Gender
Gender as a structuring force in social conditions, services, and policy.
85 opportunities · 26 traditional · 59 nontraditional
Traditional (26)
- Academic research grantsFoundation grantWashington Center for Equitable GrowthResearch on whether and how economic inequality affects growth and stability, covering labour markets, care work, wage-setting and the macroeconomics of family policy.up to $100k · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb
- Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Small Research Grant (R03 Clinical Trial Optional) — PAR-25-370Federal grantNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), NIHThe small-grant companion to NHGRI's ELSI R01, built for self-contained projects that a single investigator can carry: focused conceptual, normative or legal analysis, secondary analysis of existing data, a bounded qualitative study, or a pilot that establishes feasibility before a larger application. For a social work researcher without a large team or an existing genomics portfolio, this is the lowest-barrier entry point into the ELSI program — two years and a modest budget, with the same broad methodological welcome as the R01. Useful for work on how genetic information is used in child welup to $50k per year · Several times a year · Feb, Jun, Oct
- AAUW International FellowshipsFellowshipAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)Supports women who are not U.S. citizens in full-time postgraduate study or research in the United States, running continuously since 1917. Master's and doctoral levels are funded at different rates, and fellows are expected to apply their expertise in service of their home countries — a fit for international and global social work scholarship.$20k–$25k stipend · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep
- AAUW American Short-Term Research Publication GrantsPilot / seed fundingAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)Short-term support for women holding a terminal degree to prepare completed research for publication — writing time, editing, and manuscript preparation rather than new data collection. Explicitly open across all fields, with the D.S.W. and M.P.H. among the qualifying degrees, and gender-focused research is encouraged.$8k · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep
- Leveraging Network Infrastructure to Conduct Innovative Research for Women, Children, Pregnant and Lactating Women, and Persons with Disabilities (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Optional)Federal grantNational Institutes of Health — Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)NICHD-led two-phase, milestone-driven award for investigator-initiated multisite clinical trials and observational studies that use existing NICHD clinical research network infrastructure. Populations covered are women, children, pregnant and lactating people, and people with disabilities.up to $6.3M · Several times a year · Mar, Jul, Nov
- AAUW American Doctoral FellowshipFellowshipAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)A stipend for women pursuing a first doctoral degree, open across fields including Ph.D. programmes in social work and social welfare. Funds the doctoral year rather than a specific project, so it underwrites dissertation-stage research time.$25k stipend · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep
- AAUW American Postdoctoral Research Leave FellowshipFellowshipAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)A one-year stipend releasing a woman scholar to work full time on postdoctoral research. The eligible degree list explicitly includes the DSW, so social work doctorates qualify directly.$50k stipend · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep
- AAUW American Fellowships — American Doctoral FellowshipDissertation awardAmerican Association of University Women (AAUW)Doctoral fellowship carrying a $25,000 stipend, paid in two installments, to support women completing doctoral study. Open across fields, including social work.$25k stipend · Annual cycle · Sep
- Cushwa Center Research Grants and AwardsFoundation grantCushwa Center for the Study of American Catholicism, University of Notre DameSix funding programmes for scholarly research, open to scholars outside Notre Dame. The Gustavo Gutierrez Research Awards support projects in theology, history and the social sciences engaging the preferential option for the poor; the Cyprian Davis Award recognises research on the Black Catholic experience; the Mother Theodore Guerin grants support research on Catholic women including oral history interviews. Relevant to social work historians and researchers on poverty, race and gender in faith-based service systems.Not a cash award · Annual cycle · Dec
- Community Research Collaboration (CRC) AwardsFoundation grantCalifornia Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP), University of CaliforniaCBCRP, funded by a California tobacco tax surtax and administered by the University of California, runs an annual cycle of breast cancer research awards. The Community Research Collaboration award is the mechanism most relevant to social work: it requires a genuine co-principal-investigator partnership between a community organisation and an academic researcher across all phases of the study, from question-setting through interpretation. Pilot awards run up to $200,000 in direct costs for 18 months and full awards up to $600,000 over three years. The same cycle also carries IDEA awards, fellow$25k–$600k · Annual cycle
