ACLS Digital Justice Seed and Development Grants 2026-2027

Overview

The ACLS Digital Justice Seed and Development Grants 2026-2027 are funded by the Mellon Foundation. The program supports digital projects in the humanities and social sciences that critically engage with the interests and histories of people of color and other historically marginalized communities, using digital tools and methods ethically.

It seeks to address unequal access to tools and support for digital work among scholars in different fields, those working with under-utilized or understudied source materials, and those at institutions with less support for digital projects. It promotes inclusion and sustainability by widening participation in the digital transformation of humanistic inquiry. All grant recipients can also receive general financial planning coaching from the Nonprofit Finance Fund to plan the long-term stewardship and sustainability of their projects.

What you get

There are two kinds of grants. Digital Justice Seed Grants, from $10,000 to $25,000, are for start-up projects. Digital Justice Development Grants, from $50,000 to $100,000, are for projects that have moved beyond the proof-of-concept phase.

Who can apply

The project's principal investigator must be a scholar in the humanities or the interpretative social sciences. A U.S. institution of higher education must administer any awarded funds.

Requirements

Projects must be made as widely available as intellectual property constraints allow, ideally under the most liberal open-source and Creative Commons license appropriate to the content. Seed Grant projects must be in the start-up or prototyping phase. Development Grant projects must show significant preliminary work and a record of engagement and impact with scholarly or public audiences.

Key dates

Completed applications must be submitted by 5:00 PM EST on November 3, 2026.