USDA Grant Writing for MSI Food Safety Specialists

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Empowering Minority Serving Institutions Food Safety Specialists to Write Successful Food Safety Outreach Program Grants Through Education, Training and Technical Assistance is supported by the Food Safety Outreach Program [grant no. 2023-70020-40631] from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture with the aim to strengthen Minority Serving Institutions organizational systems and increase the effectiveness of grantsmanship, which will result in Capacity Building and expansion of research and extension/outreach portfolios.

Announcements

Summer Writing Series

Join us on Wednesdays from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm (June 11th through July 9th) for a weekly summer writing group. We start each session with a round-robin of writing goals for that day. We keep a progress spreadsheet to track writing goals (with accountability).

Our team will be available to assist you as you develop, re-design, or update your writing goals.

Offering In-Depth Technical Assistance to 10 MSIs Grant Teams

Texas Tech University, Alabama A&M University, and Louisiana State University will be offering in-depth technical assistance to grant teams (the PD or Co-PD must be a minority-serving institution) submitting USDA Proposals in 2025 and 2026. This technical assistance will support the grant teams from conception to the submission.

The in-depth technical assistance will provide participants with the following services for free:

One-on-one consultation sessions with a grant writer (valued at $1,200 per session)
One-on-one consultation sessions with previous USDA grant awardees
Graphic design assistance for the proposal
Editorial copywrite assistance for the draft and final submission documents

Guidelines for selection of grant teams:

Priority will be given to grant teams with the PD or Co-PD at minority-serving institutions. Second priority will be given to non-profits, NGOs, farmers, and organizations representing underserved groups.
Commitment to submit a proposal in the 2025/2026 USDA Grant;
Agreement to meet with the USDA FSOP Technical Assistance Grant Team at least four times from the release date until submission
Administrative support during the application process. This will include grants.gov institutional profile support, budget support, subcontract management, and all other requirements (such as the SF 424 series).

Please email Angela Walla at angela.walla@ttu.edu to gain more details on this program.