Category: Opportunities

Who is the fellowship for?

Echoing Green supports bold leaders from all over the world who see possibility in the face of the most existential challenges of our day. Together, we strive to build a world that has yet to exist: a future free from racism and its far-reaching consequences where all people can thrive.

This Fellowship is for people whose enterprises are at an early stage and who are experts on the challenge they’ve chosen to confront. We seek leaders who reflect the community they serve and bring deep knowledge of the issues into their work as they co-design solutions with and for their communities.

Eligibility

• Will you be 18 years or older by the time you begin the Fellowship?
  • Echoing Green Fellowship applicants must be 18 years or older by August 8, 2022.
• Are you able to communicate proficiently in English?
  • To be eligible for the Fellowship and fully participate in programming and support offerings, you must be able to communicate in English proficiently. Support throughout the Echoing Green Fellowship is offered in English.
• Are you an original founder or a leading member of your proposed organization’s original founding team?
  • We use the term “original founder” to describe people who launched or are launching an organization that is their original idea. You cannot have assumed a leadership position within the organization after its founding. To be eligible, you must be a leader with decision-making power within the organization and be either 1) a sole founder or 2) a leading founder on a team of people who created the organization.
• Are you the primary decision maker for your organization?
  • To be eligible for an Echoing Green Fellowship, applicants must be the primary decision maker and have the ultimate authority over your organization’s growth and strategic vision.
• Will you be able to work full time on your proposed organization throughout the 18-month Fellowship?
  • If selected for an Echoing Green Fellowship, you may hold other professional responsibilities, but you must work full time, defined here as 40 hours a week, on the work outlined in your Fellowship application, and it must remain as your main professional priority.

Organisational Eligibility

• Does your proposed organization have a parent organization?
  • Organizations that are independent but have fiscal sponsors are eligible for the Echoing Green Fellowship as long as the fiscal sponsor has no authority over the organization’s work and decision making.
• Does your proposed organization operate independently and autonomously from your parent organization?
  • To be eligible for an Echoing Green Fellowship, you must be able to make and act on organizational decisions of your own choosing. If other organizations or entities manage or hold decision-making authority for your proposed organization, you may not be eligible. Organizations that are independent but have fiscal sponsors may be eligible as long as the fiscal sponsor has no authority over the organization’s work and decision making.
• In your personal assessment, would you describe your organization or idea in the “early stage” of its development and in need of financial and non-financial resources to become sustainable?
  • Echoing Green seeks applicants in need of funding to initiate or scale their organizations. We generally describe early-stage organizations or ideas as those that 1) have operated with full-time staff for less than five years or 2) still need resources to grow and sustain their operations. Organizations that already have all of the following in place *may* not qualify as early-stage enough for the Echoing Green Fellowship: a well-defined program model; an initial strategic plan; basic organizational infrastructure (like a bank account, payroll, job descriptions, etc.); a staffing plan; initial funding sources; and a board of directors that meets regularly to manage organizational governance. If you do not have all of these elements in place yet, you may still be in your startup phase and eligible to apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship.
• Does your organization use lobbying to further its mission or goals?
  • Per the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Echoing Green cannot distribute funds to organizations whose primary purpose is lobbying. Lobbying is defined as activities that seek to support specific political candidates, specific political parties, or urge action on specific legislative bills. Issue-area advocacy, defined as the attempt to cause political action using methods such as civic education and public campaigns, is not considered lobbying. For more details, please reference the IRS definition here: irs.gov/charities-non-profits/lobbying.
• Does your organization promote or recruit for a specific religious faith?
  • To be eligible for an Echoing Green Fellowship, the organization cannot engage in recruitment, promotion, or conversion for a specific religious faith to your constituency. If your organization’s work has a spiritual element or works with existing faith communities but does not promote or recruit on behalf of that faith, you may be eligible.
• Have you or any members of the organization’s founding or leadership team previously received an Echoing Green Fellowship?
  • For you and your organization to be eligible for an Echoing Green Fellowship, no founding team members and no people in a leadership position can be an Echoing Green Fellow.

To apply

Visit the official site of this opportunity here to apply and for more information.

Applications due: Tuesday, February 7 at 2:00 PM (14:00) ET

About our work at Collage

Collage focuses on promoting and nurturing Uganda’s makers working with wood, food, leather, fabric and ceramics. Visit our shop to support our work here.

The East Africa Social Business Ecosystem Builders program, initiated by YY Ventures and Yunus Centre, aims to increase the capacity of the existing ecosystem builders in East Africa by giving them access to new knowledge, technical skills and network.

The program will support ten (10) social business support organisations by enrolling them in a two-month-long learning journey. Through this program, two young professionals from each selected organisation (a total of 20 participants) will attend five workshops, design their own social business support programs with experts’ coaching and guidance, and they can apply for a matching fund of up to EUR 25,000 to implement their program activities.

