Cross-Cultural Community Engagement Grants
The Cross-Cultural Community Engagement Fund (CCCE) supports international community service, advocacy, and activism.
During the internship with WSORC, I worked at a coral nursery, hunted lionfish, administered SCTLD treatment, and attended daily lectures pertaining to marine biology and ecology. Each day averaged to about 1-3 hours of lectures in the morning and two dives in the afternoon.
-Maya Henning `25, Internship with the Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center in Utila Honduras
How It Works
The Fund supports service-learning and community-building internships and/or related volunteer service opportunities for undergraduate students in international settings, or in communities that are not the students’ own. These community-engaged internships and service initiatives are usually student-designed.
The CCCE Fund was founded by and is endowed by a Middlebury Class of 1987 alumnus and receives additional support from the Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation.
There is a maximum of $4,000 per grant, although most grants range from $300 up to $2,500. Funds are limited and grant amounts are decided in part based on the intention to support as many student initiatives as possible. Students will typically receive between $750 - $2,000 for full-time, four-week Winter Term experiences and $1,000-$4,000 for summer experiences. CCCE funding may not cover all expenses of a project. We encourage students to seek funding through their academic department or student organization budgets, too, if applicable.
Eligibility
For an experience to be eligible for CCCE funding, it must:
- address intercultural learning,
- benefit the public good, and
- be in collaboration with a community partner (a non-profit organization or governmental agency).
Preference is given to opportunities in a culture distinctly different from the applicant’s background, usually outside of the U.S., and projects that are mutually-beneficial for the applicant and the communities with whom the applicant is engaging. A portion of the grants awarded also aim to support student engagement in conflict transformation initiatives that occur in community-based, inter-cultural settings (i.e. the funded experience provides the opportunity to learn and apply conflict transformation knowledge and skills with others).
Funding is available to currently enrolled and returning undergraduates. Graduating seniors are not eligible to apply for funding for activities that occur after graduation.
A group of students may apply for a grant from this fund. While the group may share a project description, each student must complete the application (essay questions, budget, etc.) and post-experience reflections individually.
Funds are available for J-Term and summer experiences.
Depending on what civic knowledge, skills, and identities you hope to build through the experience, we may make available and expect engagement in selected pre-departure trainings, classes (i.e. pre-departure gatherings, post-experience reflection dinners), and resources to prepare you for your project or internship, if funded.
All grant projects are required to adhere to Middlebury College’s protocols and requirements. All students must comply with applicable CDC, state, local, country of residence, and College-related health and safety restrictions, as applicable.
Application
The application lives . You may apply now for J-Term 2026 and summer 2026 funding.
For J-Term grants, apply before November 30; for summer grants, apply before March 30.
Please apply as soon as possible: priority is given to applications in the order in which they’re received. It takes about four weeks to process funds once a grant decision is reached.
If your international travel requires additional review, we recommend an additional two weeks of processing time.
The application has four parts:
- Applicant Information
- Activity/Project Basic Information
- Three Essay Questions: You can preview the and the word-count ranges. To learn more about the conflict transformation skills and dispositions we ask about, visit CT@Midd Conflict Transformation Resources and check out the Recommended Reading section.
- Proposed Budget Upload: You will need to complete a budget proposal to upload to your grant application. See a . Please make a copy of the sample, complete the fields with your proposed budget items, and download and save it. If you are going to share a link instead of saving/uploading it as a pdf, be sure to allow anyone with the link to view it.
If you have questions about the application or the process, you may contact CCE Program Administrator Liz Cleveland in the Center for Community Engagement at ecleveland@middlebury.edu.
Past Funded Projects
See the map below which tracked the locations of the first 10 years of 315 funded projects took place between 2009-2019.
Visit our Stories and Highlights Page to learn more from a past CCCE Grant recipient about their unique internship experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
What activities and materials are and are not covered by CCCE grant funds?
Grant funding can be used for project supplies and materials directly used in the partnership work, community partner fees, living expenses (housing, meals), travel costs, and lost wages (i.e. costs of not working another job, but only if the student is a financial aid recipient). Grant funds cannot be used to purchase tech equipment (e.g. computers, cameras) that will remain with the grantee or partner after the completion of the project.
What travel requirements are in place for international travel?
Your international travel request must be reviewed by the Global Operations Committee for some international travel. Your project must also be reviewed by the Internal Review Board (IRB) if you are researching human subjects as part of your proposal. If you seek to travel to a location where the State Department has issued a travel advisory or warning, you will also need to complete an . Please notify Liz Cleveland at ecleveland@middlebury.edu and/or indicate on your Cross-Cultural Community Engagement application if you have completed and submitted this form. All grant projects are required to adhere to Middlebury College’s protocols and requirements. All students must comply with applicable CDC, state, local, country of residence, and College-related COVID health and safety restrictions, as applicable.