Deadline: 28-May-21
The Internet Society Foundation’s Strengthening Communities/Improving Lives and Livelihoods (SCILLS) grant programme to expand economic growth and increase educational opportunities by supporting individuals and communities to more knowledgeably and skillfully use the Internet.
They promote the development of the Internet as a global technical infrastructure, a resource to enrich people’s lives, and a force for good in society.
Focus Areas
Proposals should focus on one or both of the following thematic areas:
- Economic Growth
- The Foundation is seeking projects that help communities leverage Internet access to build financial opportunities, increase economic independence, and create sustainable income sources.
- Such projects could include:
- Entrepreneurship: Increasing digital literacy among girls in order to help them become small business owners.
- Agriculture: Using the Internet to increase agricultural yields by better understanding demand and market changes.
- Climate change: Adapting a local business to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly or more resilient to climate change.
- Innovation: Creating tech hubs or makerspaces that allow rural populations to create innovative solutions to local problems.
- Education
- The Foundation is seeking projects that support communities to leverage Internet access to increase entry to basic education, improve learning outcomes and increase teaching skills. Such projects could include:
- Remote education: Enabling communities to access culturally relevant educational opportunities, such as learning materials in local languages.
- Teacher education: Supporting teachers to leverage the Internet to upskill themselves or to further increase the educational opportunities for their classrooms.
- Innovation: Creating unique learning opportunities that can be replicated across similar contexts.
- Aligned with the above focus areas, the Foundation seeks projects that address the following cross-cutting issues:
- Digital literacy, inclusion and hygiene
- Relevant content, that is localized and tailored to the needs and languages of target communities
- Concrete incentives to Internet adoption
- These are not to be considered as stand-alone goals of a project, but rather a means by which proposed programmes may expand economic growth and/or increase educational opportunities.
- The Foundation is seeking projects that support communities to leverage Internet access to increase entry to basic education, improve learning outcomes and increase teaching skills. Such projects could include:
Funding Information
- Grants of up to $150,000 USD will be awarded for projects lasting up to 24 months.
Geographical Focus
The target countries for this program are:
- Bangladesh,
- Colombia, and
- Senegal.
Eligibility Criteria
- The basic eligibility requirements for all Foundation grants are outlined here. All applicants must ensure that they meet these basic requirements.
- Additionally, the Foundation is seeking applications from organizations that:
- Have a demonstrated understanding and track record of success in working in one or all of the Focus Areas detailed above
- Have a deep knowledge of their countries and networks that extend beyond capital cities and urban areas
- Are committed to the using the Internet as a force for good
- Can demonstrate previous experience in managing large (over $100k) grants and possibly experience in sub-granting to local groups
For more information, visit https://www.isocfoundation.org/grant-programme/scills-grant-programme/