The selected participants will:

• Receive world-class training from a network of experts to learn the technical know-how to design and implement social business support programs.
• Have access to funding support of up to EUR 25,000 to implement their proposed ideas.
• Have access to a global network of social business experts and other regional ecosystem builders, including microfinance institutions, social business funds, Yunus Social Business Centres and incubators/accelerators.
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Aim and Benefits of East Africa Social Business Ecosystem Builders Program

The selected participants will:

• Receive world-class training from a network of experts to learn the technical know-how to design and implement social business support programs.
• Have access to funding support of up to EUR 25,000 to implement their proposed ideas.
• Have access to a global network of social business experts and other regional ecosystem builders, including microfinance institutions, social business funds, Yunus Social Business Centres and incubators/accelerators.

Requirements for East Africa Social Business Ecosystem Builders Program Qualification

1. Only an organisation can apply; therefore, no individual application will be eligible for the learning journey workshops and later matching fund;
2. Local business support organisations, such as incubators/accelerators, co-working spaces, microfinance institutions, Universities, and Yunus Social Business Centre (YSBC), are eligible to apply;
3. Applicant organisations must be based in one of the four East African regions – Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda;
4. Each organisation should nominate at least two early-stage professionals (one male and one female);
5. Nominated early-stage professionals should be passionate about designing and implementing incubation programs and innovation challenges for young people within their communities; and
6. Participants should commit at least 5 hours per week for two months of the Learning Journey Workshop series and submit an activity plan to improve the social business ecosystem in their country/region.

Application Deadline

March 10, 2023

For more details, visit YY Ventures website

About our work

Collage focuses on promoting and nurturing Uganda’s makers working with wood, food, leather, fabric and ceramics. Visit our shop to support our work here.

Background

Join the HerMeNow Accelerator program to grow your social enterprise and increase your impact. 

Designed for women-led social enterprises focusing on building impactful solutions in culture, mindset, and education, this program is almost entirely remote and online and so accessible to companies across MENA + Africa (including MENA).

The programme will help grow your business through a three-month program driven by Bloom’s project-based learning methodology and world-class support.

Eligibility

Social Enterprises that are past the product/market fit stage and that:

• Already generate revenues or have considerable user and/or product traction
• Are planning to expand their teams
• Are economically viable in the long term
• Are responsible, inclusive, and social enterprises
• Are based in MENA + Africa (including Armenia)

Selected Teams Get:

• Funding to support an essential aspect of the business could improve growth and sustainability.
• Each enterprise will get a 2,000$ grant to support the enterprise’s needs and potential impact.
• Training, mentorship, and other support during the three-month accelerator program.
• Lifetime access to Bloom’s resources and HerMeNow’s network of entrepreneurs, including mentors, investors, alumni, and staff
• Demo day exposure and other investor connections

How to apply

Apply for this opportunity by following this link https://www.hermenow.com/ 

About our work

Collage focuses on promoting and nurturing Uganda’s makers working with wood, food, leather, fabric and ceramics. Visit our shop to support our work here.

Deadline: 30-Jun-22

Applications are now open for the Giving Joy Grants to strengthen & inspire women’s entrepreneurship worldwide.

Through its micro-grants and mentorship program, Giving Joy helps women establish or improve their businesses and initiatives—for their benefit and the benefit of their communities.

Funding Information

Grants will range from US$250 to US$500 and are awarded in installments upon completion of specific deliverables. The award amount will be determined by Giving Joy based on proposed activities and availability of funding.

Eligibility Criteria

• Women ages 18 and up.
• You can use the grant to start a new business, or expand your existing business. You can also use the grant to start or expand a nonprofit, non-governmental organization (NGO), charity, or propose a specific activity or project you would like to implement.
• You can apply for a grant from any country or state or territory in the world.
• You can propose activities in any field, trade, occupation, or craft. However, your business/organization/idea must focus on women, girls and/or families. And all activities must be LEGAL!
• The grant period is one year.

What is important to emphasize in the grant application?

• Make sure you fill out ALL fields of the online application form. An incomplete application will not be considered.
• Your proposed grant activities MUST have a social benefit to your community and MUST go beyond financial aspects of your business. The more social impact you can illustrate through your idea – the better and the greater your chances of winning the grant.
• They will NOT support activities related to the purchase of merchandise, stock, advertisements, or marketing.
• Be as specific as possible, particularly regarding how you will use the grant funds. For example, if you plan on using the grant for a community event, a training, scholarships, etc. please include a detailed list of the activity you will develop including estimated costs, what the event will include, who is the target audience, and how the event will impact women, girls, and families.

For more information, visit the official website here.