- Medical Forensic Access InitiativeFederal grantHHS Office on Women's Health (OASH)OWH NOFO WH-AST-26-004 funds practical, data-driven and scalable projects supporting states, tribal communities, health care systems and other entities to improve access to medical forensic examinations for women and girl survivors of violence. Because the design centers data collection and systems improvement, it is a direct fit for social work researchers who evaluate sexual assault response systems and SANE capacity.up to $1M · Annual cycle · Jul, Aug
- Wayne F. Placek GrantsFoundation grantAmerican Psychological FoundationTwo grants of up to $15,000 each per year for research increasing public understanding of sexual orientation, including heterosexual attitudes toward LGBTQIA+ people, family and workplace issues, underrepresented LGBTQIA+ populations, and issues affecting Black LGBTQIA+ communities.up to $15k · Annual cycle
- Prevention and Intervention Approaches for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional)Federal grantNational Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), NIHTwo-phase award: an R61 pilot or secondary-data phase to establish feasibility, then a milestone-gated R33 phase to test FASD prevention or intervention approaches at scale.up to $500k per year · Several times a year · Feb, Jun, Oct
- Wayne F. Placek GrantFoundation grantAmerican Psychological FoundationFunds research that increases public understanding of sexual orientation and reduces stress experienced by LGBTQIA+ people, including family, workplace, and Black LGBTQIA+ community topics. Two grants per year.$15k · Annual cycle
- P.E.O. Scholar AwardsDissertation awardP.E.O. InternationalMerit-based awards of up to $25,000 for women pursuing doctoral-level degrees at accredited institutions, usable for dissertation-stage research and living costs. Open across disciplines.up to $25k · Annual cycle
- Maternal and Child Health Secondary Data Analysis Research (MCH SDAR) ProgramFederal grantHealth Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal & Child Health BureauFunds applied maternal and child health research using secondary analysis of existing national data sets and administrative records. Findings must strengthen the evidence base behind Title V National Performance Measures and address health disparities; recipients must submit a dissemination plan and report sample diversity.Amount not published · Periodic calls · Jan
- Maternal Health Research Collaborative for Minority-Serving Institutions (MH-RC-MSI) Research CentersTraining & capacityHealth Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Maternal & Child Health BureauBuilds the capacity of minority-serving institutions to conduct quantitative and qualitative research on the root causes of disparities in maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity, and to develop community-based solutions. Recipients must engage communities throughout, train early-career researchers, publish, and submit at least one external grant proposal for sustainability.Amount not published · Periodic calls · Jun
- ANROWS Research GrantsEvaluation contractAustralia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety (ANROWS)Competitive research grants commissioned against Australia's National Research Agenda to End Violence against Women and Children 2023-2028, funded by the Commonwealth and state and territory governments and, for some streams, by philanthropic funds. Rounds are announced periodically against identified evidence gaps, with recent rounds focused on people who use domestic, family and sexual violence. Unusually open in who may lead: any Australian organisation capable of conducting research, not only universities.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program evaluation and rigorous impact evaluation grantsFederal grantHHS Office of Population Affairs (OASH)OPA's national TPP program funds diverse organizations to prevent teen pregnancy and, alongside implementation grants, funds the development and evaluation of new approaches. Two distinct evaluation mechanisms ran in FY2026: rigorous impact evaluation of prevention programs (up to five-year projects) and shorter evaluation grants, both open to research organizations partnering with implementers.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jul, Aug
- Title X Family Planning Research GrantsFederal grantHHS Office of Population Affairs (OASH)OPA's research grant program (NOFO PA-FPR-26-001) funds research organizations to study how family planning service delivery can be improved, over project periods of up to three years. It is one of the few OASH mechanisms explicitly designated as research rather than service delivery, and reaches social work questions about access, service quality and reproductive health care for low-income clients.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jul
