partnerships for Agroecological Transitions in the Northeast Kingdom | Caledonia County, Essex County, Orleans County | This project links organizations who are promoting thriving food and agricultural systems, with the aim of increasing collective impact and leveraging complementarities to promote agroecological food systems and just transitions. | Regenerative Agriculture, Transit & Housing Solutions, Healthy Ecosystems, Policy & Governance | $299,762 |
| University of Vermont - EDLP | Creating a Vermont Rural Education Hub | Statewide | Catalyze a partnership between EDLP, the Vermont Rural Education Consortium (VREC), and the National Rural Education Association (NREA). The primary objective is to create the organization, infrastructure, and leadership to connect rural educators and administrators across the state. | Community Schools, Policy & Governance | $10,000 |
| Ethiopian Community Development Council Vermont (ECDCVT) | Vermont (ECDCVT) The "Rural Renewal through Resettlement" Initiative | Bennington County, Windsor County, Windham County | Comprehensive proposal comprising four distinct yet interconnected activities that are directly aligned with the objectives of the Leahy Institute for Rural Partnerships, specifically around transit/housing solutions and policy and governance. | Policy & Governance | $269,434 |
| VELCO | System Optimization and LiDAR for Vermont Energy Resilience (SOLVER) | Statewide | Accelerate moving Vermont to a future in which the state’s electrical grid is more resilient and equitable. | Resilient Energy Systems | $269,482 |
| Center for Biomedical Innovation | Development of Public Self-Service Healthcare Technologies for Rural Settings: Planning and Partnership Building | Statewide | Making powerful health-checking technologies available in public settings in rural towns on a self-service basis. | Access to Health Care in Rural Areas | $10,000 |
| NEK Biosciences LLC | Commercializing the CorioGraft Wound Healing Gel | Orleans County | Funds will support exploration of productive partnerships with UVM and other rural-focused organizations to result in a written UVM-NEKBIO Partnership and Project Continuation Plan | Regenerative Agriculture, Healthy Ecosystems | $10,000 |
| Burlington Bio | The Whey Forward: Recapturing Nutrients from Dairy Production Waste | Bennington County, Caledonia County, Chittenden County, Essex County, Franklin County, Grand Isle County, Lamoille County, Orange County, Orleans County, Washington County | Diverting waste from our waterways and soil, from Vermont dairy production, and recapturing and transforming it into nutritious food products through a process called valorization. | Regenerative Agriculture, Healthy Ecosystems | $200,000 |
| Town of Stowe Electric Department | Enhancing the Little River | Lamoille County | This pilot project will help to mobilize a statewide campaign to kill off knotweed and replenish Vermont waterbodies with healthy, native vegetation. Riverbank management is essential to future flood prevention. | Resilient Energy Systems, Healthy Exosystems | $10,000 |
| UVM Extension | Migrant Health Initiative | Statewide | Strengthen and adapt the Community Health Worker program to better address health inequities among the unprecedented and growing number of non-agricultural Spanish speaking migrant and immigrant households moving into Vermont’s rural communities. | Access to Health Care in Rural Areas | $200,000 |
| Windham Regional Commission & Town of Jericho | Vermont Wastewater Infrastructure Mapping | Statewide | Systematic mapping of available wastewater infrastructure data on a town-by-town basis for the state of Vermont and understand the relationship between wastewater infrastructure and stagnant or even contraction of economic activity and housing development. | Transit & Housing Solutions, Policy & Governance | $137,750 |