2026 Funding Opportunity
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Rachel Switzky of the Siebel Center for Design at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a human-centered design strategies workbook and workshop that the IIN’s Social Innovation Working Committee has held multiple times, most recently in May 2026.
The Social Innovation and Impact Seed Grants program has awarded funding to seven projects. Summaries of those projects are below:
Enabling AI-Powered Personalized Learning for Neurodivergent Students through Physiological Monitoring and Cognitive Profiling
Abdelmounaam Rezgui, professor of information technology, Illinois State University; Elham Buxton, associate professor of computer science, University of Illinois Springfield; Elahe Javadi, associate professor of information systems, Illinois State University.
CONNECT Companion: A Community-Based Participatory Project (CBPP) Using Human and Prescriptive AI Interaction to Enhance Social Support for Older Adults in Illinois
Anitha Saravanan, assistant professor of nursing, Northern Illinois University; Will Lewis, assistant professor of information systems, Illinois State University.
Unveiling Black History: The African American Heritage Trail in Cairo, Illinois
Magdalena Novoa Echaurren, assistant professor of urban and regional planning, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; Julia Rendleman, assistant professor of journalism, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Building a More Inclusive Democracy: Enhancing Nonprofit Capacity for Civic Education and the Mobilization of Marginalized Youth in Illinois
Julie Langer, assistant professor of public administration, Northern Illinois University; Kelly LeRoux, professor of public administration, University of Illinois Chicago
Journeys to Justice: Commemorating and Memorializing the History and Legacy of Anti-Black Terror in Illinois
Devin Hunter, associate professor of history, University of Illinois Springfield (UIS); Lesa Johnson, associate professor of sociology and anthropology, UIS; Tandra Taylor, assistant professor of history, SIUE; Peter Cole, professor of history, Western Illinois University.
What’s Left Behind? A Documentary About African American Mothers on the South Side of Chicago Who Have Lost Children to Gun Violence
Ruby Mendenhall, professor of sociology and African American studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC); Lisa Butler, CEO, herVoice Films, Inc.
Grant Development Capacity Building and Technical Assistance
Courtney Breckenridge, research fellow, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE); Diane Cox, director of grant development, SIUE; Maggie Ervin, specialist of alternative credentials and credit, SIUE; Natalie Whitman, coordinator of alternative credit and credentials, SIUE.