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For enquiries relating to the granting guidelines, please contact WELA at info@wela.org.au
For technical enquiries related to the grants portal, please contact ACF’s Grants Team at grants@communityfoundation.org.au, or call 03 9412 0412
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The Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) 2023 Grant Round is a partnership between WELA and Australian Communities Foundation.
Women and gender-diverse people all over Australia are stepping up to the challenges facing our planet. From the incredible activists at the forest frontlines to fierce lawyers taking fossil fuel companies to court, we are transforming Australia’s response to our environmental and climate crises.
But here’s the thing. Women-led projects are chronically underfunded with less than 0.2% of global charitable funding going to women’s environmental action.
So in March this year, WELA created Australia’s only giving circle dedicated to funding women’s action on environmental and climate issues.
WELA’s Giving Circle is proud to launch its first grant round to support women and/or gender-diverse people leading environment and climate action.
Grant applications should be between $5,000 to $10,000 over 12 months. If your project requires a higher level of funding, please get in touch with WELA directly before submitting your application.
Applications are open from 3rd August – 31st August 2023. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be announced in late September. Organisations should have a primary focus on impactful, cutting-edge, and inspiring advocacy, campaigns, and projects in the issue areas of environment and climate.
Before you apply, read the guidelines below or download here.
Women’s Environmental Leadership Australia (WELA) is a community of connecting, training and funding generations of women and gender diverse changemakers so that together we transform Australia’s response to our environmental and climate crises. WELA’s vision is for a world transformed by women leading change.
Funding is available to applicants who meet the following eligibility criteria:
Applications must be:
What do we mean by women and gender-diverse led?
What do we mean by environment and climate action?
The total funding available for WELA’s Giving Circle first grant round is $20,000.
We anticipate for the average grant to be between $5,000 to $10,000. If your poject requires a higher level of funding, please get in touch with WELA directly before submitting your application.
The following areas will be prioritised in WELA’s funding considerations but they are not all required for your application:
1. Women and Gender Diverse Leadership (this is required): WELA’s grants will build a new kind of leadership that is inclusive, collaborative, and relational. They will fund organisations and projects that have women and/or gender-diverse leadership within their organisations.
2. Creating Impact (this is required): WELA understands that there are many ways to create change that include differing theories of change, timeframes, and approaches. At the core, they want to collaborate with organisations and projects that create powerful outcomes, impactful movements, address systems change, and have a clear focus on environmental and climate outcomes.
3. Centreing First Nations Wisdom: WELA values and honours the leadership of First Nations women for country, community, and culture over millennia. They welcome applications from projects and organisations that centre First Nations knowledge systems, First Nations science, systems of governance for Caring for Country, and the experience of First Nations women in efforts to protect nature and secure our future.
4. Supporting Diverse Voices: WELA acknowledges the lack of intersectional and racial diversity in the mainstream environment and climate movement as a structural and systemic problem. Through their grants, they will aim to diversify the voices in our movements and put justice, equity, diversity, and inclusivity (JEDI) at the heart of WELA’s strategy, storytelling, and solutions. WELA welcomes applications that include the voices of underrepresented communities.
5. Creating Collaboration: Collaboration is one of the foundations of feminist leadership. WELA will support projects and organisations that prioritise building relationships and networks that enable learning and knowledge sharing across generations, sectors, communities, and geographic constraints.
Type of projects and activities we won’t fund:
Funds cannot be used for:
To apply online you will need to register to the Australian Communities Foundation Grants Portal. If you already have an account through Australian Communities Foundation, please use your existing username and password. Make sure to note your username and password to enable you to save and continue the form at a later date and access the portal for subsequent steps.
Applications are open here from 3 August 2023. If the application does not display automatically via this link, you may need to click the Apply button in the top left of the dashboard and enter access code: WELA2023. Preview the application form here.
Applications open: 9am AEST on Thursday, 3 August 2023
Applications close: 12am AEST on Thursday, 31 August 2023
Shortlisting Committee to evaluate grant applications and Giving Circle members to vote in mid-to-late September 2023
Notification of outcome: Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified in late September
Grants awarded: Grants will paid from October 2023 onwards
All applications must be submitted in full including any supporting documentation by 12am AEST on the closing date. Any incomplete applications or applications received after 12am AEST will be treated as ineligible.
For enquiries relating to the granting guidelines, please contact WELA at info@wela.org.au
For technical enquiries related to the grants portal, please contact ACF’s Grants Team at grants@communityfoundation.org.au, or call 03 9412 0412