Higher Education

We Are The Potluck Grant

The We Are The Potluck grant supports Interfaith America’s mission to activate and equip leaders to embrace pluralism by positively engaging with students and educators from diverse worldviews, identities, and political beliefs.

Applications open August 7

Grant Overview

The We Are The Potluck Grant helps colleges and universities create campus environments where students build meaningful relationships across religious, political, and ethical differences.

Rather than focusing solely on dialogue, the program combines relationship-building, shared meals, and collaborative service to help students develop the skills needed to engage across differences and contribute to a thriving campus community.

Selected student-facing professionals will recruit 12-20 religiously, ethically, and politically diverse students to participate in a program that consists of a series of dinners with intentional opportunities for students to connect across differences and build relationships, and participate in a service project, which will also be open to the larger campus community.

Throughout the program, students will engage in various discussions that will include local, state, and national elections as well as other civic topics that will give students real opportunities to practice their pluralism skills. At the end of the academic year, the student cohort will decide on a service project to support a value-aligned issue. Campus cohort leaders (grantees) are encouraged to make the service project a campus-wide event and expect students to invite others.

In addition to funding, grantees will receive a toolkit with resources to help them plan their program. Interfaith America staff will be available for check-ins and to connect grantees across campuses to share ideas and build relationships with peers.

By participating in We Are The Potluck, campus leaders can equip students with practical pluralism skills, strengthen campus culture, and contribute to a growing network of institutions committed to preparing students for engagement in a diverse democracy.

Grant Details

Eligibility

The We Are The Potluck grant is open to any student-facing campus professional who attended the 2026 Interfaith Leadership Summit and participated in one of the following educator tracks:

Evolving the Institutional Landscape
Teaching Across Difference: Faculty Leadership in the Classroom and Beyond
Empowering Students to be Leaders of Pluralism
Campus Culture Starts with Me: Systems and Structures to Hold the Complexities of Pluralism

Interested campus professionals will submit the following as part of their online application:

Demographic information
Brief paragraph focused on their interest and commitment to pluralism and bridgebuilding
A description and draft timeline of planned events for the 2026–2027 academic year, including the preferred date for a potential campus visit from IA staff. IA will cover all campus visit expenses, so those costs will not come from your grant money.
Agreement to fulfill all program requirements including participation in grantee calls with IA staff

Funding

A $5,000 grant will be provided to selected grantees by October 1^st.
Funds must be used for dinner expenses, travel to/from service project, any potential stipends for student participation, and any other purposes that directly support the grant proposal.

Deliverables

Throughout the implementation of the We Are The Potluck grant, each grantee (campus cohort leader) is required to:

Select a cohort of 12-20 students representing a range of worldview identities and political beliefs.

Organize four dinners (1 prior to the November elections, 3 in the spring semester)

Organize one service event with the student cohort with an invitation to the broader campus community before the grant period ends.

Attend virtual meetings with IA staff and grantees; one in the fall semester and one in the spring semester.

Participate, as requested, in a narrative project highlighting your project; examples could include speaking on a panel at the Summit, hosting IA staff on campus, showcasing your work on social media, and sharing your story for Interfaith America Magazine, etc. We ask that grantees make two social media posts per semester with a collaboration tag to Interfaith America.

Submit Final Report sent by IA (Due May 28, 2027)

Timeline

August 7, 2026: The application period is open.
August 28, 2026: The application period is closed.
September 9, 2026: Selection decisions communicated to applicants.
October 1, 2026: Grant implementation period begins.
May 28, 2027: Grantees will provide a final report on their projects; grant implementation period concludes.

Request for Proposals

Related Resources

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