Connecting Talent to Opportunity Challenge
A large federal ideation prize competition to develop integrated state 'Talent Marketplaces' linking people's skills and credentials to education and job opportunities. Relevant to workforce and employment-services research.
- Indicative award
- up to $15M (varies by call)The federal listing states a total prize purse of $15,000,000. Per-winner amounts are not published on that listing.
- Timing
- Periodic callsPeriodic calls · JanNo specific published date recorded. This funder publishes a cycle rather than a date, and this database does not invent one.Opened January 13, 2026 at 8:00 AM ET and runs to April 1, 2028 at 8:00 PM ET. No intermediate published submission deadline was found, so the closing date is the operative long-horizon window rather than a near-term deadline.
- Who can apply
- Any faculty rank, Mid-career & senior, Practitioner, Community organisation
- Eligibility
- The federal listing states an entrant must be 'an eligible recipient designated by the governor', which in practice means state workforce agencies and their designees rather than open entry. A social work researcher's route here is almost certainly as a partner or subawardee on a state entity's submission, not as the applicant. Confirm with team@cto-challenge.com.
- SSWR clusters
- Topics
- workforce development · talent marketplace · credentials and skills · state workforce agencies · employment services
- Apply at
- https://www.usa.gov/challenges/cto-challenge
- This entry
- Curated by the working group. Written 2026-08-07. The funder link has not yet been machine-checked.
Amounts and dates on this page are indicative and are maintained by people rather than scraped. Funders change ceilings, windows and eligibility without notice; confirm all details at the source above before applying.
Also on the Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs shelf
- Sociology ProgramNational Science Foundation$100k–$500k · Rolling / open
- Research and evaluation grantsOffice of Planning, Research, and Evaluation, Administration for Children and FamiliesAmount not published · Periodic calls
- Research grants and visiting scholarsRussell Sage Foundationup to $200k · Several times a year · Jan, May, Aug
- Academic research grantsWashington Center for Equitable Growthup to $100k · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb
- Core Research Grants — Social, Political, and Economic InequalityRussell Sage Foundation$50k–$200k · Several times a year · Mar, Jul, Oct
- Building Evidence: Support for QEDs to Evaluate Social Programs and PoliciesArnold VenturesAmount not published · Annual cycle · Sep