Author

Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee

Managing director, Lake Institute on Faith and Giving

Elizabeth Le’anani Coffee is the managing director of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Previously she served as the director of storytelling at the H.E. Butt Foundation in San Antonio, Texas, and as South Texas Regional Coordinator at the Baptist General Convention of Texas. She is a graduate of Abilene Christian Unversity and Indiana University Indianapolis. Coffee serves as an advisor to Leadership Education at Duke Divinity.

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Lilly Endowment Inc. announces Exploring Christian Practices Initiative

The Exploring Christian Practices Initiative aims to multiply opportunities and increase access to settings that help individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds explore and engage in Christian practices to address their spiritual interests and questions, find and build community with others, nourish their religious lives and grow in faith. 

In this open and competitive initiative, the Endowment invites charitable organizations to submit proposals for grants of up to $2.5 million each that may be used for up to a five-year period to develop new and/or enhance existing programs that present promising strategies for advancing the aim of the initiative and provide compelling and thoughtful responses to its guiding questions. The Endowment anticipates awarding approximately 60 grants and announcing grant awards in December 2026.

The Endowment will host four virtual information sessions (February 17, 19, 24, and 25) to discuss the Exploring Christian Practices guidelines for submitting a proposal. An Interest Form and Letter of Interest are due March 25, 2026. Complete proposals are due May 18, 2026.

Learn More and register for information sessions