The Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe is pleased to announce that it has selected 26 small and medium-size frontline organisations in 16 countries to receive 3.470.000€ in two-year grants as awardees of our 2023 economic opportunities fund. From July 2023, we will provide those organisations with grants up to 150 000€ and opportunities for networking, peer-learning and organisational development. The full list of grantees is available below.
Our grantee partners were selected from an open call for proposals. We received 365 concept notes from a very diverse pool of organisations working across Europe and invited 50 to submit a second stage proposal. Applications were assessed by a selection committee composed of the following external experts: Anila Noor from New women connectors, Emanuel Pisano from CSR Europe, James Magowan from the European Community Foundation Initiative, Justyna Frydrych from FemFund Poland and Miriam Mona Mukalazi from the University of Dusseldorf. They were then approved by our steering committee members: Bodossaki Foundation, Fondation CHANEL, Fondation de France, Fondation RAJA-Danièle Marcovici, JP Morgan, King Baudouin Foundation and L’Oréal Fund for Women.
Grantees work across 16 countries in Europe (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom) with a balanced representation of Western, Southern and Eastern Europe. Their work focuses mainly on Job & skills, Financial independence and Entrepreneurship. They implement activities ranging from training, job placements, service provision, awareness-raising, community organizing and advocacy. The common thread between them is that their approach combine individual empowerment with challenging oppressive systems to improve gender equality and economic inclusion and they are self-led organisations or use highly participatory methodologies.
The 2023 Economic opportunities fund is the second grantmaking initiative of the Alliance and was created to improve economic inclusion, which is still one of the main challenges to achieve gender equality in Europe. Through this fund, the Alliance aim to support impactful and sustainable community-driven solutions that promote economic opportunities for marginalised women, transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming people in Europe.
Meet our new grantee partners
AkiDwA: Akina Dada wa Africa
Ireland – 120 000€ – project support
AkiDwA is a self-led migrant women organisation in Ireland aiming at ensuring equal opportunities and access to resources. Their project aims to continue their capacity building program and develop new activities such as:
- professional soft skills building, job seeking and personal development program – soon to be an accredited program
- building partnerships with companies to organise learning visits and/or job matching
- young women migrant’s network that provide young women with mentoring, educational support and social networking opportunities
- training women to become Community Health ambassadors
ALICE
Czech Republic – 150 000€ – core support
ALICE is a union of care workers in Czech Republic, which organizes, trains and advocates for better wages and improved working conditions for care workers throughout the country, all of whom earn below the Czech average wage.
ALICE intends to grow its structures by promoting knowledge exchange between marginalised Czech and migrant care workers from different regions and occupations in the care sector, strengthening their ability to engage in social dialogue, demand better working conditions and overcome barriers of nationality and geographical fragmentation. They will provide leadership trainings, peer-to-peer mentoring and alumna networking.
AMICOS Foundation
Spain – 135 882€ – project support
AMICOS FOUNDATION objective is to boost the socio-economic inclusion of people with disabilities. Their project aims to boost opportunities for decent employment in the green economy for rural women with disabilities. They intend to do that through the following activities:
- needs assessments of target groups & identification of participants
- creation of personalised socio-economic integration path for participants including vocational training, job seeking and psychological support
- identification of inclusive and gender equal companies in the green sector offering training and job placements
- development of a support network for participants to exchange and connect
- feasibility study on the creation of a social enterprise in the green and circular economy for AMICOS to sustain its activities involving the economic inclusion of women with disabilities in the green sector
Arab Women’s Solidarity Association – Belgium (AWSA-Be)
Belgium – 150 000€ – core support
Arab Women’s Solidarity Association – Belgium (AWSA-Be) is a self-led organisation with the mission of promoting the rights of Arab women in Belgium. The organisation will deepen its socio-economic inclusion activities including:
- comprehensive program of coaching, self-esteem workshop and networking for 15 job seeking women
- training for 60 people working in organisations supporting job seekers on anti-bias and promoting AWSA methodology
- sociocultural activities to provide opportunities for network building
- disseminating their educational material on women’s economic empowerment with an intersectional perspective
They also plan to hire staff dedicated to training and communication to deliver on this.
Association for Liberty and Gender Equality – A.L.E.G.
