PROPOSAL TIMELINE FOR 2026-2027 Cycle

Timeline for the 2027 application cycle will being in fall 2026, links coming soon!

If you are interested in being part of the process, please email Sarah Elsey, CCE Student Engagement Coordinator. 

THE $10,000 DAVIS PROJECTS FOR PEACE GRANTs

Upon the occasion of her 100th birthday, international philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis chose to celebrate by committing $1 million to Projects for Peace.

The following information is taken from the Davis Projects for Peace website:

Davis Projects for Peace is an initiative for all students at the Davis United World College Scholars Program partner schools to design grassroots summer projects - anywhere in the world - which promote peace and address the root causes of conflict among parties. We encourage applicants to use their creativity to design projects and employ innovative techniques for engaging project participants in ways that focus on conflict resolution, reconciliation, building understanding and breaking down barriers which cause conflict, and finding solutions for resolving conflict and maintaining peace. Through a competition on over 90 campuses, projects will be selected for funding at $10,000 each.

We hope to encourage student initiative, innovation and entrepreneurship focusing on conflict prevention, resolution or reconciliation. Some of the most compelling projects to date have reflected one or more of the following characteristics: contributing to conflict prevention; ameliorating conditions leading to violence/conflict; looking for and building on shared attributes among differing peoples, races, ethnicities, tribes, clans, etc.; fostering diplomacy or otherwise contribute to advancing peace processes underway; promoting economic opportunity and entrepreneurship among those in post-conflict areas; finding creative ways to bring people on opposite sides of issues together, such as through art, sports, music or other techniques to promote a common humanity; developing leadership and mediation skills training for those in conflict or post-conflict societies; starting or leveraging initiatives, organizations (e.g. education, health) or infrastructure projects to build/rebuild community.

CRITERIA

The selection committee will evaluate proposed projects according to the following dimensions:

Following the recommendations of the Davis Foundation, proposals will be assessed according to five key dimensions: preparation, implementation, outcomes, sustainability and feasibility. Below, applicants can find the types of questions that the committee will use to evaluate the strength of proposals within these dimensions.

Preparation - To what extent do students' knowledge, relationships, skills, and personal narratives prepare them for the project?

• To what extent do students have place-based, local, contextualized knowledge? Or, to what extent can students draw on relationships with individuals or organizations with such knowledge?
• To what extent was the project co-designed with community members/organizations in order to leverage local expertise, and under the guidance of academic mentors?
• To what extent do students have the capacities needed to implement the project?
• To what extent do students' personal backgrounds and identities prepare them for the project?

Implementation - To what extent does the project follow best practices of community-engaged work?

• To what extent does the project…
  1. address community-driven needs, those identified by the people most impacted by the issue?
  2. engage local citizens and organizations as collaborators in the design and implementation of the project?
  3. provide opportunity for community-building among diverse stakeholders?
• To what extent is the project …
  1. asset-based, building on existing ideas, initiatives, organizations, relationships, or structures within communities?
  2. place-based, in which the location of the project is justified by the need (rather than vice versa)?
• To what extent is the plan thorough and comprehensive, detailed and practical?
• To what extent does the project acknowledge the complexity and nuance of the social world? Can the plan adjust to unforeseen circumstances and challenges, and are the applicants adaptable?

Outcomes - To what degree can the project meaningfully influence communities and student participants?

• To what extent can the project "promote peace and address the root causes of conflict among parties"?
• To what extent does the project provide opportunity for student development and growth, building students' capacities as engaged citizens?

Sustainability - To what extent can the project lay the groundwork for more long-term, sustainable work?

• To what extent do applicants propose a thoughtful, realistic plan to transition the project into a sustainable initiative (if assessment of the project supports this need)?
• To what extent does the project enable the local community to continue the work?
• To what degree will the project's impact be lasting?

Feasibility - To what degree can applicants do what they propose to do?

• To what extent are the goals of the project obtainable?
• To what extent is the project design, timeline, and budget realistic?
• To what extent is the project safe? Does the project minimize risk for all stakeholders?

Previous Proposals and Reports