The Iowa Afterschool Alliance and Volunteer Iowa are among five organizational partnerships selected nationally to receive two-year grants to support the expansion or creation of after-school programs. America’s Service Commissions, a longtime supporter of after-school programming, recently announced a total of $340,000 in grant funding, made possible by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Each grant is awarded to a collaborative partnership between a statewide after-school network and a state service commission. The Iowa Afterschool Alliance plans to use its grant funds to support after-school initiatives, including programs serving high populations of low-income students, small programs, and underfunded programs — particularly those that have an emphasis on STEM education and creating access to high-quality STEM for all Iowa students. “We are honored to have been selected for this important after school initiative,” said Adam Lounsbury, Volunteer Iowa’s executive director. “With support from ASC and the Mott Foundation, we are confident that we can make a real difference for a lot of young people in Iowa through AmeriCorps and national service programming.” The Iowa Afterschool Alliance was formally created in 2003 with primary support from a three-year grant by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.