Best Grants for Mentoring Programs in North Carolina

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) public charities serving adults with workforce development, job readiness, or small business support programs in North Carolina can apply for Truist Foundation grants of more than US $15,000. Funding supports career pathways to economic mobility, reskilling and upskilling, and strengthening networks that assist diverse and women-owned small businesses, which may include mentoring components.

Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations, schools, and government programs in North Carolina that provide ongoing academic or life-skills mentoring for low-income youth can receive US $300 - US $500 in Ross gift cards to buy school or professional clothing. Grants from Ross Stores Foundation help mentoring and tutoring programs serving socioeconomically disadvantaged youth near Ross or dd’s DISCOUNTS locations.

Undergraduate and recently graduated college students in North Carolina interested in public health and healthcare careers can access a full-time, 10-week summer mentoring internship through John Muir Health. Focused on tutoring and mentoring, this program prioritizes underrepresented, first-generation, low-income, and underserved students seeking real-world experience, networking, and support in health-related fields.

High school, undergraduate, and medical students in North Carolina interested in healthcare careers can apply for John Muir Health’s CLIMB Near Peer Mentorship Program, a year-long, multi-level mentoring experience. This virtual program focuses on tutoring and mentoring, connecting participants with medical students and opportunities to mentor high school students exploring medicine.

Focused on film music creation, New Music USA invites developing composers in North Carolina and across the U.S. to seek support for original scores. Eligible individual composers on independently financed feature-length films in production or post can receive approximately US $20,000 for scoring costs, including composer fees, musicians, equipment, studio time, and engineering.

North Carolina students interested in legal careers and mentoring-focused development can access the Josh Dubin Fellowship, a seven-week paid professional and educational experience. Offered by the Shawn Carter Scholarship Fund, it supports current SCF scholars nationwide with legal research, case analysis, site visits, mentorship, and additional scholarship aid for undergraduate educational expenses.

Students and early-career researchers pursuing computer science, data science, or AI mentoring and research experience can apply for the Ai2 Predoctoral Young Investigators Program, open to candidates in the U.S., including North Carolina. Grants from Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence help participants gain intensive research mentoring, co-author publications, and prepare for top PhD programs over 1–3 years.

High school seniors pursuing business or engineering with strong character and interest in mentorship can access funding and one-on-one mentoring support through Bradley Family Foundation in North Carolina. This renewable scholarship supports U.S. citizens planning full-time bachelor’s study and may benefit students involved in school- or community-based mentoring programs.

Undergraduate, master’s, and medical students interested in pediatric oncology research in North Carolina and beyond can receive up to US $5,000 for a mentored summer research internship. With a mission to change the lives of children with cancer, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation provides hands-on training that may complement tutoring and mentoring-focused programs.

High school seniors seeking undergraduate education funding and mentorship can receive US $3,000 - US $5,000 scholarships through Rotary Club of Milwaukee, including structured mentoring support. With a mission to support higher education, Rotary Club of Milwaukee Community Tr provides need-based awards that may benefit students involved in tutoring and mentoring programs, including those similar to North Carolina initiatives.

Early-career live entertainment production managers in North Carolina and across the U.S. can apply for the Carolyn A. Satter Production Management Mentorship Program, which offers US $2,000 for conference-related expenses and intensive one-on-one mentoring. Eligible applicants must be current USITT members and able to participate in virtual prep and the Annual Conference.

Faculty developing or expanding undergraduate mentoring and discussion-based programs in the liberal tradition, including those in North Carolina, can apply for Institute for Humane Studies’ Free Society Grants to support sustained intellectual engagement. Eligible projects include mentorship programs, reading groups, workshops, symposia, and student research activities at U.S. higher education institutions.

First-generation master’s and doctoral students in exercise physiology, sports science, kinesiology, or sports nutrition at U.S. schools can receive US $4,000 - US $6,000 for research plus one-on-one mentorship. With a mission to educate and empower professionals, American College of Sports Medicine Foundation provides North Carolina and other U.S. graduate researchers with funding and professional development support.

