Deadline: 29-Oct-21
Applications are now open for the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio’s 2022 grantmaking program to create social change to advance economic empowerment and leadership opportunities for women and girls.
The Funds mission is to transform the lives of women and girls by mobilizing the collective power and passion of all people working together.
The Funds vision is a future where gender equality is the norm in life and work.
Focus Areas
The strategic priorities are focused on creating economic empowerment and leadership for women and girls. Programs must align with one or more of the focus areas.
- Economic Empowerment:
- Childcare and the cliff benefits: Accessibility and affordability of childcare is the best opportunity to influence the cliff effect – when a minimal increase in hourly wages results in the complete termination of a benefit and a dramatic net loss of resources.
- Access to contraception: Enabling women to control when to have children allows them to shape their financial, educational, and professional futures. To continue the progress they have made in the of teen pregnancies, unplanned pregnancies, and infant mortality, it is critical to remove barriers to accessing all contraceptive methods.
- Reduction of teen pregnancy via comprehensive, medically accurate sex education: Access to contraception and comprehensive, medically accurate sex education have been significant factors in the reduction in teen pregnancy and unintended pregnancies over the last decade.
- Paid leave: Current policies do not adequately support women striving to meet the obligations of work and family. Extending access to paid family leave strengthens women and families, reduces gender and economic disparities, and has a positive impact on local economies.
- Pay equity: Closing the wage gap between women and men and establishing pay equity is critical to ensuring women maximize their economic potential.
- Leadership for Women and Girls:
- Women running for elected office: The positive impacts of women in office are abundant and widespread. Promoting more women to run for public office will maximize the policies that positively impact women and families.
- Advocacy training on voting rights and informed voting: All voices have the power to create change, and one of the most powerful ways to do so is through civic engagement. Voting is still one of the best ways for women to ensure that the elected leaders support policies that will expand opportunity and empower women.
- Women’s leadership and influence on policy: When women are in leadership positions they tend to introduce or create policies that are family-friendly and more equitable for women.
- Girls ‘leadership: Building girls’ leadership is a fundamental element to them becoming economically empowered women leaders.
- Women’s philanthropy: Growing the number of women who are bold in their philant hropy will not only grow the funding stream to accomplish social change, but also create a generative and growing community of women leaders.
Funding Information
Grants will be made in amounts up to $ 20,000 for programs that will take place between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. Funds will be announced in February 2022 and will be retroactively applicable to any expenses after January 1, 2022. Funds will be released within thirty days of the award announcement assuming all required documents have been signed and submitted.
Eligibility Criteria
- All funds must be distributed through nonprofit organizations that have been recognized as 501(c)(3) entities by the federal government. Applicants without 501(c)(3) status must engage a fiscal agent to administer their grant funds.
- All programs must serve women and girls in one or more of the central Ohio counties of Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, or Union.
- All programs must align with at least one of the strategic priorities.
- All programs must clearly articulate and address at least one of the fives shifts of social change.
- All programs must apply a gender lens and address gender norms.
- Funds may not be used for:
- Organizations that do not provide a respectful atmosphere for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, transgender, intersex, or asexual.
- Organizations that seek to restrict reproductive rights.
- Programs that promote religious activities and / or beliefs.
- Political campaigns or promotion of candidates for public office.
- Advancement of capital or endowment campaigns.
- Event sponsorship.
- Scholarships that fund individual students.
- Co-educational programs that do not clearly communicate a specific and unique focus on women and girls.
For more information, visit https://www.womensfundcentralohio.org/grants/apply/