The Arkus Signal

A community can be taught to use an AI tool without ever being asked what it wants from it. Humanity AI is funding the missing conversation, and the work that follows. Its call asks communities in education, labor, and arts and culture to help direct projects that shape AI’s place in their lives.

Projects mainly about learning to use AI tools, adopting them or doing research alone are excluded. Reviewers will examine the idea, the community’s leadership, whether the work is achievable, its potential impact and the team’s experience.

The work must center US communities. Eligible US nonprofits and qualifying Tribal governments can lead. A US fiscal sponsor can handle a grant for another project; foreign and for-profit organizations may collaborate but cannot lead. Applications close October 21 at 4:59 p.m. PT. An applicant webinar is scheduled for September 14.

An AI skill has more value when a young person can put it to work. That is the practical concern behind Citi Foundation’s fourth Global Innovation Challenge. It focuses mainly on low-income people aged 15 to 24, covering AI and human skills, digital access, and stronger nonprofit programs that help people into employment.

Brazil is included. US applicants must serve one of the listed locations. The organization applying must be a registered nonprofit in its own right; another nonprofit cannot apply on its behalf as a fiscal sponsor.

The first short application, called a letter of inquiry, is due October 6 at noon ET and must be in English. Later, applicants need an independent financial audit that meets Citi’s rules. First-round reviewers will ask whether the project fits the call, can be carried out and could make a meaningful difference.

A promising idea still leaves a company with work to do: find out whether it can succeed. FAPESP’s PIPE Indústria do Futuro call offers up to R$500,000 for as much as 12 months of innovative research. It asks for a genuine technical challenge and the team and facilities to investigate it.

That work needs a home in São Paulo. The company must be Brazilian, have no more than 250 employees, and maintain a real headquarters or research unit in the state. A virtual address does not qualify. The researcher in charge must be a company partner and live in São Paulo. A company still being formed can apply under specific conditions.

The first proposal is due October 8, with no cutoff time stated in the call. Applicants invited to continue then have until December 9 for the full proposal.

Norcliffe gives Puget Sound nonprofits room to explain the work that needs doing. Applications are open year-round, and support can cover day-to-day running costs, programs and capital projects. The foundation’s interests stretch from arts and education to health, research and basic needs. A useful organization does not have to invent a new program every time it needs support.

The amounts call for some perspective. Norcliffe says nearly 60% of its grants are $15,000 or less. The standard application handles requests up to $50,000; larger requests use a separate form that requires a conversation with the foundation. Every application needs a fundraising plan. Norcliffe generally wants to join other funders, and says it is rarely a project’s largest donor.

The route is open to registered US charitable nonprofits working in the foundation’s eleven-county area, including King County, and eligible projects with a nonprofit handling their grant as fiscal sponsor. Start with the eligibility quiz, then the full online application. There is no preliminary letter. Allow up to six months for a decision, and check the waiting period if the organization has applied before.

For a student, getting help can mean finding a ride, missing class and fitting an adult’s calendar. Cambia wants more care available where young people already spend their day. Its 2026 Resilient Children and Families call backs school health services, with particular attention to mental, social and emotional well-being.

The foundation wants students and parents to help shape the work. Peer support, mentoring between older and younger students, counseling and links to community care are among its examples. Established programs get priority. A new idea can qualify, but it needs strong school support and a believable plan to keep going. A school’s name on a proposal is only the beginning of that relationship.

Applicants must be tuition-free public schools or eligible nonprofit partners serving Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah or Tribal Nations in those states. The call permits eligible organizations to apply on another group’s behalf. Grants are expected to run for up to two years. One application is allowed per organization or collaboration, and overhead charged as indirect costs is capped at 10%. The full online application is due September 21 at 5 p.m. Pacific.

A laboratory can own a sequencing machine and still find routine use too expensive. This Grand Challenges call asks researchers to lower the cost of reading a disease-causing organism’s genetic material, while keeping the results useful for public health. The target is roughly $1 to $10 per sample. The ambition is easier access to reliable information in low- and middle-income countries.

The Gates and Temasek foundations are funding the call, managed by the United Nations Foundation. Three grant levels match the work’s maturity: up to $300,000 for early testing, $600,000 for further development and $800,000 for advanced work. The first two allow up to 24 months; the third allows up to 36. About 15 awards are expected. Better methods are the point: buying supplies more cheaply, on its own, will not qualify.

Eligible organizations worldwide can apply, including companies, nonprofits and research institutions in the US and Brazil. Individuals cannot. The initial submission allows three pages for the proposal and one for the budget. It closes September 29 at 11:30 a.m. PDT. Read the access and disclosure rules first: the funder explicitly says to leave proprietary information out.

Work, a home and financial security sit at the center of MIT Solve’s next Economic Prosperity challenge. Its preview points to technology-based solutions, including fair access to digital life. The 2027 challenge opens September 22 at 9 a.m. EDT.

The published closing date is November 2 at noon EST. The fuller picture comes when applications open: who can apply and what an award would provide remain unconfirmed here. Until those rules appear, this belongs on the calendar for a closer look.

A small nonprofit may know the people affected by a health question long before it has the means to take part in researching it. PCORI’s award helps smaller groups build that ability. Applicants must already have relationships with researchers, patients and other relevant people.

PCORI draws a firm line around “small.” The average annual operating budget across the last two financial years must be no more than $1.5 million. Previous PCORI Engagement Awards must total no more than $125,000, excluding payments for work on another organization’s award.

US nonprofits with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status can apply, as can a fiscal sponsor handling the grant. The first short proposal, called a letter of intent, is due October 1 at 5 p.m. ET. Applicants cannot also apply to other Engagement Award calls in the same cycle. Full applications are by invitation, due January 11, 2027.