Deadline: 29-Jun-2026
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund supports innovative social impact projects that help disadvantaged individuals and communities in Ireland build practical skills and access future employment opportunities. The fund focuses on employment pathways, digital literacy, soft skills, entrepreneurship, inclusive economic participation and support for people facing barriers to work.
The €1.5 million fund is supported by Deloitte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht through the Dormant Accounts Fund. Up to five selected projects will receive grants ranging from €150,000 to €187,500 over 2.5 years, along with non-financial support through Rethink Ireland’s Accelerator Programme.
Fund Overview
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund supports innovative projects that help people experiencing disadvantage prepare for the future world of work.
The fund aims to create practical, accessible and inclusive employment pathways for people who face barriers to entering or progressing in the workforce.
It supports evidence-based social innovation projects operating in the Republic of Ireland.
Funding Available
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund is a €1.5 million fund delivered over 2.5 years.
Selected projects will receive cash grants ranging from:
- Minimum grant: €150,000
- Maximum grant: €187,500
- Grant period: 2.5 years
Up to five projects will be selected for funding and support.
Fund Supporters
The fund is supported by:
- Deloitte Ireland
- Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht
- Dormant Accounts Fund
Selected projects will also receive support through Rethink Ireland’s Accelerator Programme.
Main Objective
The main objective of the Skills for Tomorrow Fund is to help marginalised individuals and communities build the skills, confidence and opportunities needed to participate in the future workforce.
The fund aims to:
- Improve access to employment pathways
- Build future-ready skills
- Support inclusive economic participation
- Address root causes of disadvantage
- Strengthen digital and technology skills
- Support youth and adult learners
- Encourage scalable social innovation
- Promote sustainable employment-focused solutions
- Explore the use of artificial intelligence to increase impact
Key Focus Areas
The fund supports skills development, employability and social innovation.
Key focus areas include:
- Future of work readiness
- Practical employment pathways
- Digital literacy
- Technology skills
- Transferable skills
- Soft skills
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Adaptability
- Entrepreneurship
- Career guidance
- Mentorship
- Work experience
- Internship opportunities
- Job placement support
- Stakeholder engagement
- Sustainability and scaling
- Artificial intelligence for social impact
What the Fund Supports
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund supports projects that help disadvantaged groups access skills, confidence, networks and opportunities for employment.
Supported projects should provide practical and relevant pathways to work.
Projects may include:
- Skills training
- Digital literacy programmes
- Career guidance
- Mentoring
- Confidence-building activities
- Employment readiness support
- Work experience placements
- Internship pathways
- Employer partnerships
- Job placement support
- Entrepreneurship support
- Holistic support for employment barriers
- AI-supported tools or approaches
- Scalable social innovation models
Two Funding Strands
The fund includes two main strands.
1. Youth-Focused Support
Youth-focused projects should serve young people aged 0–18 years.
These projects should help young people build confidence, understand career pathways and prepare for future employment opportunities.
Youth-focused activities may include:
- Career guidance
- Mentorship
- Confidence building
- Digital skills support
- Work experience placements
- Internship opportunities
- Links with youth-serving organisations
- Partnerships with schools
- Early exposure to future careers
2. Adult-Focused Support
Adult-focused projects should serve individuals aged 18 years and above.
These projects should help adults facing employment barriers build skills, access opportunities and move toward sustainable work.
Adult-focused projects should include:
- Innovative skills development approaches
- Employment support
- Career guidance
- Job placement support
- Employer partnerships
- Training provider partnerships
- Community organisation partnerships
- Use of research and best practice in adult education
- Workforce development approaches
Target Beneficiaries
Eligible projects must primarily support people and communities experiencing disadvantage.
Target groups include:
- Long-term unemployed individuals
- Young people not in education, employment or training
- People with disabilities
- Minority ethnic communities
- Migrants
- Lone parents
- Older workers facing age discrimination
- Residents of disadvantaged areas
- People with low educational attainment
- Ex-offenders
- Homeless individuals
- People in unstable accommodation
Projects should clearly explain which groups they support and how their needs will be addressed.
Who is Eligible?
The fund supports organisations with a not-for-profit legal structure.
Eligible organisations may include:
- Charities
- Trusts
- Cooperatives
- Companies limited by guarantee
- Other not-for-profit organisations
Applicants must operate in the Republic of Ireland and demonstrate that their project addresses a critical social issue.
Project Eligibility Requirements
Eligible projects must meet key requirements.
Projects should:
- Address a critical social issue
- Demonstrate innovation in an Irish context
- Operate in the Republic of Ireland
- Show evidence of existing activity or testing
- Have potential for scaling or replication
- Support disadvantaged individuals or communities
- Create stronger pathways to employment
- Provide practical and accessible skills support
Projects must not be only at the idea stage.
Non-Financial Support
Selected projects will receive more than cash funding.
Non-financial support includes:
- Participation in Rethink Ireland’s Accelerator Programme
- Tailored capacity-building support
- Access to networks
- Project performance management support
- Guidance to strengthen sustainability
- Support to improve scaling potential
- Support to measure and communicate impact
This support is designed to help projects grow, improve and create lasting employment outcomes.
Role of Artificial Intelligence
The fund encourages projects to explore how artificial intelligence can improve their impact.
AI may be used to support:
- Operational efficiency
- Better decision-making
- Personalised learner support
- Skills assessment
- Career matching
- Data analysis
- Programme improvement
- Impact measurement
- Wider service reach
AI should be used responsibly and in ways that strengthen inclusion, accessibility and positive social outcomes.
What Is Not Eligible?
Some applicants and project types are not eligible.
