Zephyr Impact’s 2023 Spark Cohort

Applications for Zephyr’s 2023 Spark Cohort are now closed.

At Zephyr Impact, we believe that nonprofit social entrepreneurs and their nonprofit-school partnerships can have a transformative effect on youth wellbeing. Yet competing or restricted funding priorities limit so many nonprofits from reaching the level of capacity needed to expand their reach and accelerate their impact.  

In collaboration with Harbourton Foundation and moved by the youth mental health crisis, Zephyr Impact began a process in 2022 to find high-impact and high-potential organizations addressing the youth mental health crisis in America. Research has shown that positive social-emotional interventions have the potential to dramatically improve youth wellbeing, academic achievement, career readiness, and life success. We were especially focused on organizations serving historically underrepresented or under-resourced students. Our initial scan returned more than 10,000 organizations, from small local organizations to national programs in literacy, academic achievement, sports, mentoring, and more.    

We then worked to narrow the funnel. We focused our search on upstream, school-based experiences that build social and emotional awareness, wellbeing skills, and a sense of belonging and identity. Our work included interviews with program leaders at CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. We also participated in research conferences led by Mindful Philanthropy, the Behavioral Health Catalyst, Morgan Stanley’s Youth Alliance, Grantmakers for Thriving Youth, and the Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community Solutions.    

Our launch as a collaborative began with a $1 million initial investment in the Mindful Life Project of Richmond, California, serving 25,000 students in nine school districts and 20 schools. We sought additional model programs at a similar organizational stage (at least 3 years old, budgets under $3 million but over $500,000) for which a three-year investment would make an impact.  

Based on these criteria, we identified and sent an RFP to 1,000 organizations providing youth-wellbeing interventions through school partnerships. Our goal was to make starter grants of $20,000 to five organizations and bring them together for shared learning. We called this initiative the “Spark Cohort.” We felt that building this cohort of top performers would help us better understand the challenges, opportunities, and potential of the field, and to create a pipeline for larger grants in the future.  

To increase applications and build trust, we employed a “common application” model, using a template used by fellow funders in the mental health sector. We asked applicants to use an online portal and share with us facts about the organization’s programs, how those programs will lead to long-term impact, basic financial data, and plans for growth and increased impact.

Specifically, the Cohort is interested to fund in-school and out-of-school programs, social and emotional learning (SEL) solutions, and other innovative approaches that support intra- and inter-personal skill-building and the emotional wellbeing of all learners, particularly for those hailing from historically marginalized and economically disadvantaged communities. The Spark Cohort will advance dialogue and innovation supporting wider mental and behavioral health solutions for PK-12th grade school children.

2023 Spark Cohort

  • Guitars Over Guns (based in Miami, FL) provides music education and mentoring by professional musicians to help young people overcome hardship, find their voice, and reach their potential as leaders.  

  • Open Future Institute: The QUESTion Project (based in New York City, NY) empowers students to develop identity, strengthen agency, and pursue a life of purpose—as a foundation for individual wellbeing and for a just and thriving society.   

  • Our Minds Matter (based in Vienna, VA) empowers teens to change school culture around mental health through social connectedness, help-seeking, and coping skills.  

  • Peace In Schools (based in Portland, OR) provides transformative mindfulness education to reverse the teen mental health crisis.  

  • PLUS ME Project (based in Los Angeles, CA) activates the art of personal storytelling to build confidence in youth as they pursue their college, career, and life goals.