April 9, 2025 —The Promising Innovations grant is offered by Kendal Charitable Funds, the philanthropic arm of Kendal, to provide funding to select non-profits working to curate new programs, projects and solutions to positively impact the lives of older adults in our society through creative, innovative and replicable strategies or programs.
Since the first grant was awarded in 2012, the Promising Innovations fund has made 12 grants in excess of $350,000 to nine (9) different organizations in their efforts to provide innovative change in numerous areas, including but not limited to: Alzheimer’s treatment; elder abuse, caregivers support; LGBTQ+ community support; addressing aging in various geographic locations; aging-in-place safe home repair; and workforce development initiatives.
Academy of Hope Secures Promising Innovations Grants
Since 2022, the Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School (AoH) has received $100,000 in total through Promising Innovations grants. In 2022, AoH received a $50,000 grant for a 24-month period to support its Healthcare Career Pathways program. In 2025, AoH received an extension grant, securing an additional $50,000 to continue funding throughout the calendar year.
Known for its learner-centered approach, AoH provides transformative education, robust career training, and wraparound support services designed to empower adult learners in the Washington D.C. area.
Since its founding in 1985, AoH has increased the number of adults in Washington with high school credentials, provided a path to economic mobility and helped learners advance professionally.
The institution currently supports over 1,000 learners and strives to provide access to education to those who may have been let down by the system and could not receive a high school education. Serving as a pipeline to certain career paths, if an adult learner receives a certification through AoH, the institution is well equipped to find their graduates’ job placements within their studied fields.
In the 2018-19 school year, the Academy of Hope exceeded efficiency expectations with a 57% score on the Performance Management Framework. The school outperformed the adult charter sector in all key areas: 94% of workforce learners earned high-level certifications in healthcare and IT (compared to 64% sector-wide); 80% earned a high school diploma (compared to sector average of 69%); and 86% passed GED subject tests (compared to 78% sector-wide). They also achieved a 68.8% persistence rate, 16 percentage points higher than the sector average, and outperformed local and national academic progress averages, scoring 61% compared to an average of 46%.
“Here at Kendal Charitable Funds, we strive to find recipients for financial gifts that are like-minded organizations working towards a better future for older adults,” says Diane Massey, Interim Executive Director of Kendal Charitable Funds. “We want to make a real impact on those organizations, and the Promising Innovations grant allows us to do so.”
Promising Innovations Grant Supports Healthcare Career Pathways Program
AoH’s Healthcare Career Pathways Program equips 50 adult learners with Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) training. It offers clinical training, internships and job shadowing opportunities through the Academy’s strong network of healthcare employer partners.
Kendal Charitable Funds’ initial Promising Innovations grant funding supported these efforts by offsetting CNA program costs, including textbooks and workbooks, training supplies and materials, and salaries for CNA Instructors and Employment Specialists.
The 2025 extension grant will help offset the salaries of CNA Instructors and the Healthcare Program Assistant, textbooks and workbooks, training supplies and materials, including mannequins, practice lab equipment and scrubs, and other student expenses.
Thanks to a financial gift from Kendal Charitable Funds, AoH was able to expand its capacity so it could serve more adult learners pursuing economic self-sufficiency for themselves and their families through high-demand healthcare careers while also helping to address the shortage of qualified healthcare workers in the region.
“The Promising Innovations Grant allowed our students to reach their full potential in the classroom without the financial stresses that come with it,” shares Lecester Johnson, Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Hope. “We are grateful we could help students not have to carry the financial burden through Kendal Charitable Funds grant initiatives.”
Over the two years of grant funding the Healthcare Careers Pathway program has made significant strides. In June 2024, 100 percent of AoH learners who took the CNA exam passed and successfully gained their credentials. AoH learners consistently meet and outpace the average pass rate of 88% among other schools in Washington, D.C. Over the two-year grant period, AoH trained and certified 76 adult learners, including 37 in CNA training, with some of these graduates going into the aging services workforce to provide services to older adults.
Kendal Charitable Funds is proud to support organizations that create transformative change in the lives of older adults through innovative programs. The Academy of Hope’s Healthcare Career Pathway program exemplifies this mission by equipping adult learners with the skills and credentials needed for in-demand careers in healthcare.
To learn more about the Promising Innovations Grant, visit kendal.org/kendal-charitable-funds/impacting-lives/