Michelson 20MM Foundation

12/16/2025

Join us in welcoming the 2025 California Student Parent Pooled Fund grantees! 🎉

make up a significant portion of California’s college students, balancing coursework with caregiving, work, and often long commutes. This year’s grantees are advancing research, advocacy, and systems change to better support student parents and their families statewide.

👏 Congratulations to:
Mt. SAC, who will strengthen transfer pathways across Southern California
Western Governors University (WGU), who will elevate the needs of online student parents
Young Invincibles, who will advance equity through leadership development and policy advocacy

We are grateful for their commitment to build a coordinated movement that elevates parent voices and drives policy solutions that improve access to essential supports.

Learn more: https://20mm.org/news/statewide-supports-2025-student-parent-pooled-fund-grantees/

Thank you to our funding partners: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, ECMC Foundation, R&S Kayne Foundation, Stupski Foundation, and The Ichigo Foundation.

12/15/2025

We are proud to share our 2025 Year in Review, which highlights meaningful progress across digital equity, open educational resources, smart justice, student basic needs, student leadership, and intellectual property education.

This year, our team and partners:
-Protected and expanded efforts across California
-Strengthened pathways and advanced adoption
-Supported landmark justice reform and incarcerated firefighter advocacy
-Expanded supports for student parents and students experiencing housing insecurity
-Elevated student-led research and statewide policy leadership
-Grew inclusive pathways into the innovation economy through The Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property

Across all pillars, we worked alongside educators, students, community leaders, and advocates to advance solutions that make higher education more accessible and equitable for every learner.

We’re grateful to everyone who contributed to this year’s progress, and we look forward to building on this momentum in 2026.

Explore the impact:

Michelson 20MM advanced digital equity, OER, justice reform, student basic needs, and IP access in 2025 to make higher education more equitable.

12/15/2025

👋 Today is the final day to submit a proposal for the funding cycle!

College completion is only the beginning of a student’s future, economic stability is what sustains success. Our Student Basic Needs Spark Grants support innovative, scalable solutions that expand economic mobility for students across California.

We’re seeking projects that strengthen equitable economic mobility and long-term student stability. This includes connecting low-income and first-generation students to meaningful career pathways, strengthening post-graduation housing and employment supports, and embedding basic needs programs as permanent institutional functions.

By shifting from short-term aid to systemic change, we can help every student graduate into stability.

Apply by December 15: https://20mm.org/spark-grants/

12/10/2025

In California, 3 in 5 community college students face housing insecurity, and nearly half experience food insecurity. These challenges aren’t individual failures, they’re systemic barriers that demand systemic solutions.

Through the 2025 Student Basic Needs Spark Grant cycle, we’re funding projects that systemic approaches and actionable strategies for higher education systems to address student housing and food insecurity. This will help ensure that students can focus on learning instead of surviving.

From policy alignment with AB 79 to cross-campus benefit coordination and scalable financing models, we’re looking for ideas that will have a lasting impact on students.

Apply by December 15th for up to $25,000: https://20mm.org/spark-grants/

12/05/2025

🎬 The trailer for DISCONNECTED is now live.

Created by Brite: Building Resilience and Inclusion Through Engagement, with support from a Michelson 20MM , DISCONNECTED will be a feature-length documentary that shines a light on the human cost of the digital divide and why digital equity is essential.

The film brings viewers directly into the lives of those most impacted: students struggling to complete homework without reliable internet, farmworkers unable to schedule medical appointments online, and families cut off from legal and immigration resources. Through empathy and hope, DISCONNECTED moves the conversation from abstract policy to urgent human reality.

🎥 Watch the trailer and join the movement for a more connected, equitable future: https://vimeo.com/1140582792

Learn more: https://20mm.org/news/stories-behind-the-digital-divide-brite-media/

12/04/2025

📣 The 2025 Student Basic Needs cycle is officially open! Until December 15th, California-based nonprofits and higher education institutions can apply for up to $25,000 to strengthen the systems that support students’ most fundamental needs.

We’re seeking projects that create lasting, scalable change that turns fragmented basic needs programs into sustainable infrastructure. Together, we can ensure that housing, food, and financial stability are built into the foundation of higher education.

Apply now and help advance equity, stability, and opportunity for California’s students: https://20mm.org/spark-grants/

11/24/2025

Open Educational Resources ( ) are reshaping the future of learning. At the Open Education Conference, practitioners, students, and advocates came together to share strategies for building a more accessible, equitable, and student-centered education system.

Michelson 20MM was proud to support and learn alongside this inspiring community. Explore key insights from and how they will guide our work moving forward:

Discover how OER leaders and students at OpenEd 2025 are shaping a more accessible, equitable future for education through innovation and collaboration.

11/21/2025

📹 Missed the student basic needs # SparkGrants webinar? The full recording is live on YouTube!

During the webinar, the grant committee provided a detailed overview of the program, shared insights into our focus areas, and highlighted key strategies to advance support of student basic needs

🔗 Watch the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJK3uJCfvEw

11/19/2025

Too many students face an impossible choice between paying for living expenses and finishing college. The Michelson 20MM Foundation’s Student Basic Needs funding cycle is designed to change that.

⏳Join us tomorrow, November 20th, for a live webinar on how your organization can apply for funding to create sustainable, systems-level solutions addressing housing, food insecurity, and economic mobility in California’s higher education systems.

Learn about the grant process, focus areas, and ways to collaborate for impact. Let’s build a future where no student’s education depends on where they’ll sleep or eat tonight. 💪

Register: https://20mm.org/event/2025-student-basic-needs-spark-grants-informational-webinar/

11/13/2025

Students can’t study when they’re hungry or unsure where they’ll sleep. In California, nearly 60% of community college students face housing instability, and almost half report food insecurity.

Join us on November 20th for an exclusive Michelson 20MM webinar to learn about our 2025 Student Basic Needs funding cycle. We’ll share details on how to apply, walk through focus areas including emergency aid and economic mobility, and highlight success stories from past grantees who’ve created real systems change.

If your work supports students’ basic needs, this webinar is your roadmap to partnership and funding in California.

Register: https://20mm.org/event/2025-student-basic-needs-spark-grants-informational-webinar/

11/06/2025

We’re excited to introduce the 2025 Smart Justice Spark Grantees! 🎉

🏘️ Designing Justice + Designing Spaces will redefine how housing and higher education intersect for students impacted by the justice system. They'll foster trauma-informed, community-based housing and reentry support.

🔥 Initiate Justice will ensure the fair and transparent implementation of AB 812, empowering incarcerated firefighters and their families through community-driven reform.

📚 Jobs for the Future will lead a statewide effort to strengthen higher education in prison programs and connect incarcerated learners to meaningful careers.

Together, the cohort will transform pathways from incarceration to education, employment, and opportunity.

Learn more: https://20mm.org/news/2025-smart-justice-spark-grantees/

11/06/2025

In California, nearly half of community college students experience food insecurity, and three in five struggle with housing instability. These challenges don’t only affect students’ health, they directly impact their ability to focus and graduate.

On November 20th, join the Michelson 20MM Foundation for an informational webinar introducing our 2025 Student Basic Needs cycle. During this session, we’ll share how your organization can apply for up to $25,000 in funding to support systemic, scalable approaches that make student stability possible.

We’ll cover the Spark Grant process, highlight prior grantees, and explore innovative ways to address food, housing, and financial insecurity in higher education.

Together, we can make sure every student has what they need to succeed.

Register: https://20mm.org/event/2025-student-basic-needs-spark-grants-informational-webinar/