Open Call for Grants Committee Peer Reviewers
The Escambia Children’s Trust (ECT) is always seeking qualified Peer Reviewers to serve as a volunteer on its Grants Committee, which is responsible for reviewing and evaluating grant proposals and recommending to the Board of Directors which applications should receive grant funding. External Peer Reviewers help ECT select the best proposals from groups of competitive applicants.
Peer Reviewers are chosen for specific grant programs based on their credentials, expertise, and experience. Every effort will be made to ensure that grant review panels reflect diversity of ethnicity, gender, experience, and communities within Escambia County.
Peer Reviewers are subject matter experts in either substantive focus areas or evaluation methodology. Reviewers with evaluation and research experience are sought to review applicants’ proposed evaluation plans. Content experts who have direct and significant experience working with children and youth in one or more of the following content areas are also invaluable resources to the ECT funding process:
- K-12 education (especially middle grade math/3rd grade reading)
- Early childhood education/ child development
- Out-of-school time programming Foster care systems, dependency matters, adoption
- Healthcare (including behavioral and oral health)
- Child nutrition issues (including the coexistence of hunger and obesity)
- Domestic violence/child abuse Youth behaviors (e.g., arrests, school suspensions, mental illness, etc.)
The Grants Committee is an appointed body of the ECT Board. The Committee consists of at least two but no more than three ECT Board members (one of whom serves as committee Chair) and a maximum of four additional members from outside the Board. The Grants Committee will be made up of either five or seven for any given funding review process. Members of the committee are appointed by the Board Chair no later than the close of the Board’s October meeting each year and are subject to approval by the Board. ECT staff serve ex officio with voice, but without vote.
We are seeking individuals able to review proposals for funding by reading and analyzing applications; discussing ratings with other reviewers; and formalizing scores and comments for public posting. Examples of Relevant Prior Experience
- State/district education leaders, school leaders, teachers, foundation officers, university faculty (who work with schools), and researchers;
- Persons with administrative, project management, or other leadership experience who have implemented, sustained, expanded, and disseminated innovative projects that serve children and youth;
- Professionals with wide-ranging experience informing an ability to distinguish varying merits of innovative and potentially promising project ideas;
- Excellent writers, good critical thinkers, and reflective individuals open to feedback from others;
- Evaluators with knowledge of What Works Clearinghouse standards or who have completed graduate level research or coursework;
- Individuals with scheduling flexibilities who can commit to completing tasks in a timely manner; and
- Former grant reviewers or grantees of county, state, or federal programs.
Reviewer Application and Selection Process
- To apply as a reviewer, email your resume or curriculum vitae (maximum of 5 pages) along with a cover letter explaining why you wish to be appointed to the committee to info@escambiachildrenstrust.org.
- Reviewers who are selected to participate will be contacted by ECT staff and asked for additional contact information, availability, and potential conflicts of interest. Those not selected will remain in the ECT reviewer pool for future competitions.
- ECT solicits reviewers without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability. ECT will provide reasonable accommodations for an individual with a disability, so that the individual is able to participate in the review process.
- Peer reviewers who are selected will remain in the pool of potential reviewers for one year. ECT will accept applications on a rolling admission. In August/September, you will be contacted to determine if you would like to remain as a reviewer for the upcoming year, deactivate your application, or pause your involvement until the following year.
Conflict of Interest
You are not eligible to be a reviewer if you will be involved in the preparation of a grant application, or if you would stand to benefit from an application that is being considered to receive funding in competition for which you are serving as reviewer.
You are eligible if you are a current or past ECT grantee and are not submitting a new application under the competition for which you serve as a reviewer.
Responsibilities
Please review the tentative schedule for the solicitation against work professional and personal calendars to determine availability. If selected, you will be contacted to confirm availability. You will be expected to:
- Participate in brief introductory training via Zoom or pre-recorded video;
- Sign a Conflict of Interest disclosure statement;
- Read, review, and evaluate five to ten proposals (approximately 25-35 pages each of narrative as well as appendices);
- Complete written evaluations of applications based on the selection criteria;
- Participate in applicant interviews or site visits if applicable;
- Participate in a Grants Committee meeting as stated in the solicitation document for up to three hours – either in person or via video call/Zoom;
- Revise your reviews after panel discussion and facilitator feedback; and
- Submit rating sheets and all supporting documentation (which will become part of the public record for the solicitation) to ECT within two business days of the final Grants Committee meeting.
Program Information
Please direct all questions about the process to info@escambiachildrenstrust.org.