- P.E.O. Scholar AwardsFellowshipP.E.O. InternationalMerit-based awards for women pursuing doctoral-level degrees at accredited U.S. and Canadian institutions, established in 1991. Field-agnostic, so social work and social welfare doctoral candidates are eligible, and the award functions as unrestricted support for the dissertation year.Not a cash award · Annual cycle · Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
- Gender, Race & Power ProgramFoundation grantHispanics in PhilanthropyLong-term flexible funding plus capacity building and learning resources for grassroots racial- and gender-justice organisations across the Americas, using an intersectional and transnational lens.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- New York Women's Foundation grantmakingFoundation grantThe New York Women's FoundationGrants to organizations serving low- and moderate-income communities facing gender, economic and racial inequity, with safety, health and bodily autonomy among the foundation's stated focus areas.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Mama Cash grant funds (Resilience, Solidarity, Spark, Revolution, Radical Love)Foundation grantMama CashMulti-year and annual grants to feminist, women's, girls', trans and intersex rights groups that are self-led by the communities they serve. Separate funds with distinct sizes and application windows.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Apr, Aug
- Rubenstein Library Research Travel Grants (incl. Mary Lily, Franklin Center, Human Rights Archive, History of Medicine)FellowshipDavid M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University LibrariesTravel grants of up to $1,500 for in-person research in Duke's designated collections, including women's history (Sallie Bingham Center), African American history (Franklin Center), the Human Rights Archive, LGBTQ+ history and history of medicine.up to $2k · Annual cycle · Feb
- Schlesinger Library Dissertation GrantsDissertation awardArthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America, Harvard Radcliffe InstituteCompetitive grants of up to $3,000 for doctoral candidates whose dissertation research requires the Schlesinger Library's collections on the history of women and gender in America, including women's social reform and welfare work.up to $3k · Annual cycle
Nontraditional (59)
- International and US grantmakingParticipatory grantmakingAstraea Lesbian Foundation for JusticeOne of the longest-running LGBTQI funders, resourcing movement-led groups worldwide including their own documentation and research work.$5k–$75k · Periodic calls
- Reproductive justice grantmakingParticipatory grantmakingGroundswell FundFunds reproductive justice organising led by women of colour, transgender and gender-expansive people, including the community-based research those organisations use to make their case.$10k–$150k · By invitation
- Grantmaking for gender justice by and for young peopleParticipatory grantmakingThird Wave FundActivist-led funding for gender justice organising by young people of colour, including rapid-response money that moves in weeks rather than the eighteen months a federal grant takes.$5k–$50k · Rolling / open
- TOPx HHS Tech Sprint for AI and Invisible IllnessPrize or challengeHHS LymeX Innovation Accelerator with NIH Office of Research on Women's Health and the Federal CDO CouncilA $2 million sprint to build working tools from federal open data on conditions that are hard to measure. One of its three tracks is explicitly about quantifying the full cost of illness borne by patients and families.up to $2M · Periodic calls · Jul, Oct
- Mobilize Power FundRapid-response fundThird Wave FundRapid-response grants for gender justice groups responding to an unanticipated, time-sensitive threat or opportunity within the last six months, including direct action, healing justice, mutual aid and emergency needs.$10k–$20k · Several times a year · Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct
- Peg Johnston Innovation FundPilot / seed fundingAbortion Conversation ProjectsSmall seed grants for innovative work on abortion care, support, storytelling and meaning-making, explicitly open to researchers, artists, doulas and community leaders as well as organizations.$5k–$10k · Annual cycle · Sep
- Mulheres que Transformam o Futuro — Apoio a Soluções Comunitárias para a Resiliência Climática e a Justiça SocioambientalParticipatory grantmakingFundo Casa Socioambiental (Casa Fund)An open call from Brazil's Casa Socioambiental Fund supporting women-led community solutions for climate resilience and socio-environmental justice. The call funds up to 35 projects nationwide, with priority for women in traditional communities and for work on climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation. At least three grants are earmarked for women's associations producing agroecological cotton in the Brazilian semiarid. Casa Fund is a participatory grassroots fund: grantees are community associations, so a social work researcher would join as a documentation, evaluation or accompanimentAmount not published · Periodic calls · Jul, Aug
