Faculty, staff and students are using Life-Changing Education grants to illustrate how learning improves society and the quality of life for people in Michigan and beyond.

And funding is still available to develop innovative programs that advance ideas and share discoveries.

The University of Michigan is in the midst of the Year of Life-Changing Education theme year, emphasizing the core impact area of the Look to Michigan vision. Life-Changing Education is a university-wide exploration of how U-M can develop new approaches to learning within its campuses and across the state.

Life-Changing Education grants range from $2,000 to $20,000 and are available to U-M faculty, staff and student organizations across all three campuses. Community partners may co-lead with a U-M unit. Programs must connect to one of the theme year’s four core themes: Open Inquiry, Expanding Access, Campus of the Future, and Sharing Scholarship.

“The ingenuity of the research and programming from our first grant recipients reflects a deep, personal motivation to change lives through learning, from Ann Arbor to Detroit and far beyond,” said Demetri Morgan, faculty director of Life-Changing Education and associate professor of education in the Marsal Family School of Education. “We encourage the U-M community to bring forward new, unique ways to help us craft the future of learning.”

U-M teams can apply for funding that supports programs through 2027.

First recipients include:

Elizabeth Evans, research investigator, Research Center for Group Dynamic, Institute for Social Research, and adjunct lecturer in social work, School of Social Work

• A short documentary highlighting how Michigan Tribal communities adapt the PC CARES model through community-led Learning Circles to prevent suicide and address at-risk substance use. 

Greer Hamilton, assistant professor of social work, School of Social Work; and assistant professor of music, School of Music, Theatre & Dance

• Document and disseminate Detroit’s environmental justice organizing history while expanding equitable access to community knowledge through the Detroit Environmental Justice Storytelling Initiative.

S. Leigh House, graduate student, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

• Workshop with Detroit’s Midwest-Tireman neighborhood community, U-M students and community organizations to generate community-driven ideas for neighborhood development and philanthropy.

Kris Johnson, assistant professor of music, theatre and dance, SMTD

• Random Variations, a system that uses structured variation, curated musical materials, and intentional constraints to support creative learning in music.

Heather Moore, assistant director for financial education and engagement, and adjunct lecturer in curriculum support, LSA; and adjunct lecturer in business, Stephen M. Ross School of Business

• Provide interactive modules, U-M-specific tools and a prototype chatbot for on-demand, equitable financial guidance — empowering all students with lifelong budgeting and credit skills, and positioning U-M as a leader in financial well-being.

William Pestle, assistant director of education at Kelsey Museum of Archaeology, LSA

• Partnership between the Kelsey Museum and Michigan’s Egyptian and Iraqi communities to co-create telling of their heritage through museum collections.

Frida Sandoval, graduate student, School of Dentistry

• Latine Research Week, an interdisciplinary conference celebrating the scholarship of Latine students, researchers and faculty at U-M.

Lutalo Sanifu, director of community engagement, U-M Center for Innovation in Detroit

• Storytelling initiative led by UMCI in partnership with the Michigan Engineering Zone to feature U-M student storytellers, UMCI learners and staff, and Detroit community partners.

Alex Tran, undergraduate student, LSA

• Establish TEDxUofM 2026 “Radiance,” a daylong conference featuring eight TED-style talks to broaden equitable access to diverse ideas and perspectives.

Angie Zill, engaged learning programs manager and adjunct lecturer in information, School of Information

• The Campus of the Future EdTech Design Jam, an interactive design thinking event in which U-M students collaborate with community experts to prototype solutions for helping high school students build skills and confidence for future college campuses.