Grants totaling $504,500 approved at EMpower’s Spring Grants Meeting in London!

Posted 26 March 2020 in EMpower News, Grantee Partner News   |   Share

The UK Spring grants cycle took place on March 25th and was the third of five grants meetings this fiscal year. A total of $504,500 in 9 grants were approved by the Board of Directors. Many thanks to the 29 participants who dialled in via Zoom to attend the meeting under these distressing circumstances.

As we face this evolving COVID-19 pandemic together, getting through this requires solidarity at all levels, especially towards communities that are the most vulnerable and economically impacted. Our flexibility is essential so that our grantee partners can best respond to the evolving needs of young people in their community.

Read more details about the approved grants below:

Jan Sahas Social Development Society, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, India ($48,000 for 24 months): EMpower’s 6th grant to Jan Sahas will consolidate their life skills program for survivors of manual scavenging and gender based violence and focus on strengthening their fundraising initiatives, with the aim of solidly documented programming and the
ability to get funding for initiatives that EMpower has supported. This grant will help Jan Sahas to institutionalize the learnings of this program and make it financially sustainable.

Youth Lives Foundation, Istanbul, Turkey ($100,000 for 24 months): EMpower’s 2^nd grant to Youth Lives Foundation will increase technical skill and soft skill acquisition for 760 (540 unique) youth (ages 12-16) from lower economic backgrounds. There will be a gender equality focus, offering coding training programme and mainstreaming gender awareness, ultimately encouraging girls to shape their futures according to their interests and potential, not by their gender.

KODA Rural Schools Transformation Network, Turkey ($35,500 for 12 months): EMpower’s 2^nd grant to KODA will develop vocational and core youth development skills of 400 young rural school teachers in training (university students in 2nd/3rd years, ages 20-24), with a particular focus on underserved youth studying at Anatolian state universities in 8 cities (and 8-10 rural primary schools) across Turkey.

Kodluyoruz (We are Coding), Istanbul, Turkey ($26,000 for 12 months): EMpower’s 2^nd grant to We are Coding will provide technical (AI, coding) and soft skill acquisition with the goal of increasing employability for 1,150 youth (15-17) from lower economic backgrounds who attend vocational school and major in information and communication
technologies (ICT), as well as 20 teachers. In addition they will develop a new online platform which will be an investment for the future scale and reach of programs across Turkey.

Autonomous Non-Commercial Organization for Social and Cultural Services (Upsala Circus), St Petersburg, Russia ($82,500 for 24 months): EMpower’s sunset grant to Upsala Circus will support the organisation’s efforts to become more sustainable by strengthening the fundraising and finance teams and providing them with the necessary tools to diversify and increase income as well as improve financial reporting. The grant will also support the installation of a ventilation system to the circus tent as well as the
implementation of the While it’s not too late – gender equity programme for one year after which it will be incorporated in Upsala’s core programmatic work.

Galaxy Fund (Stellit), St Petersburg, Russia ($60,000 for 24 months): EMpower’s 6^th grant to support Galaxy Fund as it moves into a new stage of its development by shifting the focus of its youth programme strategy to instituting child safeguarding policies and processes in various in Russian institutions; developing a commercial arm to improve fundraising; and documenting and disseminating the lessons from its successful volunteer movement.

Raoul Foundation, St Petersburg, Russia ($87,500 for 24 months): EMpower’s 3^rd grant to Raoul Foundation will support 150 young people in strengthening their employability skills and gain their first experience of paid employment (some will be trained in specific skills such as professional cleaning and retail). At least 110 of them will secure and retain employment within the 24 months of the project.

Abraço Campeão, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ($30,000 for 12 months): EMpower’s 2^nd grant to Abraço Campeão (AC) will help the organization consolidate and expand its
girls-only boxing program in Complexo do Alemão, one of Rio de Janeiro’s least developed favelas. The program, which was launched in 2019 with EMpower’s support, will help 45 adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19 improve their self-esteem, leadership capacities, life skills, and academic performance. It will foster a safe and encouraging space, as participants engage in girls-only boxing classes and workshops on gender equity and sexual and reproductive health issues. Based on lessons learned in 2019, the program will now be upgraded to include mental health and recreational/social inclusiveness components.

EMPUJAR, Buenos Aires, Argentina ($35,000 for 12 months): EMpower’s 2^nd grant to EMPUJAR will help establish the institutional and programmatic foundations
needed to triple the size of the organization’s livelihoods program, which will in turn help 605 vulnerable youth from Buenos Aires increase their employability prospects through skills training, mentoring, access to internships and job placement support. Program participants are between the ages of 17 and 24 (52% female and 48% male) and come from vulnerable backgrounds: some live in neighbourhoods without electricity or sanitation services, and their parents have primary level education only and are either unemployed or work in the informal sector.