The Urban Agriculture Capstone Cohort begins in January 2026 and ends in February 2028.

Yes, previous participants and those that have applied but have not been selected may apply.

Previous Capstone UARP recipients are not eligible to apply.

While we are not giving individual application advice, all eligibility requirements are included in this criteria document.

No, all public gardens, as long as they meet all criteria, are eligible.

All eligible applicants must be a U.S. public garden.

Yes, please see the PDF preview of the application here.

Review criteria are listed in the criteria document, including alignment with the mentoring priority areas. How you budget to use funds, outside of the specified restrictions, doesn’t play a role in the decision. 

After developing a list of finalists based upon these criteria and priorities, we will seek to create a diverse and balanced cohort, representing diversity in terms of factors such as geography, audiences served, garden size, and program models.

Yes, we ask that each applicant include at least one photo with their application. You are able to upload this directly  into the online application form.

1-2 people should attend each Capstone Cohort meeting. The program lead indicated on your application will attend every meeting including the in-person meeting. If a second person is attending these meetings, that person should plan to attend consistently.

Windy City Harvest staff will take part in all cohort meetings. In addition, each cohort participant will have three scheduled mentorship meetings with WCH staff—in Spring 2026, Fall 2026, and Winter 2026–27. These sessions will provide an opportunity to dive deeper into areas of growth related to urban agriculture programming and/or production specific to your organization. Follow-up resources will be shared as needed.

In-person cohort meeting will take place on September 23-25, 2026 at Windy City Harvest farm sites located in Chicago. If you want to visit Chicago Botanic Garden, those expenses will fall outside of this program.

We are open to a wide range of education formats and methods. Reviewing our priorities for the awards, on the second page of the criteria document, may be helpful to you.

There are a few restrictions, they are all listed in the budget form document. Indirect expenses, including overhead costs and fringe benefits, may not exceed 10%, your budget must equal $55,000, and permanent construction activities are prohibited. Additionally, the budget must include costs associated with travel to the in-person Capstone Cohort meeting in Chicago.

All awards will be $55,000. Your budget total must equal $55,000.

We plan to send the reporting requirements directly to participants after they are notified that they have been selected. This will happen very early on to let participants know exactly what things they may need to track or monitor throughout their program participation.