Our Grantmaking Programs
Unleashing the power of feminist movements to drive lasting change.
In our complicated and rapidly changing world, how can we ensure that progress on women’s rights is real and lasting? How do we move beyond treating the symptoms of gender inequality toward addressing its root causes? What will it take to truly build a future where all women, youth, girls, and non-binary people are free to choose their own path and realize their own dreams?
We believe that the answer lies in the power of feminist movements—communities of activists whose lives are most impacted by gender inequality and injustice—to demand and drive change from the ground up to the global stage. Around the world, feminist movements are advancing their own visions of a gender equal future, moving beyond quick fixes toward large-scale change that builds collective power. Together, they are challenging the deepest social, legal, and political systems that combine to limit the full agency and freedom of women, girls, youth, and non-binary people everywhere.
And their lasting impact is real. A growing body of research shows that feminist movements play a pivotal role in securing and advancing women’s rights across a wide range of issues, including: violence against women; economic rights, including access to childcare, inheritance and land rights; reproductive rights; and political representation. Put simply, real change is about shifting power, and feminist movements hold the greatest potential to shift lasting power into women’s hands. Without them, a more equal future will forever be out of reach.
That is why the Equality Fund is focused on unleashing the inherent power of feminist movements everywhere—and on making it easier for other funders, and leaders from every sector, to do the same. By creating a new platform for sustainable investment in global gender equality, we are making it possible for investments in feminist movements to last longer, go farther, and dig deeper than ever before, just as these movements are poised for transformative progress around the world.
What We Fund
We will support individual feminist organizations building collective power in their communities; women’s and feminist funds that provide a critical lifeline for this work; and the coalitions and networks that bring all these different groups together to strategize and take bold action.
How We Fund
Consultation with feminist organizations and movements—and accountability to their agendas and priorities—is key to our model. We provide core support grants and strategic partner accompaniment to support brave groups addressing often under-funded issues in the challenging work to build a more just, peaceful, and sustainable world.
Where We Fund
In this first chapter of our growth, funding for the Equality Fund comes primarily from Global Affairs Canada to support our grantmaking in countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Grantee Partners
Our partners are working across a wide range of issues and intersections to build a gender-equal future. They represent organizations led by women, youth, girls, and non-binary people—groups often at the peripheries and working at the forefront of resistance—including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, LBTIQ populations, and sex workers.