Welcome to the Greenlights Grant Initiative

The Greenlights Grant Initiative began to protect the most precious asset we have – the next generation. Camila and I are launching this project with one simple goal: to help more school districts across the country gain access to federal funds to help make their students safer, healthier, and happier.

The tragedy at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and the countless other mass shootings, have shaken our nation to its core.

Fortunately, our lawmakers were moved to action last year, leading to the enactment of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the first legislation of its kind in 28 years.

This bill made common-sense reforms to keep firearms out of the hands of dangerous people, and also allocated billions of dollars to help school districts make their schools safer. Much of these resources were allocated in the form of competitive grants, meaning school districts have to proactively apply for these federal programs to get funding for improving school security systems, implementing new safety training programs, or hiring mental health professionals.

We should be proud that compromise was possible and progress was made, but there is much more to be done to protect our kids.

The goal of the Greenlights Grant Initiative is to support school districts in this process. After speaking with Congressman Tony Gonzales, who represents Uvalde, we learned that many school district leaders in Texas were unaware of federal school safety grants made available by this legislation, or had tremendous difficulty accessing them. Applying for federal grants is incredibly complex and hiring a grant writer, which can cost up to $50,000 to write one federal grant, is unobtainable for so many school districts, especially some of those most in need for that support

We heard a similar story from other lawmakers, school superintendents, education experts, and the federal government itself. We have an awareness issue and process issue. Our goal is to demystify this process, get the word out to more school districts that these grants are available, help them secure this funding, and make securing these grants easier moving forward.

The Greenlights Grant Initiative offers a short-term philanthropic intervention to help school districts get the support they need now. Our long-term goal is to reform the grantmaking system to ensure that securing federal grant funding is not so difficult.

We look forward to working with you to make sure your kids, our kids, and everyone’s kids can study in peace, without fear, and excel in this world.

Just keep livin,

Camila and Matthew McConaughey