- Disability Rights Fund — OPD GrantsParticipatory grantmakingDisability Rights FundA grantmaking collaborative in which persons with disabilities sit on the bodies that decide grants, funding organisations of persons with disabilities in the Global South to advance the CRPD, including their own advocacy research and documentation.$10k–$120k · Annual cycle · May, Jun
- Black Feminist Fund — Sustain Fund and Solidarity FundParticipatory grantmakingBlack Feminist FundTwo participatory funds resourcing Black feminist movements globally: multi-year core support (Sustain) and shorter solidarity/convening grants. A Grant Review Committee of movement people makes the final funding decisions, not staff.$20k–$200k · Periodic calls
- Incident Emergency FundRapid-response fundDigital Defenders PartnershipRolling emergency fund for human rights defenders, journalists and activists under digital attack — replacing seized or damaged equipment, hardening systems, and covering psychological impacts so documentation work can continue.up to $5k · Rolling / open
- Community Power-Building for Birth and Parenting Justice Grant ProgramParticipatory grantmakingSisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice CollectiveParticipatory grant program that reserves a share of its pool for BIPOC researchers and BIPOC creatives alongside grassroots groups, funding research and arts that advance birth and parenting justice.$25k–$50k · Periodic calls · May, Jun
- Opportunity GrantRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismFast small grants for activist groups facing an unanticipated, time-sensitive opening, covering advocacy and work to raise awareness, influence policy and shift public discourse. Decisions come within 15 business days.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- ISDAO Regional Call for Grant ProposalsParticipatory grantmakingInitiative Sankofa d'Afrique de l'Ouest (ISDAO)An activist-led West African fund whose volunteer Activists Grant Making Panel decides all grants. Three tiers of flexible support for LGBTQI-led groups, including advocacy, capacity building and knowledge work.$5k–$90k · Periodic calls · Sep, Oct
- Asian Women Giving Circle project grantsParticipatory grantmakingAsian Women Giving CircleAn all-volunteer circle of Asian American women in New York City pools its own money to fund arts-and-culture projects led by Asian American women and gender-expansive people that advance social justice.up to $8k · Annual cycle · Feb
- Security Grants and Opportunity GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismRolling rapid-response grants to feminist activists, organisations and movements — Security Grants when safety is at risk, Opportunity Grants for advocacy, awareness raising, policy influence and shifting public discourse.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- NAPSW Innovative Program Award and Research GrantPilot / seed fundingNational Association of Perinatal Social Workers (NAPSW)A $1,000 one-time seed award for perinatal social workers to fund special programmes or research efforts that lack other funding, including evidence-based practice implementation and best-practice evaluation.$1k · Annual cycle · Feb
- inroads FellowshipsIn-kind resourceinroads (International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma)Themed cohort fellowships for network members who produce a personal or collective resource on abortion stigma, combining a stipend with structured collective learning and global dissemination.$2k stipend · Periodic calls
- Sex Worker Giving CircleParticipatory grantmakingThird Wave FundGrantmaking fellows with current or past sex trade experience make all funding recommendations and decisions. Awards unrestricted general operating support, explicitly including research alongside advocacy and direct services.$35k per year · Annual cycle · Mar, Apr
- Security Grant (rapid response)Rapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund for Feminist ActivismRapid grants for feminist activists and groups facing unanticipated, time-urgent safety and security risks. Receipt confirmed within 24 hours and decisions made within 15 business days.up to $8k · Rolling / open
- Rapid Response Grants and Enabling Defenders GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific (UAF A&P)Grants of up to USD 5,000 to women and non-binary human rights defenders and their movements across Asia and the Pacific, accepted in any language, any day of the year, with a response in 72 hours.up to $5k · Rolling / open
- Sex Worker Giving CircleParticipatory grantmakingThird Wave FundA participatory giving circle in which sex worker community members serve as fellows and make the grant decisions themselves, resourcing sex worker-led organizing and community building.$15k–$25k · Periodic calls
- COMpetency in Menopause & Integrated Therapy (COMMIT) ChallengePrize or challengeNIH Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), with NIA, NHLBI, NINR, NIAMS and the NIH Office of the DirectorA $2.5 million prize for existing health-professions curricula that teach the menopausal transition well. It rewards documented, evaluated teaching practice rather than a proposal for new work.up to $2.5M · Varies by programme