Romania – 149 760€ – core support
A.L.E.G supports women victims of violence in Romania. They want to develop their activities supporting Ukrainian and other refugees’ economic inclusion along with their core holistic support. The activities supported would include:
- skills building and wellbeing workshops
- financial education and personal development mentorship
- development of partnerships with employers for job matchmaking
- awareness raising for employers and counsellors on gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence
- advocacy to improve legal gaps in preventing sexual harassment at work and combating violence against women
Bilitis Resource Center Foundation
Bulgaria – 123 540€ – core support
Bilitis Resource Center Foundation focuses on the promotion of full equality for LGBTI people in Bulgaria. In partnership with Glas, they developed a project to enhance LBTI people economic opportunities. They will implement individualised inclusion path depending on the needs and goals of each participant and including:
- coaching for self-empowerment, developing soft skills in job seeking or business development
- career orientation and information about inclusive employers including a job fair to connect them
- psychological support to improve workplace adaptation
- peer-to-peer exchanges
BIWOC* Rising
Germany – 120 000€ – core support
BIWOC* Rising mission is to strengthen the economic, professional and social participation of women* experiencing discrimination and racism through the operation of the first intersectional coworking space and social club in Berlin. They will implement the following activities:
- offering a free of charge coworking space for women* of colour providing a safer space from discrimination and where they can form network and share economic opportunities
- educational program made of workshops, peer-to-peer mentoring and network building on topic such as financial management, self-confidence, strategies to counter discrimination
- developing a digital platform and counselling center on entrepreneurship
- conducting anti-bias training in companies and raise awareness on issues affecting their community such as the intersectional pay gap
Contemporaines
France – 100 000€ – core support
Contemporaines aims for gender equality in contemporary art by supporting under-represented women, transgender and non-binary artists. They encompass the following activities conducted in partnership with a broad network of cultural organisations, galleries and artists:
- professionalize and support artists through mentoring and workshops on the legal, economic and development aspect of the artistic work
- raise awareness on a more diverse art scene through events and communication promoting the work of those artists
Expanse of Gender and Media Culture ‘Common Zone’
Croatia – 136 000€ – project support
Common Zone is a self-led grassroot organization with a mission to increase the impact of women and gender aware individuals and groups who contribute to the creation of a society of gender equality. In the framework of their strategic plan for 2022-2024 they have identified economic empowerment as a key focus. Their project, in partnership with Impact Hub Zagreb aims at improving economic opportunities for LBTI people through:
- business support or business skills building for existing or new entrepreneurs
- outreaching and collaborating with inclusive companies on job matching, mentoring and/or job shadowing
- establishing a peer-support network for participants in the program
- providing legal and psychological support for participants as well as organizing strategy retreat with participants
GirlDreamer
United Kingdom – 134 400€ – project support
GirlDreamer is a self-led organisation that supports the personal and professional development of young women of colour to tackle social inequity and pursue their dreams. The Alliance will finance their Dream Fund that provide micro-grants (from £500 to £1500) to support grassroots women of colour-led social organisations and entrepreneurs. On top of those micro-grants, the programme offers one-to-one and group support, mentoring and workshops in financial management, fundraising, branding, marketing and impact measurement.
International Women* Space
Germany – 150 000€ – core support
International Women* Space (IWS) is a self-led feminist and anti-racist migrant and refugee women organisation aiming for the empowerment of migrant women.
As a follow-up to the Alliance support in 2022, the Break Isolation Group (a migrant and refugee only group within IWS) will upscale their peer-to-peer empowerment approach through:
- upscaling existing mini projects* into sustainable economic opportunities for women
- launching new mini projects by new participants
- building network with other CSOs to raise visibility of their issues
*Mini projects are decided and implemented by women with the aim of rekindling them with their soft skills and entrepreneurial spirit to be fit for the German labour market. Last year they included hairdressing, makeup production, farming, community soup…
Internationella Kvinnoföregningen I Malmö – IKF
Sweden – 141 983€ – core support
IKF Malmö promotes the inclusion of foreign-born women through study circles* and vocational training. They will upscale their study circles on economic empowerment (getting ready for a job, financial management, learning the Swedish language, green industry practice, career planning, entrepreneurship…). They also collaborate with companies and public institutions and key local leaders to bring economic opportunities to their participants. They plan on having circles participants becoming ambassadors and creating their own circles with a multiplier effect and developing specific awareness-raising moments.
*A study circle is a non-formal education training with a facilitator supporting participant reflection and giving an open and safe space.