North Carolina students seeking higher education support and mentorship can access funding through a national Pizza Hut Foundation scholarship and 14-week mentorship program. Eligible applicants are ages 17–26, legal residents of the U.S., Guam, or D.C., with at least a 2.5 GPA and eligibility for federal student aid, enrolling in accredited undergraduate or vocational programs.

$20K for changemakers with transformative ideas & firsthand insight in early childhood

About the Imagine Award

The Imagine Award by the Promise Fund offers $20,000 in flexible funding (see definition in FAQs) and a six-month cohort-based learning experience for community-rooted early childhood leaders with ideas for transformative impact. ​​Award recipients are at the idea stage and will launch a pilot within six months, testing their solutions with real users, gathering feedback, and refining their approach.

Imagine Award recipients will learn strategies for designing and executing lightweight tests for rapid learning while gaining clarity on their idea's direction using impact and business models. They will craft a compelling story about their work to build future partnerships and run a focused pilot with strong feedback loops for gathering data, all while growing alongside a supportive peer community.

What We Provide

Our grant dollars are flexible and meant to be used at award recipients’ discretion for the pursuit of tests or a pilot of a transformative idea. Read the FAQ for more information.

Direct, one-on-one support from our team to help you learn, get tailored help, and make relevant connections.

Multi-day gathering for peer connection, learning, and pilot design.

Access to a bench of mentors to guide you as you transition out of the program and navigate next steps with your pilot.

Light, tailored coaching to support pilot preparation, launch, and implementation.

Ongoing peer community and resources to continue learning and collaboration

The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) offers research training programs aimed at advancing education research through two key initiatives: the Early Career Development and Mentoring Program and the Methods Training Program. These programs support emerging researchers in developing their skills and enhancing their research capabilities to address vital education issues. The funding is designed for early career investigators and current education researchers, fostering rigorous and relevant research that informs education policy and practice.

Chicken & Egg Pictures Inc

Chicken & Egg Films was founded in 2005 by documentary film industry veterans Julie Parker Benello, Wendy Ettinger, and Judith Helfand. As filmmakers, teachers, funders, and impact producers, they were inspired to utilize their collective expertise to uplift the power of fellow women storytellers. Chicken & Egg was thus created to help address financial and creative challenges uniquely faced by women in the field–a model that married funding with mentorship to create not just an organization, but a growing community. 

Chicken & Egg Films shapes a more equitable and just world with the catalytic power of documentary films by providing funding, mentorship and industry access to a global community of women and gender-expansive filmmakers. 

Chicken & Egg Award

The Chicken & Egg Award recognizes women and gender-expansive filmmakers at advanced stages in their careers who are poised to reach new heights in their creative and impact trajectories across the world.

Despite progress by talented women and gender-expansive documentary filmmakers across the globe, there are often still numerous roadblocks that stand in the way of a true industry breakthrough. These barriers are often tied to gender, race, class, disability, and geography. Only a few women and gender-expansive nonfiction directors in the United States and abroad are able to work full time as independent storytellers, and few are folks of color, from working-class backgrounds, or from under-represented countries. 

There are, however, a growing number who are getting close. Each has made several films, and each is an influential leader for the issues they explore on screen. With this Award, Chicken & Egg Films is making a bold investment in these creatives and a statement about gender equity. A greater diversity of voices participating in storytelling drives change. We believe this effort is inextricably connected to elevating critical social justice, environmental, and human rights issues. 

The Chicken & Egg Award consists of a $75,000 USD cash award and a year-long mentorship program. Of the total, $50,000 is unrestricted, allowing filmmakers to decide how to use the funding to support their creative and business practices. The additional $25,000 is a grant for the project(s) the filmmaker will work on during their program year. Our in-depth mentorship program is focused on strengthening Awardees’ professional infrastructure, increasing their visibility, and fulfilling their personal and creative goals.

