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Voting for the FAWCO Foundation 2026 Development Grants is officially open.
Clubs are invited to review this year’s inspiring project proposals and cast their vote in support of the initiatives that will receive funding. A printable and shareable Project Summary Document outlining all proposals is available to use at your disposal.
Please note: Only one vote per club is permitted.
Club Representatives and Presidents should refer to their email for the official ballot and submission instructions.
We encourage each club to review the proposals carefully and participate in this important decision-making process. Your vote helps determine the grassroots projects that will empower women and girls around the world.
EDUCATION
AW of Surrey Hope Through Education $5500
Recipient: A Kindergarten for Tribal Children in India - Hazarwadi, Maharashtra, India (Nominated by AWC Hamburg)
Nandanvan has successfully used watershed development ("catching the rain") in desertified areas of Maharashtra, India to replenish groundwater, to increase agricultural production, and to improve the lives of tribal inhabitants, amongst the poorest people of India. To ensure the sustainability of this socio-economic advancement, it is essential that children, especially girls, of these communities receive an education. Fundamental learning skills andhabits necessary for attending public schools can be acquired in kindergarten. This DG will finance construction of a kindergarten building in Hazarwadi to serve 48 tribal families in three villages, where a watershed program was just completed. The 50m 2 building will contain a classroom, kitchen, and sanitation facilities. A needed foundation for future education will be provided, bringing sustainability to the new socio-economic growth.
Educating Women & Girls Worldwide $5500
Recipient: Keeping Backpacks Full of Hope - Dakar, Senegal (Nominated by AIWC Genoa)
Secondary education for impoverished girls delays child marriage and pregnancy, creates increased economic growth, reduces population growth and improves children and women’s health. Secondary education can end the vicious cycle of poverty. Keeping Backpacks Full of Hope benefits 174 people – our 58 slum-dwelling girls and their parents - by keeping these girls in secondary school. WFG supported these girls throughout elementary school when there were no school fees and we promised our support until they completed school. The DG funds will pay their school fees, supplies, and increase our coordinator's visits to their families and teachers. Keeping girls in high school is a yearly uphill battle, and so worth fighting; it is one sure way of giving girls the power to make proper choices later in life.
Pam Dahlgren Educating Africa's Children $5500
Recipient: Tools for Equal Opportunities: Tutoring Disadvantaged Girls in Niger - Niamey, Niger (Nominated by AAWE Paris)
Les Amis de Hampaté Bâ, focuses on educating 50 girls from extremely disadvantaged backgrounds in secondary school in Niamey, Niger. These girls come from illiterate families, have no electricity, walk more than 1 hour each way to school and frequently do not have enough food. Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world, at the bottom of the UN charts for girls’ education, and sadly at the top for early marriage. The DG funds will finance a tutoring program with specialized remediation teachers in small groups in key subjects, providing training and ensuring the girls have equal opportunities to not only stay in school, but succeed with diplomas that will help them find employment outside the home and break the cycle of poverty.
ENVIRONMENT
Nurturing Our Planet $5500
Recipient: Stepergy - Rural Morocco (Nominated by AIWA Rabat)
One billion people aren't connected to electricity. The absence of this essential resource makes it impossible for such populations to perform a number of simple tasks, and even harder for children to study or do their homework at night. Stepergy is a device that generates light by lifting a weight and it doesn’t need any other external energy. It is essentially composed of a pulley, gearings, a Led and a bag. To operate the device, you just have to lift, with the aid of the pulley, the weight of the bag, which falls gradually. Once the bag reaches the ground, it is simply lifted to repeat the process. Since the cost point of a single Stepergy is $30, the DG funds will allow production of 180 devices, and hence change the lives of 180 families lacking
access to electricity. The population will have access to clean, renewable and sustainable lighting.
access to electricity. The population will have access to clean, renewable and sustainable lighting.
HEALTH
Critical Health Concerns $5500
Recipient: 2019 Fistula Foundation Fistula Repair Surgery Program - Africa and Asia (Nominated by AWEP)
Fistula Foundation provides funding for women to receive free, safe obstetric fistula repair surgery through trusted partners in Africa and Asia. Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury caused by prolonged and obstructed labor that leaves a woman incontinent of urine or feces or both. A woman with a fistula is too often rejected by her family and shunned from her village due to her foul smell. Obstetric fistula most commonly occurs among women who live
in low-resource countries, who give birth without access to medical help and the only cure is surgical treatment. On average, the cost of one fistula repair surgery is $586 USD. The DG funds will restore 9 women with their dignity and give them hope for a new future.
in low-resource countries, who give birth without access to medical help and the only cure is surgical treatment. On average, the cost of one fistula repair surgery is $586 USD. The DG funds will restore 9 women with their dignity and give them hope for a new future.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Breaking the Cycle Sponsored in part by AW Eastern Province $5500
Recipient: More Than Just a Cup of Coffee: Barista Skills Provide Dignified Work to Survivors of Human Trafficking - Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(Nominated by AWC Amsterdam)
This project will give survivors of human trafficking the chance to find dignified work by completing barista training. The DG funds will enable Not For Sale Netherlands (NFS) to expand their current culinary training to include coffee preparation. The funds will be used to pay the salary of the professional barista trainer and to pay for supplies and the curriculum. The goal of this sustainable project is to give women the skills to find
employment as baristas at the two restaurants run by NFS, or with other companies offering internships and ultimately, full time employment. The project will give survivors the opportunity to build an independent life and prevent them from returning into the hands of traffickers.
