Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Equality Fund (EF)

The Equality Fund is a feminist funding organization that mobilizes and directs capital to women, girls and trans-led movements, with a strong focus on locally rooted leaders in the Global South and other ODA‑eligible countries. Built on a four‑pillar model—investment, policy and strategic partnerships, philanthropy, and grantmaking—it seeks to transform how resources are generated and delivered for gender equality and human rights.

Its approach blends donor funding with returns from a 100% gender‑aligned investment strategy. Assets are invested across public and private markets, including venture capital, with an explicit aim to improve working conditions, increase access to capital, and shift financial systems that have historically excluded women and LGBTQI+ people. Earnings from this portfolio are then recycled into grants and operations, creating a long‑term, sustainable funding stream.

Grantmaking is a core pillar through which the Equality Fund channels flexible, multi‑year funding directly to organizations and to feminist funds such as the African Women’s Development Fund. Its grants support work on fighting gender‑based violence, advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, strengthening LGBTQI+ rights, crisis response, democracy and political participation, climate action and Indigenous land rights. Funding is intentionally trust‑based, allowing partners to deploy resources according to local priorities while reporting on populations of focus and key issues.

The Fund emphasizes people‑powered movements and backs local women and trans leaders with the long‑term resources needed to reshape their communities. Impact data published on the site show that hundreds of partners across roughly 100 countries have received support, with over $100 million moved to date, including multi‑year commitments.

Beyond direct funding, the Equality Fund works to unlock additional resources for feminist movements through policy dialogue and strategic partnerships with governments and foundations. It was launched with an investment from the Government of Canada and has since secured agreements with other G7 governments and over two dozen global foundations, including the Ford Foundation, Oak Foundation and Fondation CHANEL. These partnerships aim to increase climate and humanitarian funding to women’s and feminist groups and to design more flexible funding pathways for grassroots organizations.

Philanthropy is positioned as a community of changemakers, enabling individuals to support people‑powered movements when official aid is constrained. Philanthropic capital is used to move quickly in crises, back bold early‑stage ideas, and get resources to under‑served groups and regions.

The Equality Fund’s grantee partners focus on populations such as people experiencing gender‑based violence, adolescent and young women, LGBTQI+ communities, rural women and community leaders. Key issues include violence against women, girls and trans people, sexual and reproductive health and rights, community advocacy, youth leadership and LGBTQI+ rights. Annual reports and open data via the International Aid Transparency Initiative further document the Fund’s allocations, geographic reach and outcomes.

Through convenings and events, the Equality Fund also invests in field‑building—bringing together activists, funders and policymakers to co‑design strategies for social justice and systems change. Altogether, it operates as a hybrid vehicle that fuses investment returns, government and philanthropic funding to sustain feminist movements over the long term.