Apply for Development Grants Program (Canada)

Deadline: 3-Aug-23

The Law Foundation of British Colombia is seeking applications for the Development Grants to develop capacity, early-stage projects, and plans that may lead to new programming, projects or infrastructure.

Indigenous peoples, Black people and racialized people experience systemic and institutional racism in many facets of their lives. These systemic inequities and biases exist within the legal/justice system, and in the laws, policies and programs that impact people living across BC. The law and the legal/justice system play significant roles in shaping the way people experience the world and each individual’s place and status within it. Inequities within these systems have a determining influence on people’s lives, and racialized individuals and communities experience this first-hand every day.

Long known and understood by individuals and communities facing these injustices, racial injustice and inequity are also acknowledged by federal, provincial, and local governments, legislative bodies, Human Rights Commissions in BC and across Canada, and the Courts.

As part of the legal profession in British Columbia, the Law Foundation shares in the collective obligation to work toward eradicating racial injustice in and through the legal system. The Law Foundation believes it needs to do more to meet this obligation.

Purpose

• This funding is intended for proposals with the long-term vision to advance racial justice.

Priorities

• These guiding principles are the values that build and inform the work of racial justice:
  • Community Accountability
    • Racial justice work is led by, focused on serving and accountable to racialized communities and what matters to them.
  • Use of anti-racism frame
    • The work of racial justice requires understanding of how race and structural racism play a role on the lived experiences of racialized communities and the collective actions that need to be taken to examine, identify and address the harmful impacts.
  • Intersectionality
    • Racial justice will need to consider the analysis of race with other factors such as sexuality, gender, class, disability, geography and culture to better understand the priorities of the most marginalized members of racialized communities to create holistic solutions and/or strategies.
  • Meaningful Engagement
    • The work of racial justice should be by and for racialized communities by engaging them through accessible, inclusive, trauma informed and culturally appropriate approaches.
  • Collaborative Community Advocacy
    • Racial justice cannot be achieved by a single organization or grassroots group working in isolation. It requires an effort to engage power holders and the broader society in addressing a systemic problem or injustice while promoting an alternative vision or solution.
    • This work may involve a range of intersecting approaches through a set of distinct stages over a long-term period of time, often involving a range of organizations and groups working in collaboration. It often includes but is not limited to:
      • Researching, developing and proposing solutions to the root causes of social problems.
      • Amplifying the voices of those affected by structural racism and supporting people to exercise their collective power.
      • Pursuing structural change by building something larger than a particular organization. Promoting visions and values for society based on fairness, justice, and democracy – meaningful engagement.
      • Efforts using a variety of means of public communication through education, media and the arts.
  • Additionally, for this round of the Racial Justice Grants Call, applications from communities outside of the Greater Vancouver area will be prioritized for funding.

Funding Information

• $1.3 million is available for this round of the Racial Justice Grants Call.
• Development Grants – up to $50,000 for one year.

Duration

• Development Grants are intended for activity up to one year. Depending on the scope of work, organizational capacity, and available funds, a longer duration or a higher grant amount may also be considered on an exceptional basis.

Eligibility Criteria

• They welcome applications from:
  • Existing non-profit organizations;
  • Collaborative entities or groups;
  • People who are seeking to establish new organizations, collaboratives or groups if they operate (or intend to operate) in BC and/or for the benefit of people living in BC.
• Grant-seekers do not need to be registered charities and they do not necessarily need to be registered non-profit societies.
• Grant-seekers do not need to identify as specifically law-focused groups or organizations as long as the proposed work is connected with the legal system or the impact of laws and policies on the lived experiences of racialized people such as education, healthcare, family-based matters, land use, housing affordability, employment, law enforcement, immigration and others.
• Types of applications that could be eligible:
  • This program is meant for applications that aim to build the conditions necessary to advance racial justice.
  • Eligible applications may target a wide range of issues within this legal context and the context of racial justice, and do not need to be aimed at the Crown’s justice system or the courts.
  • Applications may be for discrete projects but may also relate to the creation or sustaining of an organization or infrastructure to do the work.
  • The Law Foundation invites applications from a single group or organization as well as those that involve collaboration among several groups or organizations.
  • The Law Foundation does not prefer one form over the other and trusts grant-seekers to determine whether a joint application with other groups or organizations will better serve the proposed work.

Ineligible

• This grant program is not intended to fund applications whose main purpose is the production of research studies, educational resources, and reports, though applications can certainly include publication, education, and research as part of their workplan as tools to achieve the goal of the application.
• This grant program is not intended to fund equity, diversity, or inclusion training for board/staff of organizations or program audits; if you are an existing Law Foundation grantee that is seeking support for such work with your team, please contact your Law Foundation program director/manager.

For more information, visit Law Foundation of British Colombia.