- Leading From The South — Asia window (Women's Fund Asia)Participatory grantmakingWomen's Fund AsiaThe Asia window of Leading From The South, a Global-South-led consortium fund in which Southern women's funds — not Northern intermediaries — make the grant decisions. Women's Fund Asia awards multi-year grants in three tiers to organisations and networks led by women, girls, trans and intersex people working on gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate justice and economic justice. The tiers reach from community-level frontline work through national advocacy to regional agenda-setting, and the multi-year form is long enough to carry evaluation and evidence-builAmount not published · Periodic calls
- Apoyos de Respuesta Rápida (rapid response grants)Rapid-response fundFondo de Acción Urgente de América Latina y el Caribe (FAU-LAC)FAU-LAC is a feminist rapid-response fund working across 21 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. It offers three funding modalities, of which the Apoyo de Respuesta Rápida (ARRS) is the flagship: grants for the protection, integral security and collective care of movements in the region facing risks and threats, and for groups building transformations against systems of oppression and injustice. Requests are made through a dedicated intake portal rather than a fixed-date competition, which makes it a viable channel for urgent security, protection and accompaniment needs arising in theAmount not published · Rolling / open
- AWDF Grants (Call for Proposals)Participatory grantmakingAfrican Women's Development FundAWDF is a pan-African feminist fund based in Accra that resources women's rights and feminist organisations, collectives and movement actors across Africa, with deliberate emphasis on groups historically excluded from funding — nascent and grassroots organisations, unregistered groups and movements that mainstream donors treat as too risky. Its last cycle offered five distinct grant types aimed at those actors. Grants can carry organisational strengthening, knowledge production and learning/networking work, so a community organisation partnered with a social work researcher can use AWDF money Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Doria Feminist Fund — Core, Project and Knowledge Production GrantsParticipatory grantmakingDoria Feminist FundA MENA-region feminist fund making core, project and knowledge-production grants to feminist organisations and collectives based in or working across the Middle East and North Africa. Decisions are made participatorily: an activist review committee reviews applications, gives feedback, builds the shortlist against movement priorities, joins due diligence and confirms the final grantees. The knowledge-production stream is the direct route for community-based research, documentation and evidence-building; core support funds the organisational capacity that makes such work possible.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- FemFund Poland — MiniGrants, Multi-year and Intervention GrantsParticipatory grantmakingFundusz Feministyczny (FemFund)A Polish feminist fund built on participatory grantmaking in its strict sense: the fund states that the people who take part in a call decide who the money goes to. Three streams run — MiniGrants for informal groups, collectives and NGOs, multi-year grants for sustained work, and intervention grants for urgent needs. Money is deliberately routed to villages and small towns as well as cities, which makes it a route for locally-grounded participatory research and community documentation that a mainstream Polish research council would not reach.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Fondo Integral and Fondo ActivistaParticipatory grantmakingFondo AlquimiaFondo Alquimia is Chile's feminist fund, working for the human rights and social justice of women, children, trans persons and sexual and gender diversities. It runs two funding lines. Fondo Integral gives direct contributions to organisations' work plans, covering operational and activist costs, and pairs money with horizontal partnership, visibility support and workshops on feminist financial administration and communications. Fondo Activista provides contingent, rapid-disbursement support for public actions, rights-violation and crisis situations, and movement commemorations. The fund reporAmount not published · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
- Fundo Baobá — Editais abertos, including Programa Marielle Franco Apoio Individual (2ª Edição)Participatory grantmakingFundo Baobá para Equidade RacialFundo Baobá is Brazil's fund for racial equity, running rolling public calls that resource Black-led organisations and Black individuals. The open Programa Marielle Franco – Apoio Individual (2ª Edição) offers technical and financial support to build the leadership of Black women working to influence and change government policy, an explicit policy-advocacy and capacity track. The fund's editais page also lists Edital Já É (2ª edição), BLACK STEM (3ª edição), Edital Carreiras em Movimento and Edital Educação em Tecnologia. The Marielle Franco line suits policy analysis, participatory evaluatioAmount not published · Several times a year
