The National Conservation Foundation (NCF), working in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), offers the Diversity Enhancement and Underserved Audience Grant program (aka Diversity Grants) to help state and provincial Envirothon programs expand the diversity of student participation. Mini-grants are awarded for projects that work to provide minority and/or underserved schools and students with exposure to the NCF-Envirothon competition in the areas of forestry, soils/land use, wildlife, aquatic ecology and current environmental issues.
In 2020, the USFS awarded the NCF $21,000 to be utilized by participating U.S. Envirothon programs. For Canadian Diversity Grant projects, the NCF provided $2,000 in funding for one Canadian Provincial project.
12/02/2020 UPDATE: The 2021 cycle of the NCF-Envirothon Diversity Enhancement and Underserved Audience Grant program is now accepting applications! The 2021 Diversity Grant RFP and Application Instructions, online Application and official Budget Form can be downloaded below.
01/15/2021 UPDATE:
The deadline for the 2021 NCF-Envirothon Diversity Enhancement and Underserved Audience Grant has been extended until 11:59pm (EST) Friday, January 29, 2021.NCF-Envirothon Diversity Grant Application and Reporting
PLEASE read through the 'RFP and Application Instructions' closely for important information and instructions. 2021 Diversity Grant RFP and Application Instructions2021 Diversity Grant Application
2021 Diversity Grant Budget Form (fillable pdf)
Final Diversity Grant Reporting:
Final Report
Interim Diversity Grant Reporting: Interim Report
2020 NCF-Envirothon Awarded Diversity Grants
United States- funding provided by the U.S. Forest Service- Delaware- $4,000.00
- Maryland- $2,000.00
- North Carolina- $4,000.00
- North Dakota- $4,000.00
- South Carolina- $4,000.00
- Texas- $1,000.00
- Virginia- $2,000.00
- Manitoba- $2,000.00
Diversity Grants Awarded By Year
NCF- Envirothon- Diversity Enhancement Grant, funded in part by U.S. Forest Service, was pleased to have awarded the following in the past several years.- 2020- $23,000.00
- 2019- $11,500.00
- 2018- $12,000.00
- 2017- $10,000.00
- 2016- $13,500.00
Diversity Grant Stories

Year: 2018
Title of Project: Developing Confidence and Skills for Envirothon Participation in Underserved Urban School Districts
Funds received: $2,000 from U.S. Forest Service
Project Summary: The Ohio Envirothon partnered with Ohio’s Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District to prepare under-represented students to compete in Ohio's Area 2 (regional) Envirothon and increase the overall diversity of participation in the Envirothon program.
Cuyahoga County in Ohio, home to Cleveland, is racially diverse and contains a city (Cleveland) with one of the largest populations in Ohio. Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) is the second largest urban district in Ohio, comprised of nearly 40,000 students in 105 schools. Approximately 83% of CMSD students identify as minority, with only 16% identifying as white, Non-Hispanic. The Ohio Envirothon and the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District used awarded funds to help purchase training materials, trained teachers and students, worked with other agencies to provide mentors to help prepare students and hold two practice Envirothon events for urban high school students in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.
CSWCD collaborated with principals, teachers, curriculum directors and local community partners to promote participation and support training to under-served urban schools and students for the Envirothon competition.
Impact: Approximately 180 students received training sessions where the topics of wildlife, aquatics, soils, forestry and agriculture were presented by resource professionals. Seven new teams from the CMSD area participated in the Ohio Area 2 Envirothon in 2019.
Project Sustainability: In addition to the new teams that participated in 2019, several new partnerships were formed within the CMSD; The Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District hosted an aquatics field day for Rhodes School of Environmental Science. The Washington Park Environmental Studies high school and the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine-John Hay Campus both borrowed the Envirothon training materials for additional Envirothon training. Additionally, the Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District is working with their local USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Program about developing an Envirothon teacher training workshop or other programs that would allow this project’s goals to be extended to other urban communities in northeast Ohio.
