December 17, 2009

Dear Colleague:

We are pleased to announce that Girls for Gender Equity received the first award under the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Local Funding Partnerships program Peaceful Pathways: Reducing Exposure to Violence. The New York Women's Foundation, a diversity focused fund that supports social justice projects for women and girls, nominated this project to reduce sexual harassment in the New York City public schools.

The next deadline for proposal review is Tuesday, January 5, 2010. Please note that we will continue accepting Peaceful Pathways proposals throughout 2010. The review dates will be published in a new Call for Proposals early in the year.

Through this special solicitation the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds projects to reduce violence in traditionally under-resourced communities such as those defined by race, ethnicity, tribe, gender, sexual identity or rural or frontier location.

Projects that use a community’s strengths and assets to address violence are also eligible for matching grants under the Local Funding Partnerships (LFP) Annual Grantmaking program. For example, Caught in the Crossfire—a Los Angeles program to reduce gang retaliation and traumatic injuries—was funded in 2004.

You can Search for a Project on our website by Project Focus (such as Violence Prevention), Population Served or Location. Please visit www.localfundingpartnerships.org to learn more about the types of innovative projects that are eligible for our grantmaking programs.

With best wishes for the holiday season and the New Year,