- Kosovo Women's FundParticipatory grantmakingKosovo Women's NetworkA small-grants fund run by the Kosovo Women's Network for women's organisations in Kosovo and the surrounding region, weighted toward groups serving rural and marginalised women and girls. Grants are small and flexible, and every grant is paired with tailored capacity development — grant writing, project management, financial management and advocacy — so the fund is as much a capacity-building instrument as a money instrument. That pairing is what lets a small rural organisation become a credible research or evaluation partner.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Podáali — Fundo Indígena da Amazônia Brasileira, calls for proposals (Editais)Participatory grantmakingPodáali — Fundo Indígena da Amazônia BrasileiraPodáali is an Indigenous-led fund that regranteds to Indigenous peoples, organisations and communities across Brazil's Legal Amazon through periodic public calls. Its published calls have included the "Guardiãs da Amazônia" call for Indigenous women defending life and climate justice, the Prêmio Ciências Indígenas for ancestral climate solutions, and "Amazônia Indígena Resiste". Funding priorities span eight thematic areas including Indigenous territorial and environmental management and sustainable economy and food sovereignty. The fund is a route for participatory and community-controlled reAmount not published · Periodic calls · Jan, Feb
- Renewed Women's Voice and Leadership – Bangladesh (RWVL-B)Participatory grantmakingManusher Jonno FoundationA national intermediary fund in Bangladesh that re-grants multi-year core funding to grassroots women's rights, feminist and community-based organisations and to networks led and managed by women and gender-diverse groups. The support is deliberately institutional rather than project-bound — institutional strengthening, grassroots implementation and movement-building — and applications open with a short Expression of Interest accepted in Bangla or English, which lowers the barrier for organisations that could never assemble a donor-standard English proposal. Manusher Jonno works across 53 distAmount not published · Periodic calls · Sep
- The CARE FundParticipatory grantmakingThe CARE Fund (Care for All with Respect and Equity)A philanthropic collaboration pooling resources to improve the livelihoods of paid and unpaid caregivers and the quality of care across generations. Stated targets are public investment in paid family and medical leave, early care and education, aging and disability care, and quality care jobs, which is squarely the evidence terrain of care-work research.Amount not published · By invitation
- Trag Foundation Open Calls — Fund for Young Feminists, Green Ideas, Active CommunitiesParticipatory grantmakingTrag Foundation (Serbia)Serbia's main community-philanthropy foundation, running a standing set of open calls rather than a single programme: a Fund for Young Feminists, Green Ideas for solidarity-economy and environmental initiatives, Active Communities for local civic action, and a strategic grant for good governance. The Active Communities line is explicitly aimed at community-based groups initiating change in their own localities, which is the natural home for a community-partnered study or local evaluation in the Western Balkans. Trag reports 2,400+ projects supported across 250 communities over 26 years.Amount not published · Several times a year
- CODESRIA Meaning-making Research Initiative (MRI)Foundation grantCouncil for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)CODESRIA's flagship research grant strand, funding interpretive and explanatory research on African social realities and futures, with diversity and gender treated as central rather than optional questions. Applications may be individual or from groups of three to five members drawn from one country or several, which makes it a genuine vehicle for cross-border francophone-anglophone West African teams. A dedicated stream funds groups headed by female scholars and composed of women only, with rare justified exceptions. Grants run on a strict 16-month lifespan and budgets must be built to that. Amount not published · Annual cycle · Jan, Feb, Mar
- Urgent Action Fund Asia & Pacific — Rapid Response GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Asia & PacificA feminist rapid-response fund for women and non-binary activists and organisations under threat across Asia and the Pacific. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis rather than against deadlines, and the fund also runs strategic support for defender communities alongside the emergency window. For research-adjacent work the relevant uses are security, relocation, urgent documentation of violations and protecting the people and records a longer evidence project depends on — the kind of cost no conventional research grant will move fast enough to cover.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Global Innovation FundFoundation grantGlobal Innovation FundA development innovation fund that backs early-stage innovations with proven potential to improve the lives of people living in poverty, using flexible capital across grants, equity and debt. Priority investment geographies are Africa and Asia, and stated thematic areas are building climate resilience and unlocking inclusive economic opportunities with an emphasis on women and girls, across agriculture, education, health, gender equality and financial and social inclusion. Notably for social work research, the fund states explicitly that research institutions may apply, which makes a universitAmount not published · Rolling / open
