Fund for Workforce Equity – Sep 16

Posted by Workforce Matters on September 3, 2024

Fund for Workforce Equity invites applications for second round of 2024 grants

The Fund for Workforce Equity is a project of Workforce Matters, a national network of grantmakers that draws on expert and practitioner knowledge and works together to strengthen workforce development philanthropy so it empowers workers, learners, and job seekers to realize their full potential; dismantles inequities based on race, gender, ability, and other individual characteristics; and advances equitable education and employment outcomes for youth and adults.

The fund has opened applications for a second round of grants in 2024. In this round of funding, the project anticipates awarding up to seven two-year grants of $100,000 each to organizations working to center the voices of workers and learners in designing, developing, and implementing workforce programs and policies. Grants will be awarded to organizations providing workforce development services primarily to or within historically marginalized or excluded populations, including workers and learners of color, Native Nations and communities, immigrants and refugees, and people with disabilities. Within the broader eligibility criteria, the fund has established a few priority areas and populations for this round of funding:

Populations: Workers and learners with disabilities, refugees and immigrants, youth and young adults.

Geographies: All U.S.-based applicants are welcome to apply; however, some funds are set aside for organizations based in California, southeast Michigan, and western New York.

Approaches: Approaches that align or integrate worker rights and workforce development; approaches that focus on building worker power to improve workforce development programs, working conditions, and/or economic mobility; approaches that empower workers and learners to shape and implement workforce programs and policies; and applicants committed to applying lessons learned to their own employment and organizational processes.

Eligible applicants include nonprofits tax-exempt as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, including fiscally sponsored organizations.

An applicant webinar will be held on September 4, 2024, at 4:40 p.m. ET. Letters of intent are due September 16, 2024, and upon review selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals, due October 31, 2024.

For complete program guidelines, application instructions, and for information about the applicant webinar, see the Fund for Workforce Equity website.

Deadline: September 16, 2024 (Letters of Intent)