Davie Community Foundation

Founded in 1988, Davie Community Foundation is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to improving the lives of Davie County residents, today and for generations to come.

Mission: The Davie Community Foundation inspires philanthropy to strengthen Davie County for present and future generations. Vision: We envision Davie County as a vibrant community where everyone can thrive!

S.U.R.F. Board Grants

The S.U.R.F. (Students Understanding Real Futures) Board provides grant funding to support youth-led projects that make a positive impact in Davie County. These grants are designed to empower young people to identify needs in their community, develop solutions, and take an active role in carrying out meaningful projects with the support of an adult advisor and a sponsoring organization. If you are a student or youth group with an idea to benefit youth in our community, we encourage you to apply.  

Each year, the S.U.R.F. Board raises funds and awards grants to youth-led projects that make a positive difference in Davie County. Students are not only learning the value of giving their time, talents, and resources – they are actively identifying needs, evaluating proposals, and making real decisions that benefit their peers and their community.

This youth grant program gives high school students a hands-on opportunity to lead, learn, and give back.

The Established Clinician Investigator Award to Support Mentoring (KS1) is designed to provide established clinician investigators with dedicated time for mentoring early-career clinician research scientists. This initiative by the US Dept. of Health & Human Services: National Institutes of Health (NIH) aims to enhance the quality of mentorship, fostering the development of future leaders in clinical research. It supports a sustained commitment to training and guidance, ensuring a robust pipeline of skilled professionals.

The Mentored Career Transition Award (KT1/R00) offers a biphasic funding opportunity for up to 5 years, supporting the transition of postdoctoral researchers to independent faculty positions. The first phase provides 1-2 years of mentored career development, while the second phase grants up to 3 years of independent research support, contingent upon satisfactory progress and faculty appointment. This grant aims to enhance the capacity of early-career researchers in achieving research-intensive roles.

The Mentored Clinician Research Scientist Career Development Award (KC1) from the NIH supports clinician research scientists for up to five years, providing dedicated time for intensive research career development. This award aims to guide candidates with clinical doctoral degrees towards achieving research independence by pairing them with experienced mentors who can help navigate their career paths.

The Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award (KR1) offers crucial support for researchers aiming for independence. Funded by the US Dept. of Health & Human Services through the NIH, this award allows candidates to engage in intensive research training under a mentor's guidance for up to five years. It is designed for those with research doctoral degrees, facilitating their transition into independent research roles and enhancing their contributions to the scientific community.

About

Building a community of journalists committed to better health care reporting.

We believe accurate, contextual and balanced health care reporting is more important than ever.

People depend on health care stories to make life-altering decisions every day.

AHCJ International Health Study Fellowships

A fellowship for experienced journalists with a focus on international health.

In comparing the U.S. health care system to its global counterparts, journalists traveling to different countries as part of the AHCJ International Fellowship program can produce projects that provide valuable insights that can help inform policy decisions, improve health care outcomes and contribute to the ongoing evolution of health care systems worldwide.

Through the AHCJ International Health Study Fellowships, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, you can pursue a story or project comparing a facet of the U.S. health care system to that of another country. 

For 2027, the focus will be on the U.K. and France in comparison with the U.S. health care system. You’ll pursue the projects with the support of your newsrooms or arranged outlets, which commit to publish or air the work.

This fellowship allows highly experienced journalists to maintain their regular employment while working to evaluate a key component of the health care system, a health outcome, access, performance, providers, efficiency or other focal point over a six-month period.

That period allows for preparatory time, a site visit to the chosen European country, interviews and information gathering, as well as follow-up and writing time. Guidance is provided through seminars, conference calls and consultations with AHCJ fellowship leaders, a mentor and exposure to various topic experts.

About

Building a community of journalists committed to better health care reporting.

We believe accurate, contextual and balanced health care reporting is more important than ever.

People depend on health care stories to make life-altering decisions every day.

