Volunteer Opportunities

ICJIA Seeks Restore, Reinvest, Renew (R3) Grant Application Reviewers

Community stakeholders needed to help identify applicant organizations for state cannabis grants

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority seeks members of Restore, Reinvest, and Renew (R3) grant-eligible communities to assist in its upcoming R3 grant application review process.

ICJIA administers R3 program funding, which supports programs in Illinois communities that have been harmed by violence, excessive incarceration, and economic disinvestment. To build equity in R3 grantmaking, ICJIA invites volunteers from communities most impacted by high rates of gun injury, child poverty, unemployment and overuse of incarceration to engage in ICJIA’s process of determining the best use of these funds.

“It is imperative that we engage those with lived experience in our mission of transforming ICJIA grantmaking processes to ensure funds are equitably distributed,” said ICJIA Acting Executive Director Delrice Adams.

R3 grant applications are due at 2 p.m. on March 1, 2022. The application review period will begin March 1 and last approximately six weeks. Each volunteer will review up to five applications. A single application review will take approximately two hours.

Application reviewer responsibilities include:

• Participating in a training process on how to effectively, ethically, and equitably review grant applications.
• Using a web-based portal to review a set of applications submitted by organizations seeking grant funding.
• Scoring all assigned applications based on a rubric that will be provided to all reviewers.
• Providing detailed comments justifying their scores and as feedback to the applicants.
• Participating in one meeting to discuss the assigned applications and scores.
• Submitting final application scores and comments by a set due date.

Through this process, selected application reviewers will receive:

• Training on grant application review, cultural competency, and confronting our own implicit biases.
• Valuable information on what state agencies look for in a successful grant application.
• A $25 gift card.

Reviewers must reside in designated R3 zones, which can be identified using this map. Enter your address in the box at the top left corner of the map. Eligible areas are identified within the color-coded areas of the state. If your address appears in a color-coded area, you are eligible to participate as a reviewer!

To apply, click here: Reviewer Registration Survey