Closing Date: December 20,2012.

The Canadian Women’s Foundation is pleased to announce the call for proposals for initiatives working with girls aged 9 to 13. Funding will be available for 25 – 28 grants and will include both program grants and network grants. These are multi-year grants for a period of 4 years.

We will select approximately 25 programs focused on delivering programs to girls between the ages of 9 and 13, that are using one or more of the following approaches: leadership/empowerment; physical activities/sports; science/math/technology; media literacy; financial literacy; and/or Aboriginal culture and teachings.

Aboriginal culture and teaching is being added this year as an approach that will be considered for the girls programs. This decision is based on our learnings from the past grant cycle. Previous evaluations demonstrated a positive impact on the lives of the Aboriginal girls in those programs that integrated cultural teachings into their programming.

All of these approaches are ways to engage girls in programs that will help build protective factors, such as confidence, connectedness, and critical thinking skills. These protective factors can mitigate the challenging environments girls may face and help them make positive choices along the way and avoid risky behavior.
Girls’ program grants will range from $25,000 to $40,000 annually for a 4 year period.

Mentoring has been recognized as a best practice in promoting strengths and resilience and has always been an expectation in the funded girls programs; however in this grants cycle we are providing additional resources for organizations to create intentional, comprehensive group mentoring initiatives to complement their girls program. This is an opportunity to develop, implement and test a comprehensive group mentoring program that will reinforce the protective factors developed in the girls programs.

Group mentoring involves matching groups of girls with one or more adults, older youth or Elders, in a supportive environment where they participate in group activities and ongoing intentional relationships are formed. Generally in group mentoring there should not be more than four mentees per mentor, and most groups where there are a team of mentors involved includes three mentors for a group of ten girls.

Grants for enhanced mentoring component will only be awarded in conjunction with girls’ program grants (that is you cannot receive an enhanced mentoring grant by itself). A total of eighteen organizations will be selected to receive funding to develop and implement an enhanced group mentoring component of their girls program. Organizations will receive two years of funding for their group mentoring component, with smaller amounts in the other two years. Some organizations will start their full enhanced mentoring component in year one and others in year three.

For those organizations selected for funding to implement their group mentoring component, an additional $25,000 to $40,000 annually will be available for two years, and smaller amounts or supports in the other two years.

We will make up to three grants to organizations that are working to build the capacity of girl-serving organizations and to strengthen connections between programs and organizations working with girls in the above noted program areas.

Network grants selected will be awarded a maximum of $40,000 annually for a 4 year period.

The selection process will ensure that the range of funded programs serves diverse populations of girls all across Canada.

Source and More Information:

http://www.canadianwomen.org/girls-fund-grants