Batten to Double Education Grants

Donor Jane Batten of Virginia Beach is making it possible for the Hampton Roads Community Foundation to double the amount of Community Grants in education to be awarded this year.The total available amount is expected to be $300,000.

The Batten Educational Achievement Fund, which is administered by the community foundation, will provide up to $150,000 for education grants. Batten funds will augment the $150,000 available from unrestricted and field-of-interest funds to support programs that help area children and students succeed.

Grant applications will be due on April 20. Nonprofits working in Hampton Roads can apply for program or seed funding in the community foundation's education focus areas:

• Improving area children's kindergarten readiness.
• Helping students from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods graduate from high school in four years.
• Preparing area high school students to transition successfully to post-secondary education.

Click here to read grant guidelines and to download an application. For questions, contact Leigh Davis at ldavis@hamptonroadscf.org or (757) 622-7951.

Academy Nets 400th Nonprofit 

The Academy for Nonprofit Excellence has passed a new milestone -- the 400th nonprofit to send an employee to academy classes. Menchville House Ministries of Newport News is the latest Hampton Roads nonprofit to discover the value of ongoing nonprofit training at the academy, which started in 2005.

Sylvia Jones, Menchville House Ministries executive director, is the first person from her nonprofit to sign up for academy classes. She is taking two classes this spring and submitted her course request just in time since classes are now filled through June.

The academy is a partnership between the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and Tidewater Community College. One-day classes cost $60; two-day sessions are $85. Sessions are held at TCC's new Regional Workforce Development Center in Suffolk. 

Click here for details on classes, registration, curriculum and class location. If you want to be the first to get alerts about upcoming classes, email Lillian Bailey at lbailey@tcc.edu, to get on the academy's email list.