Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Local Investment Toward Employment Inc. (LITE)

Local Investment Toward Employment Inc. (LITE) is a targeted local foundation and registered charity based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its mandate is to break down barriers to employment in some of the city’s lowest-income neighbourhoods by funding job experiences and training programs. Rather than delivering all services directly, LITE channels resources to a network of partner charities, non-profit organizations, and social enterprises that design and operate employment-based initiatives rooted in community needs.

LITE’s funding model combines grantmaking, social purchasing and sector support. Grants provide wages, honorariums and related training costs so that partner organizations can create supported work experiences for people facing multiple barriers such as poverty, homelessness, criminal records, or trauma. Social purchasing and the LITE Shop use buying power to generate additional employment and revenue for inner-city businesses and social enterprises, reinforcing local economic development alongside traditional grants.

Through its Granting program, LITE offers Job Grants that typically cover wages or honorariums for participants in partner-run programs, and can also contribute to work-readiness certifications, training expenses or wages in early-stage social enterprises. Job Grants are normally distributed in the spring, giving partners predictable access to employment funding.

The Springboard Jobs Fund is a non-competitive grant stream that allows qualifying partner organizations to quickly create short-term paid work experiences for people with very low income who have an urgent need to earn money or access safe work. Funds are released periodically and drawn down as partners deploy them, making this a flexible poverty reduction tool. LITE also uses fiscal sponsorship agreements so that its grants, which must go to registered charities, can support projects led by non-profit organizations with an employment and poverty-reduction focus.

LITE concentrates its efforts in Winnipeg neighbourhoods such as the North End, West End, Downtown and Elmwood, where poverty, unemployment and social exclusion are most acute. Its impact reporting tracks donors, dollars raised, service activities, Job Grants and total jobs created each year. Recent figures highlight hundreds of jobs created annually and tens of thousands of dollars invested in job grants, alongside service-based activities that enhance civic participation, social capital and economic development.

Across its programs, LITE follows the Neechi Principles—training and skill development, making local, human dignity, community self-determination, and healthy and safe neighbourhoods—as guiding criteria when assessing projects and partners. These principles shape decisions about which initiatives to fund and how job experiences are structured for participants.

LITE focuses on individuals who are often excluded from the formal labour market: people who have never held a job, have been out of work for long periods, or face significant personal and structural barriers. By funding both short-term “Springboard” work opportunities and longer-term “Moving Up” employment experiences operated by partners, LITE supports a continuum of pathways into employment.

In addition to direct grants and purchasing, LITE invests in sector education, advocacy and capacity-building. It convenes learning events, volunteers’ programs and coalitions that promote social procurement policies and a stronger social enterprise ecosystem. This combination of financial support and ecosystem-building positions LITE as a key funder and catalyst for community economic development and inclusive employment in Winnipeg.