- Ukrainian Women's Fund — Calls for ProposalsParticipatory grantmakingUkrainian Women's FundA Ukrainian women's fund operating since 2000 that has run hundreds of grant competitions for women's and feminist NGOs and is currently reshaping its support around wartime needs. Its recent, now-closed calls show the shape of what it funds and are a fair guide to what returns: implementation of regional National Action Plan 1325 commitments by coalitions, pilot projects addressing conflict-related sexual violence, travel grants for activists, and support for women entrepreneurs creating jobs. The 1325 and CRSV lines are directly research- and evaluation-adjacent for social work scholars workAmount not published · Periodic calls
- Abortion Bridge Collaborative (ABC) FundParticipatory grantmakingWomen Donors NetworkPost-Dobbs participatory fund that moves unrestricted money to community-rooted abortion access and reproductive justice groups, with grantmaking decisions made by an advisory council of movement leaders, providers and organizers.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Mama Cash grantmaking (Solidarity Fund and Spark Fund)Participatory grantmakingMama CashFlexible, long-term core support for self-led feminist groups — people who speak and act for themselves from lived experience of stigma, violence, exploitation and exclusion — including accompaniment beyond the grant.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- SAFE Housing NetworkIn-kind resourceA New Way of Life Reentry ProjectA national network of formerly incarcerated people that gives organisations the model, training, technical assistance and mentorship to open safe reentry homes and build the leadership of the women who live in them.Not a cash award · Rolling / open
- Climate Justice GrantmakingParticipatory grantmakingThe Solutions ProjectFunds neighborhood-level climate justice organizations governed by residents of communities most affected by climate impacts, with resources targeted to BIPOC-led and women- or nonbinary-led groups. Access is by invitation or referral, not open application.Amount not published · By invitation
- Fundo Agbara thematic funds — Apoio Imediato, Fundo Bem Viver and Asa DuduParticipatory grantmakingFundo AgbaraFundo Agbara is a Brazilian fund by and for Black women, channelling resources through thematic funds. Apoio Imediato supports Black women students taking up study opportunities abroad and human rights defenders at risk. Fundo Bem Viver resources well-being initiatives, with a Malunga Bem Viver line for collectives and organisations and a Descansa, Nêga line that pays for Black women's rest. Asa Dudu offers strategic business guidance. The fund reports more than R$6.8 million invested, a network of around 600 Black women's initiatives, and more than 5,000 Black women strengthened. It is a routAmount not published · Varies by programme
- Tewa Grantmaking to Nepali Women's GroupsParticipatory grantmakingTewa — Nepal Women's FundNepal's own women's fund, built on locally raised money and volunteer grant committees rather than on a foreign donor's programme cycle — the model that made Tewa a reference case for community philanthropy in South Asia. It raises funds that go directly to diverse Nepali women's organisations and groups, including groups in districts that international funders rarely reach. For a social work researcher this is a route to community-embedded partners and to the kind of local, small-group grantee that participatory and community-based research depends on.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Disability Justice Funds (participatory grant-making)Participatory grantmakingADD InternationalFunds designed and awarded by panels of disabled women and young disabled people themselves, resourcing grassroots disabled people's organisations in Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, Cambodia and Bangladesh.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- FRIDA Young Feminist Fund — Call for ApplicationsParticipatory grantmakingFRIDA | The Young Feminist FundA fund run by young feminists where the applicants themselves are the panel: every group that applies votes for the top proposals in its regional voting group, and non-voting groups are disqualified.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- Global Resilience FundRapid-response fundPurposeful (Global Resilience Fund)A pooled crisis-response fund that moves flexible money to girls and young feminists responding to acute and protracted emergencies, steered by local young advisors and an Activist Stewarding Circle.Amount not published · By invitation
- GrantTankPrize or challengeThe Jensen ProjectA funder-run 'think tank' plus grant programme for nonprofits serving adult female sex trafficking survivors, combining money with convenings, professional resources and shared learning across grantees.Amount not published · By invitation
