“Pathways to Communion” Lilly Endowment Grant

Led by the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and funded by a $10 million grant through Lilly Endowment Inc.'s National Youth and Young Adult Initiative, the Pathways to Communion project supports ESTEEM as we work to expand our support to current campuses and extend our network of campuses nationwide. Over the five-year project, ESTEEM will engage in a cohort of organizations working to impact the faith lives of young adults through the support of the McGrath Institute's expert guidance in program evaluation and improvement.

ESTEEM will expand its programmatic support and select 10 small liberal arts colleges to initiate ESTEEM on their campuses, enhancing service experiences through leadership formation and reflection opportunities, cultivating a sense of servant-leadership among the young adult participants. ESTEEM will supply financial and pastoral support to those sites to make the programmatic experience robust and enriching, as well as remove as many resource-based limitations as possible. That cohort will also be integrated into the regular life of the ESTEEM program, connected to a national network of campuses and experiences.

More details on ESTEEM’s participation and the Pathways to Communion project can be found in the University of Notre Dame’s official press release.