The fund does not support:
- Projects seeking only research funding
- Capital asset-only projects
- Political activities
- Faith-exclusive participation
- Animal welfare activities
- Projects only at the idea stage
- Commercial companies
- Individuals
- Statutory bodies
- Other ineligible applicants
Applicants should ensure their project is practical, tested, not-for-profit and focused on employment-related social impact.
Why This Fund Matters
Many people in Ireland face barriers to employment because of poverty, exclusion, limited education, disability, discrimination, homelessness, migration status or long-term unemployment.
The future world of work also requires new skills, including digital literacy, adaptability, communication and problem-solving.
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund matters because it supports projects that help people build these skills while addressing deeper causes of disadvantage.
By funding innovative and scalable models, the fund helps create more inclusive pathways into employment and economic participation.
How to Apply or Prepare a Strong Proposal
Applicants should prepare a clear, evidence-based and impact-focused proposal.
Step 1: Confirm Organisational Eligibility
Applicants should confirm that they have a not-for-profit legal structure.
Eligible organisations may include charities, trusts, cooperatives and companies limited by guarantee.
Commercial companies, individuals and statutory bodies are not eligible.
Step 2: Choose the Right Strand
Applicants should choose the strand that matches their target group.
Choose the Youth-Focused Support strand if the project serves young people aged 0–18.
Choose the Adult-Focused Support strand if the project serves individuals aged 18 and above.
Step 3: Define the Social Issue
The proposal should clearly explain the employment-related disadvantage the project addresses.
This may include unemployment, lack of digital skills, low confidence, exclusion from training, discrimination or limited access to work experience.
Step 4: Describe the Innovation
Applicants should explain why the project is innovative in an Irish context.
Innovation may involve a new model, a new partnership approach, a new delivery method, a new use of technology or a better way of supporting disadvantaged groups into employment.
Step 5: Show Evidence of Existing Activity
Projects must show evidence of existing activity or testing.
Applicants should explain what has already been tried, what has been learned and why the project is ready for further development.
Step 6: Explain the Employment Pathway
The application should clearly describe how participants will move from support to employment opportunities.
This may include training, mentoring, work placements, internships, employer engagement, job matching or career guidance.
Step 7: Identify Target Groups Clearly
Applicants should explain which disadvantaged groups will benefit.
The proposal should describe their needs, barriers and how the project will provide practical support.
Step 8: Build Strong Partnerships
Strong projects should include meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Useful partners may include:
- Employers
- Schools
- Training providers
- Youth organisations
- Community organisations
- Local development groups
- Support services
- Technology partners
Partnerships can strengthen referral pathways, training quality and job placement opportunities.
Step 9: Demonstrate Scaling Potential
Applicants should explain how the project could grow, replicate or influence wider practice.
Scaling potential may include expanding to new locations, reaching more participants, building new partnerships or sharing a tested model.
Step 10: Include Sustainability Planning
The proposal should show how the project can continue or maintain impact beyond the funding period.
This may involve diversified funding, employer partnerships, earned income, community ownership or integration into existing services.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Applicants should avoid the following mistakes:
- Applying with a project that is only at idea stage
- Failing to show evidence of existing activity or testing
- Providing weak links to employment outcomes
- Not identifying target beneficiaries clearly
- Ignoring the root causes of disadvantage
- Submitting a project that only funds research
- Focusing only on training without pathways to work
- Not showing innovation in an Irish context
- Providing weak evidence of scaling potential
- Ignoring employer or stakeholder engagement
- Treating AI as a buzzword without explaining practical value
- Applying as an ineligible organisation
Tips for a Strong Application
A strong application should:
- Clearly explain the social issue being addressed
- Focus on disadvantaged groups facing employment barriers
- Show practical pathways to future employment
- Include digital, soft or transferable skills where relevant
- Demonstrate innovation and evidence of testing
- Include strong partnerships with employers or community actors
- Provide holistic support for participants
- Show potential for sustainability and scaling
- Explain how impact will be measured
- Use AI only where it strengthens outcomes
- Present a clear, realistic and participant-centred model
FAQ
1. What is the Skills for Tomorrow Fund?
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund is a €1.5 million fund supporting innovative projects that help disadvantaged individuals and communities in Ireland build skills and access future employment opportunities.
2. How much funding can selected projects receive?
Selected projects can receive grants ranging from €150,000 to €187,500 over 2.5 years.
3. How many projects will be selected?
Up to five projects will be selected for funding and support.
4. Who supports the fund?
The fund is supported by Deloitte Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht through the Dormant Accounts Fund.
5. Who can apply?
Organisations with a not-for-profit legal structure can apply, including charities, trusts, cooperatives and companies limited by guarantee.
6. What target groups should projects support?
Projects should primarily support disadvantaged groups such as long-term unemployed people, young people not in education, employment or training, people with disabilities, migrants, minority ethnic communities, lone parents, older workers, ex-offenders and people experiencing homelessness or unstable housing.
7. What support is provided besides funding?
Selected projects receive non-financial support including participation in Rethink Ireland’s Accelerator Programme, tailored capacity-building, network access and project performance management support.
Conclusion
The Skills for Tomorrow Fund supports practical and innovative employment-focused projects that help disadvantaged individuals and communities in Ireland prepare for the future world of work.
With €1.5 million available over 2.5 years, the fund will support up to five projects that provide skills development, employment pathways, digital literacy, mentoring, stakeholder engagement and scalable social innovation.
Eligible not-for-profit organisations should present evidence-based, tested and inclusive projects that address real barriers to employment and create stronger opportunities for people experiencing disadvantage.
For more information, visit Rethink Ireland.