Lallab
France – 150 000€ – project support
Lallab is a self-led feminist and anti-racist association that aims at defending the rights of Muslim women and amplifying their voices.
Their project focuses on economic empowerment with two components:
- POWER program in partnership with cities and public services: skills training, mentoring & networking for Muslim women to improve soft skills, gain knowledge about their rights and develop a network of accomplished professional peers
- awareness-raising: workshop for public & private employers on anti-discrimination, build partnerships with other feminist and labour union organisations to defend the rights of women in the workplace
LevFem
Bulgaria – 65 336€ – core support
LevFem is a queer feminist organisation working at the intersection of gender equality and economic justice. They will start building a movement for the improvement of care workers conditions in Bulgaria through:
- research on the different exploitative aspects of care work and build evidence-based advocacy
- community organising of care workers and providing empowerment trainings
- cooperating with various actors to articulate common political demands for improving the working conditions in the care sector.
MedFemiNiswiya.Network
Croatia, Greece, France, Italy, Spain – 150 000€ – core support
MedFemiNiswiya.Network is a network of feminist women journalists, photographers, designers, translators, across the Mediterranean all contributing to an independent online media called MedFemiNiswiya. The organisation offers women who are journalist a space to diversify and/or strengthen their professional capacities while at the same time covering women’s rights issues. They will implement the following activities:
- developing the network by contracting 20 additional female journalists with a migration background
- strengthening journalists’ capacity with targeted workshops on developing their journalistic skills and increasing their profile visibility to be hired by other media
- developing the magazine by increasing the readership, additional translations and producing a video showcasing the impact for participants in the network
- creating a journalistic Dossier on the intersecting discrimination of women workers of foreign origin
MozaiQ LGBT Association
Romania – 149 550€ – project support
MozaiQ is one of the main LGBTI organisation in Romania. In partnership with TransCore, they propose an economic inclusion program for marginalised trans and non-binary people in Bucharest and Brasov through:
- personalised interventions based on an individual assessment such as training sessions, career counselling and psychological support
- raising awareness on trans-inclusive practices for employers and organise job fairs with trans job seekers
- public awareness raising on transgender people experiences in the job market
NANE Association
Hungary – 150 000€ – core support
NANE is the main organisation supporting women victims of violence in Hungary. In partnership with PATENT, they aim to sustain and develop their activities around economic abuse (economic control, employment sabotage & economic exploitation). They will continue their core activities that deal with economic abuse: helplines, legal help, support groups, peer-support networks. They will also develop an economic empowerment program for victims of intimate partners violence to equip participants with knowledge on the issue, strategies to mitigate the impact and achieve economic independence. They will also develop an awareness-raising program for young women and a communication campaign to give visibility to the issue.
ORAM gGmbH
Germany, Poland – 150 000€ – project support
ORAM protects and empowers LGBTIQ asylum seekers and refugees globally by providing assistance, fighting for their rights and advancing their socioeconomic empowerment.
Their project in partnership with Lambda Warsaw is to create stable economic opportunities for LBTIQ displaced Ukrainians in Poland and Germany based on a community needs assessment. They intend to do that through:
- providing data skills development and training to target groups to enter the tech industry
- providing administrative and legal support for people to become freelancers and helping them develop business opportunities
- creating a job pool in collaboration with LGBT friendly multinational companies to place trained participants
- operating a work centre in Poland where people can apply their newly developed tech skills and be hired by Lambda to perfect their skills and ease their entrance in the job market while ensuring economic security
Organisation for the professional empowerment of women | Women On Top
Greece – 150 000€ – project support
Women On Top is working for the economic empowerment of women and for gender equity in the workplace. Their project aims at creating the Women Work Hub, the first female focused working, learning and advocacy hub with on-site childcare in Greece. The initiative will be built around 4 pillars:
- co-working space with childcare
- professional development programs and initiatives such as a job rehabilitation bootcamp, an incubator for female-owned SMEs and a financial literacy camp
- pilot one social enterprise (a hair salon) dedicated to train and employ women from marginalised groups
- advocacy and CSO Lab in partnership with longstanding partners active in gender equality to focus on underserved women
Per Esempio Onlus
Italy – 150 000€ – project support
Per Esempio mission is to empower individuals in danger of socioeconomic exclusion in Palermo and supporting them in the improvement of their skills and knowledge. In partnership with Handala, the project will build on the socioeconomic empowerment activities for young women supported last year by the Alliance and will consist in:
