Grants
Heading for Change supports visionary systems change entrepreneurs and nonprofit entities building the field of climate and gender finance.
Grants Strategy
Climate and Gender Field Building
The majority of grant capital will be allocated to build the capacity of the field to move more and smarter capital into climate and gender investments.
Heading for Change will provide philanthropic capital both to already active entities and start-up initiatives that align with our dual mission of promoting gender equity and addressing climate and biodiversity challenges.
Criteria
Is the proposed initiative likely to help move more capital directly or indirectly towards climate/gender ventures?
Will it help climate/gender field builders become more resilient?
Are the needs of the applicant “right-sized” for the scale of our grants?
Is there a clear place for Heading for Change to add value through our expertise and networks?
Do the people leading the initiative have lived experience relating to the problem they are working to solve?
Grants Details
Grants range from $2,500 to $50,000 to organizations and individuals most likely to create new paths for capital investments to flow into climate and gender-positive ventures. We seek to support organizations that will benefit from Heading for Change’s expertise and professional networks. Funding may come in the form of grants, recoverable grants or loans.
Invest for Better
Funding to design and deliver a five-part investor training, ‘Private Investing and Blended Capital with a Climate and Gender Lens’.
Artha Networks
Funding to establish a digital investor platform for pipeline and co-investment in climate and gender solutions.
Grant Categories
Catalytic opportunities that colleagues bring to our attention.
Organizations able to help incubate ideas generated by Heading for Change.
Projects on a positive trajectory but at an impasse due to cash flow issues.
Small, field-building "booster grants" to address a specific need and encourage success.
Grants that increase the visibility of climate/gender finance in key spaces of influence such as media or investment networks.
Selection Process
Heading for Change is in the process of identifying suitable organizations that align with our mission and criteria as stated above.
We will be making contact with these organizations over the next few months and kindly request that you please do not send any unsolicited proposals.
Neurodivergence and Systems Change
A smaller portion of the grants portfolio will be directed to promising systems change initiatives in neurodivergence.
Suzanne’s husband, Daniel Maskit, is Autistic and a passionate advocate for the Autistic community, and these issues are integral to Heading for Change’s overall mission to broaden the definition of diversity and understanding of inclusion.
Daniel and the team are currently working on a landscaping exercise to map the world of neurodiversity and identify high impact leverage points for systemic change. We will share more details once we have an idea of how our grants capital can be used most effectively in this area.