Johns Hopkins Innovation Fund for Community-Academic Partnerships (2027–2028)

Grants of Up to $100,000 for Community-Academic Partnerships

The Johns Hopkins University Innovation Fund for Community-Academic Partnerships supports collaborations between university faculty, staff, programs, and community partners working together to address locally identified needs.

The five-year universitywide initiative offers two funding streams, with awards ranging up to $100,000. For community organizations, the Community-Based Project and Research Grant stream supports partnerships between nonprofits and Johns Hopkins faculty, with grants of up to $30,000 or $80,000 depending on the history and strength of the partnership.

Applications for the 2027–2028 cycle open October 30, 2026 and are due January 31, 2027.

Organization: Johns Hopkins University
Support Type: Community-academic partnership grants
Geographic Focus: Primarily Greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C.; other communities with an established Johns Hopkins presence may qualify
Funding Amount: Up to $100,000 depending on grant type
Deadline: January 31, 2027

About the Funder

Johns Hopkins University launched the Innovation Fund for Community-Academic Partnerships in 2025 as a five-year initiative designed to seed and sustain meaningful collaborations between the university and local communities.

The program emphasizes the bidirectional exchange of community and university knowledge, values, and expertise. Rather than having academic institutions simply deliver services to communities, the Fund seeks partnerships in which community organizations participate meaningfully in developing, implementing, and evaluating the work.

What This Program Supports

The Innovation Fund supports a broad range of community-engaged projects, research, teaching, and other collaborative activities.

Projects may address community needs through areas such as:

Health & Public Health
Community-based health programs, health equity initiatives, clinical and applied research, and other efforts addressing local health priorities.

Education & Youth Development
Projects involving schools, students, educational programs, community-engaged learning, and youth development.

Arts & Humanities
Community-based arts, cultural, historical, writing, music, and humanities initiatives.

Environment & Sustainability
Collaborative projects addressing environmental concerns, sustainability, climate resilience, and neighborhood conditions.

Community & Economic Development
Projects strengthening neighborhoods, organizations, community infrastructure, and economic opportunity.

Research & Innovation
Collaborative research designed around community-identified priorities and needs.

The program is open to proposals across academic and professional disciplines.

Two Grant Opportunities

Community-Based Project and Research Grants

These grants are designed for collaborations between Johns Hopkins faculty and community partners working together on community-based projects or research.

Two funding levels are available:

Up to $30,000
For established partnerships, generally those that have been working together for at least one year.

Up to $80,000
For firmly established partnerships, generally those with at least two years of collaboration that are working toward longer-term sustainability.

Awards may run for up to two years.

Johns Hopkins states that funds should be split between the university and community partners and that, in most cases, the majority of the grant should go to the community partners.

Institute, Center, and Program Grants

Johns Hopkins institutes, centers, and programs with an established history of community engagement may request up to:

$100,000

Awards may support up to two years of community-academic partnership work.

This funding can sustain existing programs or help test innovative new projects and approaches.

Eligible Support Types

Funding may support expenses including:

• Salaries and fringe benefits
• Community partner activities and services
• Graduate and undergraduate students
• Postdoctoral fellows and technicians
• Supplies
• Equipment
• Travel
• Events
• Community-engaged programming
• Project and research expenses

Indirect costs may not be included.

Eligibility & Preferences

For the Community-Based Project and Research Grants, applications must be led by an eligible Johns Hopkins faculty member.

The faculty applicant must partner with at least one and no more than three named community partners who participated in developing the proposal.

Community partners may be individuals or representatives of organizations.

Organizations receiving subawards must be:

• 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, or
• Organizations with designated fiscal sponsors

Partnerships should already have a meaningful history of collaboration. Brand-new partnerships are not the focus of this funding opportunity.

Applications are especially encouraged when multiple Johns Hopkins faculty members collaborate across different university schools or divisions.

Geographic Focus

Johns Hopkins expects the majority of awards to support work in:

• Greater Baltimore
• Washington, D.C.

However, proposals from other geographic locations may be considered when Johns Hopkins faculty, institutes, centers, or programs maintain a consistent, in-person presence in that community.

The majority of the proposed work should not be conducted remotely.

Ineligible Requests

For Community-Based Project and Research Grants:

• Community organizations cannot apply independently without an eligible Johns Hopkins faculty lead
• Visiting professors are not eligible to serve as faculty leads
• Students and postdoctoral fellows cannot serve as applicants or co-applicants, although their expenses may be included in the budget
• Brand-new partnerships without a meaningful history of collaboration are generally not appropriate
• Indirect costs cannot be included in grant budgets

Only one Project/Research proposal may be submitted per lead principal investigator.

Funding Amounts

Three primary funding levels are available:

Up to $30,000 — Established Community-Based Project/Research Partnerships

Up to $80,000 — Firmly Established Community-Based Project/Research Partnerships

Up to $100,000 — Institute, Center, and Program Grants

Awards may have terms of up to two years.

For Community-Based Project and Research Grants, Johns Hopkins expects funding to be shared with community partners and states that in most cases the majority of funding should go to those partners.

Timeline & Review

📅 Applications Open: October 30, 2026
📅 Application Deadline: January 31, 2027
📅 Award Decisions: Spring 2027
📅 Funding Available: July 1, 2027
💰 Funding Amount: Up to $100,000 depending on grant stream
📅 Award Term: Up to two years

Proposals are evaluated based on factors including:

• Feasibility
• Applicant experience and qualifications
• Strength and depth of the community-academic partnership
• Community impact
• Long-term impact on the relationship between Johns Hopkins and the community
• Innovation
• Budget quality and appropriateness

Application / Request Process

Community-Based Project and Research Grant applications must be submitted by an eligible Johns Hopkins faculty member in collaboration with the community partner.

Applications include:

• Proposal title
• Approximately 250-word abstract
• Project proposal
• Budget and justification
• CV, résumé, or biosketch for project leads and co-applicants
• Letters of affirmation from community partners
• Keywords for reviewer assignment

Community partner letters should demonstrate that the organization participated meaningfully in the conception, design, execution, and evaluation of the proposed work.

Applicants must combine the required proposal materials into a single PDF for submission.

Apply / Learn More:
➡️ https://communityimpact.jhu.edu/community-partnerships/innovation-fund/

Why This Opportunity Is a Good Fit

This opportunity is a strong fit for community organizations that:

• Already collaborate with Johns Hopkins faculty
• Have worked with their academic partner for at least one year
• Want to develop or expand a community-driven project
• Are interested in collaborative research addressing a community priority
• Serve Greater Baltimore or Washington, D.C.
• Have a well-established partnership ready for significant funding
• Want a meaningful role in project development and implementation

The requirement for a Johns Hopkins faculty lead means this is not a traditional open nonprofit grant. However, it can be particularly valuable for nonprofits that already have relationships with Johns Hopkins researchers or faculty.

The requirement that grant funds be shared with community partners—and the expectation that community partners generally receive the majority of Project/Research funding—makes this a notable opportunity for established community-academic collaborations.

Corporate Grants Guide Notes

Applications Open: October 30, 2026
Deadline: January 31, 2027
Funding Amount: Up to $30,000, $80,000, or $100,000 depending on grant stream
Award Term: Up to two years
Funding Begins: July 1, 2027
Primary Geographic Focus: Greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Best Suited For: Nonprofits and community organizations with established Johns Hopkins faculty partnerships
Important: Community organizations cannot apply independently; Community-Based Project and Research Grant applications must be led by eligible Johns Hopkins faculty.