- various peer education workshops to reinforce the skills and knowledge of young women agency for their economic inclusion in two neighbourhoods
- developing community engagement and self-advocacy of these women to bring their issues to local policymakers
- exchanging best practices on socioeconomic empowerment between the 2 organisations engaged in the project and with other stakeholders
Romaversitas Foundation
Hungary – 150 000€ – core support
Romaversitas is a Roma women-led community organisation with the aim of establishing a strong Roma intellectual middle class in Hungary through providing academic services and support for Roma high school and university students to start their career. They will implement a holistic, sustainable economic inclusion program for young Roma women before their career launch comprising of the following elements:
- community run needs assessment
- career readiness training program focusing on financial literacy, economic independence, career planning, identity exploration… with training and peer-mentoring
- internship placements
- advocacy and awareness raising for Roma women’s inclusion in economic opportunities
ShoutOut
Ireland – 145 400€
ShoutOut works to end discrimination against LGBTQ+ people in society. They aim to safeguard and expand the delivery of their awareness-raising programmes promoting economic inclusion and equality in schools, universities and workplaces. They would more particularly develop the workplace inclusion programmes by reaching more organisations, deepening the impact with these organisations by working with them long-term, embedding inclusive practices, measuring the impact of their work and empowering LGBTQ+ women, trans, and non-binary champions and networks in these spaces to drive change.
SOS Racismo Madrid
Spain – 139 960€ – project support
SOS RACISMO MADRID is a self-led migrant and racialised women organisation with the aim of fighting against all forms of discrimination, segregation and structural racism.
Their project aims at facilitating the access of young racialised women (in their last year of university) to work and promoting the development of their vocational skills through the following activities:
- a training path on first job orientation and developing soft skills
- the establishment of a network of companies that will benefit from anti-racism workshops and will offer internship to the young women
- a mentoring program for the participants
- legal advice on labour and immigration law
Stichting Single SuperMom
The Netherlands – 148 000€ – project support
The Single SuperMom Foundation is a self-led organisation and the biggest network for single mothers in the Netherlands. Their project Inclusive Routes to Sustainable Jobs will be carried out in three steps, in partnership with two pilot municipalities as follow:
- set up of a local working group of civil servants, social workers, job coaches and the organisation own specialists and experts
- the working group explores a new path to the labour market for single mothers, often with a migration background, who live in poverty and have multiple problems, starting with training courses and leading to a sustainable job (or serious job prospect) that suits their capacity and situation
- four groups of 16 single mothers (two per municipality) participate in the pilot while monitoring and evaluating this process through participatory action research and disseminating it
The Sororum
United Kingdom – 100 320€ – core support
The Sororum is designed to support first generation professionals/first in family young women between the ages of 16-24 from marginalised and minoritised backgrounds to move into professional services and to bridge the education to industry gap. They want to upscale their volunteer-run organisation into a more formalised and structured one. They will continue running their Academy, a training to guide the young women into employment and the collective career peer-coaching program. On top of that they intend to create:
- an employment pipeline by identifying and onboarding employers
- an online portal providing resources on financial literacy, job board and events and a safe space for women to connect
Tracanelupa APS
Italy – 60 000€
Tracanelupa is a new ecofeminist organisation dedicated to experimenting new systems of development that respect the nature and women. Since 2020 they operate Gramigna, a community garden for women victims of violence. They now want to turn it into a small cooperative providing economic opportunities for women survivors of violence. They will do that by:
- training 10 women in organic agri-food production
- raising awareness on the economic autonomy of survivors of violence
- turning Gramigna into a small business
The Alliance for gender equality in Europe (the Alliance) is a donors collaborative created in 2021 to support progress for gender equality and women’s rights in Europe. It is composed by Bodossaki Foundation, Fondation CHANEL, Fondation de France, Fondation RAJA-Danièle Marcovici, JP Morgan, King Baudouin Foundation and L’Oréal Fund for Women and hosted by the Network of European Foundations. Through grants, capacity building and awareness raising, the Alliance strengthens the organisational development of small frontline organisations Through grants, capacity strengthening and awareness raising, the Alliance strengthens small frontline organisations supporting especially women, girls, boys, men, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+ living in vulnerable situations.