President's Building Bridges Fund

The President’s Building Bridges Fund provides one-time, nonrenewable grants to selected student-led projects that use innovative, scalable approaches to bring students together in one or more of the following ways:

• Building meaningful relationships between affinity groups whose interests or perspectives on important issues may diverge
• Advancing intellectual excellence by encouraging collaboration across differences to solve shared problems
• Acting against discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate
• Fostering dialogue and engagement across differences on campus about interfaith or intercultural issues

Applicants can request up to $5,000. Projects must be completed, and all funds spent, by Wednesday, April 28, 2027.

• Applicants must be current degree-seeking students in good standing at Harvard University who will be on campus for both fall 2026 and spring 2027 terms.
• Each student-led project requires a letter of support from the project lead’s designated local school representative. Project leads should contact and meet with their designated representative as early as possible, and no later than Friday, October 30, 2026, to discuss their project proposal. Names and contact information of designated school representatives are listed below. Designated school representatives must submit the online letter of support form for each project from their school by 5:00 pm ET on Monday, November 9, 2026.
• Applicants must demonstrate:
  • The potential to implement an innovative, scalable project that promotes one or more of the following principles within the Harvard student community: building meaningful relationships between affinity groups whose interests or perspectives on important issues may diverge; advancing intellectual excellence by encouraging collaboration across differences to solve shared problems; acting against discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate; and fostering dialogue and engagement across differences on campus about interfaith or intercultural issues.
  • Awareness of, and engagement with, existing student programs and resources at Harvard, avoiding duplication of current efforts.
• All student grantees must be available to attend two required in-person cohort convenings:
  • Tuesday, December 1, 2026, from 5-7 pm
  • Date TBD, February 2027
• Funding cannot be used:
  • Retroactively, or for equipment purchases.
  • For student employment, stipends, memberships, or travel.

Designated School representatives

Below are the names and contact information of the designated representatives from each School:

• Harvard College: Alta Mauro, Associate Dean of Students for Culture & Community, altamauro@fas.harvard.edu
• Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PhD and Master’s Students): Gisselle Vélez-Ruiz, Associate Dean of Culture, Community, and Engagement, gisselle_velez@fas.harvard.edu
• Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (PhD and Master’s Students): Gisselle Vélez-Ruiz, Associate Dean of Culture, Community, and Engagement, gisselle_velez@fas.harvard.edu
• Harvard Extension School: Shirley Greene, Senior Associate Dean of Community and Belonging, shirleygreene@fas.harvard.edu
• Harvard Graduate School of Design: Laura DaRos, Associate Dean for Student Affairs, deanofstudents@gsd.harvard.edu
• Harvard Divinity School: Katie Caponera, Director of Student Life, kcaponera@hds.harvard.edu
• Harvard Graduate School of Education: Taylor Goyette-Frechette, Assistant Director of Campus Inclusion, Consulting, and Community Support, taylor_goyette-frechette@gse.harvard.edu
• Harvard Kennedy School: Ranya Brooks, Director, Office of Belonging, Community, and Connection, ranya_brooks@hks.harvard.edu
• Harvard Law School: Monica Monroe, Dean of Students and Associate Dean for Community Engagement, Equity, and Belonging, mmonroe@law.harvard.edu
• Harvard Medical School (MD Students): Harpreet Singh, Assistant Director of Student Affairs, Harpreet_singh@hms.harvard.edu
• Harvard Medical School (Master’s Students): Kimberly Lincoln, Director of Administration and Student Affairs, kimberly_lincoln@hms.harvard.edu
• Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: Tim Whelsky, Associate Dean for Student Services, twhelsky@hsph.harvard.edu
• Harvard School of Dental Medicine: Carrie Sylven, Senior Director of Student Affairs, Carrie_sylven@hsdm.harvard.edu
• Harvard Business School: Alicia Thomas, Director, Community and Culture, athomas@hbs.edu

• Each proposal will be evaluated by a review committee.
• Decisions will be released in late-November.
• Due to the volume of applications, the review committee is unable to provide feedback on individual proposals.

Grant recipients must complete an online report about project outcomes within 10 days of their project’s completion.

Applications for the 2026-27 academic year are now open. Apply by 5 p.m. ET on Monday, November 9, 2026. Follow this link to apply: PBBF Application Form. If you have any questions, or trouble accessing the application, please email: buildingbridgesfund@harvard.edu

Each application must include:

• Project name
• Description (including the building meaningful relationships between affinity groups whose interests or perspectives on important issues may diverge; advancing intellectual excellence by encouraging collaboration across differences to solve shared problems; acting against discrimination, bullying, harassment, and hate; and fostering dialogue and engagement across differences on campus about interfaith or intercultural issues; and description of cross-School collaboration, as appropriate)
• Project milestones
• Marketing plan
• Itemized budget, including other funding support, using the budget template
• Letter of support from the designated School representative submitted online by 5:00 pm ET on Monday, November 9, 2026 (see Criteria section above for the list of designated School representatives and their contact information)

• Application opens: Thursday, October 8, 2026
• Deadline to meet with designated school representative to discuss proposed project idea: Friday, October 30, 2026
• Application deadline: 5:00 pm ET on Monday, November 9, 2026
• Finalist notification: Late November 2026

In the 2025-26 academic year, eight projects led by students from the College and six graduate Schools were awarded funding. The projects aimed to break down campus divisions through talks, film screenings, and art installations. Read more about the 2025-26 grantees.

In the inaugural year of the President’s Building Bridges Fund, 2024-25, four student-led projects within Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences were awarded funding. Read more about the projects and grantees.