- Business Women's Giving CircleParticipatory grantmakingCommunity Foundation for Northern VirginiaA donor giving circle at a community foundation whose members pool funds and choose grantees supporting business innovation, entrepreneurship and inventive opportunities for women and girls in Northern Virginia.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Sep
- Fondo Lunaria Convocatorias (open calls for young women and trans youth collectives)Participatory grantmakingFondo Lunaria Mujer (Colombia)A Colombian feminist fund whose recurring calls resource collective processes led by young women and trans people, including groups with no legal registration and groups far from Bogota.Amount not published · Periodic calls
- International Trans Fund Grants (SEED and THRIVE)Participatory grantmakingInternational Trans FundA global participatory fund governed by trans activists that resources trans-led groups doing movement-building work anywhere in the world, through one open grantmaking cycle each year.Amount not published · Annual cycle · Oct, Nov, Dec
- Slovak-Czech Women's Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingSlovak-Czech Women's FundA binational women's fund covering Slovakia and Czechia — a corner of Central Europe that lost most of its dedicated gender funding when the large post-accession donor programmes wound down. The fund lists grants alongside its own programmes and projects, supporting women and girls to pursue their ambitions. It is included here as a live regional funder for community-partnered work in the two countries, with the caveat below about how little it publishes in English.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- International Trans Fund GrantsParticipatory grantmakingInternational Trans FundGrants to trans-led groups, decided through a trans-led grantmaking panel. The published list of supported activities explicitly includes community-based research, media projects and resource development.Amount not published · Annual cycle
- Rapid Response, Protection, and Advocacy & Alliance Building GrantsRapid-response fundUrgent Action Fund Africa (UAF-Africa)A pan-African feminist fund that moves money in days, not months, for unanticipated and time-urgent situations. Three windows: rapid response, protection/security, and advocacy and alliance building.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- Trans Justice Funding Project GrantsParticipatory grantmakingTrans Justice Funding ProjectUnrestricted general-support grants to grassroots trans justice groups, awarded by a panel of six trans justice activists who read every application. No reporting or site visits required.Amount not published · Several times a year · Jan, Feb
- Women's Foundation California grantmaking (Community Power Fund, Culture Change Fund, HOME Cohort)Participatory grantmakingWomen's Foundation CaliforniaTrust-based, largely general-operating and multi-year grants to California organizations led by and serving women of color and gender expansive communities. The HOME Cohort specifically funds safety and economic security for women made homeless by domestic violence.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- 2026 Bridging Investments in Abortion and Contraception ResearchRapid-response fundSociety of Family PlanningRolling bridge funding to complete, in whole or in part, US abortion and contraception research grants that were terminated by NIH.Amount not published · Rolling / open
- NNAF Member Fund Grants (Count On It, Power Up, Collective Power Fund, TA Mini Grants, Emergent Gathering Grants)Participatory grantmakingNational Network of Abortion FundsA suite of regrants moving money to member abortion funds, including rolling technical-assistance mini grants for special projects and gathering grants for convenings across funds.Amount not published · Varies by programme
- Asian Women Giving CircleParticipatory grantmakingAsian Women Giving Circle (a donor-advised fund of the Ms. Foundation for Women)An all-volunteer New York City giving circle of Asian American women that pools member contributions and funds projects led by Asian American women and gender-expansive artists and community groups.Amount not published · Annual cycle
Other clusters
- Adolescent and Youth Development
- Aging Services and Gerontology
- American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian and Global Indigenous Populations (Indigenous Cluster)
- Asian and Asian-Pacific Islander Focused-Research
- Black and African Diaspora Focused-Research
- Child Welfare
- Communities and Neighborhoods
- Crime and Criminal Justice
- Disability
- Gender-Based Violence
- Health
- History
- Inequality, Poverty, and Social Welfare Policy
- International Social Work and Global Issues
- Immigrants and Refugees
- LatinX Focused-Research
- Mental Health
- Military Service Members, Veterans and Their Families
- Organizations and Management
- Race and Ethnicity
- Research Design and Measurement
- Research on Social Work Education
- School Social Work
- Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
- Social Work Practice
- Substance Misuse and Addictive Behaviors
- Sustainable Development, Environmental and Climate Justice
- Work and Work-Life Policies and Programs