The J. Warren & Lois McClure Foundation, a supporting organization of the Vermont Community Foundation, aims to make postsecondary education an accessible choice for young Vermonters. They believe that college and career training are pivotal for opening lifelong opportunities, focusing on equity, long-term views, and fostering systemic changes in education and career training systems to drive equity and resilience.
The grant program by the J. Warren & Lois McClure Foundation focuses on systems development or systemic change, particularly in making education and training pathways to Vermont’s most promising jobs more visible, accessible, and affordable. Their giving philosophy underscores the crucial need for post-high school education or training to secure high-demand, high-pay jobs in Vermont, identifying an urgent need for system-level changes to enable better access and affordability for these paths, especially for students from low-income backgrounds. Their priority areas include equitably scaling Vermont's Free Degree Promise and public educator workforce development and diversification. The foundation offers grants through an invitation-only process ranging from $10,000 to over $100,000, alongside smaller sustaining grants and mini-grants for initiatives that assist young Vermonters in planning for post-high school life, with a particular emphasis on equity and without stringent reporting requirements.