Grants and Contributions

Through this 15-month systemic change project, Low Entropy Foundation will help advance women’s representation in leadership and decision-making roles through systemic change. Specifically, the project will address systemic barriers within economic and political systems by providing accessible and inclusive leadership training, political literacy, mentorship, and networking opportunities. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of the systemic change project.

Through this 22-month systemic change project, Women Transforming Cities International Society (WTC) will scale the Creating Women Friendly Cities program to advance women's representation in leadership and decision-making roles. It will scale to new communities across British Columbia, prioritizing participation from the most civically underrepresented communities, including women who are Indigenous, Black, racialized, newcomers, 2SLGBTQI+, youth, low-income and/or disabled, and scaling to a higher decision-making body within municipalities. It will address the systemic underrepresentation of women in local government and democratic processes, rebalancing the distribution of power and ensuring women have a voice at decision-making tables by overcoming key barriers including lack of local government knowledge, lack of civic participation tools and resources, lack of mentorship opportunities and networks, and the lack of elected leader support to enact gender-equitable policies. To do so, the project will deliver civic literacy and skill-building workshops and toolkits for grassroots women’s civic empowerment; implement a mentorship program to deepen civic skills; and create and share new resources for municipalities to remove barriers and change policies and systems for gender-equity and women's representation.

Through this 34-month systemic change project, SWAN Vancouver will help enhance im∕migrant sex workers’ economic security and prosperity through advancing systemic change. Specifically, the project will work to dismantle systemic barriers within the healthcare sector in Metro Vancouver by addressing high-barrier and discriminatory policies and practices within healthcare settings, as well as addressing gaps of knowledge of healthcare professionals and policymakers in regulatory bodies. An external evaluator will measure and assess the impact of this systemic change project.

Through this 22-month project, the Groupe de Recherche et d’Intervention Sociale de Montréal (GRIS-Montréal) will conduct community-based research to help improve gender-based violence (GBV) services for at-risk groups. The project will address GBV affecting youth who identify or are perceived as members of the sexually and gender-diverse community in Quebec secondary schools. To achieve this, the organization will seek the opinions of school staff working in places sexually and gender-diverse youth consider the least safe, as staff’s perspectives are generally overlooked in research on the subject. The purpose of this research is to document these school stakeholders’ views and intervention methods, and to provide areas for reflection and concrete actions to reduce GBV in schools. GRIS-Montréal will also disseminate the research findings within the scientific, educational, and sexually and gender-diverse communities. To do so, a dissemination strategy will be developed, and summaries of the research findings and other knowledge mobilization tools will be shared.

Through this 22-month project, Centr'Elles will conduct research that will help improve GBV services for at-risk groups. It aims to better understand the mechanisms by which Northwest Ontario communities promote or hinder the inclusion of immigrant women from a rights and equity perspective. To do so, the project will include research activities to 1) document the forms of inclusion and exclusion of immigrant women in relation to their social and economic integration in Northwest Ontario communities; 2) analyze the forms of systemic discrimination and violence that impact the lives of immigrant women and their inclusion in host communities; and 3) document initiatives that promote positive change for immigrant women from an equity and empowerment perspective. Research activities will include individual interviews, surveys, focus groups, and support and empowerment activities. In addition, data collection strategies and research results will be analyzed and validated by a monitoring committee of key players. Centr'Elles will make a presentation to community stakeholders to share information on the research findings.

Through this 35-month project, Native Women's Association of the NWT will develop, implement, and evaluate promising intervention practices that will address barriers against women's participation in the trades in the Northwest Territories. Specifically, the project will engage and build relationships with mining companies, review and implement inclusive corporate policies, connect businesses with qualified women through a database, highlight business exemplars, and evaluate the process. By the end of the project, Native Women's Association of the NWT will connect trained women to be employed in the trades in the Northwest Territories with companies conducive to employing women.

This 24-month project will help reduce and remove systemic barriers, like cultural and linguistic barriers, for non-status, refugee and immigrant (NSRI) women in accessing domestic and intimate partner violence (DIPV) services and promote healthy relationships amongst newcomers. The New Brunswick Multicultural Council will achieve this by translating and further distributing culturally adapted DIPV and mental health resources, by scaling out their information and orientation sessions about healthy relationships and DIPV to new targeted groups and rural audiences, by expanding and delivering their culturally integrative training and tools to new DIPV interveners, and by producing a short film to raise awareness about healthy relationships for newcomer families.

Through this 23-month project, Mokami Status of Women Council will strategically address significant organizational needs. This will be achieved through the development of a new strategic plan, the development and implementation of an evaluation plan to assess the impact and effectiveness of its programs, and consultations with stakeholders and funders to update the organization’s branding and to refresh its organizational identity to better serve the community. The project will also update HR policies, procedures, and systems to ensure greater streamlined and efficient processes.

Through this 24-month project, 2 Spirits in Motion Society (2SiMS) will increase its ability to prevent and address gender-based violence against Indigenous women, girls, or 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The hiring of a 2 Spirit Cultural and Prevention Coordinator and a 2 Spirit Cultural Event Coordinator will increase GBV capacity within the organization, helping to prevent further harm and increasing security within 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities. This will be achieved through GBV preventative approaches such as Equinox gatherings and the harvesting and sharing of traditional medicines, and the prioritization of Indigenous healing practices, such as pipe ceremonies, blessings, and storytelling.

To preserve and promote 2 Spirit knowledge, 2SiMS will work with Elders and knowledge holders to digitally document 2S Creation Stories. Information on Indigenous methodologies of medicine harvesting and teachings about each medicine will be documented and posted online to share the knowledge. Access to medicines for 2SiMS staff, 2SiMS Board of Directors, Elder Council, Youth Council, kin organizations and other 2SiMS members will promote healing and help to prevent further harm within 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities.

Through this 24-month project, Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia (RRANS) will build stronger capacity of 2SLGTBQI+ community organizations and networks to advance 2SLGTBQI+ equality. The project will address the need for LGBTQI+ newcomer involvement and leadership with respect to planning, development of policies, and programming, which will enable RRANS to become more representative of its community. This will be achieved by strengthening organizational governance, human resources and leadership policies, as well as establishing a mentorship structure.