AHCJ U.S. Health System Reporting Fellowship

This opportunity is for U.S.-based journalists.

Issues with the U.S. health care system are often obvious — from large swaths of uninsured residents and junk insurance plans, to high maternal mortality rates and preventable medical errors. But what is at the root of issues like these? What could an equitable health care system look like? 

Through the U.S. Health System Reporting Fellowship, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, you can pursue a significant reporting project related to the U.S. health care system at the local, regional and/or national level.

This fellowship allows mid-career journalists to maintain their regular employment while working on a major project over a 12-month calendar year. You’ll pursue the projects with the support of your newsrooms or arranged outlets, which commit to publish or air the work.

We believe that issues of health equity impact every facet of the health care system, which is why we’re specifically interested in projects focused on health equity. This might include racial disparities within a community, gaps in public health inclusion, unstable housing, insurance access, food insecurity, violence as a health issue, how health care institutions or systems are applying a racial equity lens to their policies and practices or otherwise addressing inequities or disparities, or other examinations of systemic problems that have become so apparent over the last few years.

Guidance is provided by AHCJ mentors through customized seminars on health care systems, conference calls and email consultations. The fellowship covers the cost of attending the seminars and the annual AHCJ conference, as well as a $2,500 project allowance to defray the cost of field reporting, health data analysis and other project-related research. In addition, you will receive a $5,000 fellowship award upon the successful completion of the project.

The Retina Society, Inc.

The Retina Society was founded in 1968 exclusively for educational and scientific purposes concerning the diagnosis, care and treatment of diseases and injuries to the retina. The Retina Society began as an outgrowth of alumni meetings of Retina Associates, a retina practice founded in Boston in 1951 by Charles L. Schepens. Dr. Schepens is credited with establishing retina surgery as a sub-specialty.  

Our mission is to reduce worldwide visual disability and blindness by promoting the education and professional interaction of vitreoretinal specialists, providing optimal care for patients with vitreoretinal diseases, and encouraging, through clinical and basic research, the discovery and development of new means to further patient care.

Retina Society Underrepresented in Medicine (RESOURCE) Mentoring Program

The Retina Society Underrepresented in Medicine (RESOURCE) Mentoring Program was created to engage and interest ophthalmology residents from underrepresented populations* in research and in pursuing careers in the retina subspecialty through dedicated mentoring exposure. The program will pair ophthalmology residents from underrepresented backgrounds with Retina Society mentors, with the goal of providing the residents with research and career mentorship.

*The American Association of Medical Colleges definition of underrepresented in medicine is: "Underrepresented in medicine means those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the medical profession relative to their numbers in the general population." We define the following groups as underrepresented: Black (African American or African), Latino/Hispanic, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander. We will also be considering applicants from LGBTQIA+ and socioeconomically underprivileged backgrounds.

Mentors will work with their designated mentees on research projects that will be presented at the Retina Society Annual Meeting in 2027 and submitted for publication consideration. Mentors and mentees will be acknowledged at the Retina Society Annual Meeting.

Dennis Van der Meer Tennis Foundation

A 2021 International Tennis Hall of Famer, Dennis was the founder of the Professional Tennis Registry Foundation (PTR Foundation), now called Dennis Van der Meer Tennis Foundation, Professional Tennis Registry (PTR), and the Van Der Meer Tennis University.

Dennis Van der Meer Tennis Foundation is a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Dennis Van der Meer Tennis Foundation provides support to deserving individuals and organizations globally. The foundation is also focused on bringing tennis within reach to countless people worldwide.

Nehemiah Atkinson Humanitarian Grant

This grant reflects the Foundation’s dedication to giving and serving others. It is awarded to individuals who have shown an extraordinary commitment to enhancing the lives of those around them.

The Foundation supports projects that promote and preserve the legacy, vision, and spirit of our founder, Dennis Van der Meer. We will only consider funding for educational, life enrichment, mentoring, and tennis programs.