FAUSA Effecting Change For Women and Children at Risk $5500
Recipient: Training Potties for Refugees - Greece (Nominated by FAUSA)
Refugee camps have an immense need for training potties. Conditions, which may include shared bathrooms and cleanliness concerns, make training without training potties very difficult, and many refugee children have extra difficulty potty training due to significant trauma. As a result, children stay in diapers longer than they might otherwise, putting additional strain on families, as diapers are very expensive. Earlier potty training is also better for the environment, as it saves unnecessary waste. At the current purchase price, the DG funds will allow CTF to purchase 1,833 training potties for refugee families in camps in Greece. Due to the nature of refugee communities, we expect that once each family is finished training, they likely will pass along each potty to additional families.
A very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Development Grant recipients!
Is your Club considering nominating a project for a 2020 Development Grant? Consult the Timeline below for tips on efficient and timely completion of your Development Grant application.
Development Grant Application Timeline
EDUCATION
AW of Surrey Hope Through Education
Recipient: Butiama Safe House Vocational Training Center - Serengeti, Tanzania
The Development Grant will help 22 girls who have fled Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) receive vocational and entrepreneurial training to empower them to their fullest economic potential. This safe house is commited to fighting FGM and other forms of gender-based violence and saving young girls from forced marriages. The girls gain business experience by selling products they have made with their newly acquired skills while receiving Human Rights training.
AWC The Hague Creating Better Futures
Recipient: Kitchen for Rural Kenyan Catering Program - Chepkanga, Kenya
The Development Grant will provide funding to Rafiki Ya Maisha, an NGO that raises money for two schools in Kenya. The funds will be used to construct a teaching kitchen at Sergoek Vocational Training Center in Chepkanga. A proper kitchen will help improve professionalism as well as the self-esteem of the students.
Pam Dahlgren Educating Africa's Children
Recipient: #Reboot Computer Literacy - A Safe Spaces Project - Nairobi, Kenya
#Reboot is an empowerment project for young women in Nairobi's Eastland Slums. Today, IT skills are a core competency necessary to succeed in most careers. In the Eastland Slums, girls have no access to computers at home. Project #Reboot will fill this gap by teaching girls computer skills and developing their critical thinking ability. The DG will empower girls by funding a project manager, computers, curriculum and students' transportation to #Reboot classes.
ENVIRONMENT
Nurturing Our Planet
Recipient: Hazarwadi Open Well - Maharashtra, India
The Indian Watershed Program has successfully used watershed development ("catching the rain") in desert areas of Maharashtra, India to restore the environment, replenish the groundwater that can feed open wells, and improve the lives of the tribal inhabitants, the poorest people in the lowest part of Indian society. The Development Grant will finance the construction of an open well in a rural hamlet of 14 tribal families who have insufficient access to water. Better health, better nutrition, a sustainable livelihood and access to eudcation will be the final rewards.
HEALTH
The Coughlan Family Foundation’s Support In Sickness and Health
Recipient: Project WIN - Chiang Mai, Thailand
Protein in the diet of Thai hill tribe people is minimal. The DG will help improve the quality of nutrition of the local marginalized population as well as finance their education in self-sufficient production and increasing dietary protein. This will be accomplished through hands-on training in four different iniatives: raising chickens, building a fish pond for sustainable fish-farming, growing mushrooms, and developing and growing chemical-free vegetable gardens.
Critical Health Concerns Sponsored in part by Renuka Mathews
Recipient: Ending TB in North Korea - Pyongsong Sanitorium, North Korea
TB is the #1 infectious killer in the world. Tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis are endemic to North Korea and ravage a vulnerable population already suffering from malnutrition. The Development Grant will pay for N-95 respirators, nutritional support and immunomodulation that will cut TB transmission, increase treatment success rates and reduce post-treatment relapse and reinfection rates. By cutting the relapse and reinfection rate, vulnerable caregivers in the home will also be protected.
HUMAN RIGHTS
Breaking the Cycle Sponsored in part by AILO Florence and AW Eastern Province
Recipient: Feed the Starving Rohingyas - Bangladesh
Since the Myanmar military started ethnic cleansing in 2017, approximately one million Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh, creasting a massive humanitarian disaster. New refugees, mostly women and children, arrive daily after walking for days through the jungle. Refugees desperately need food, water, clothing and medical care. The project will provide the newly arrived Rohingya with dry food packs, each containing a tin container of basic food staples. The Development Grant will directly benefit 400 families - 2800 refugees - providing food and water.
FAUSA Effecting Change For Women and Children at Risk
Recipient: The Pillow Project to Stop Child Trafficking - Murang'a County, Kenya
Most children living in orphanages in Kenya have family who cannot care for them because of poverty. Families are often tricked into giving up their children under the false promise of food and education. In reality, children are trafficked and exploited so that orphanage operators receive donations. The DG will allow The Pillow Project to Stop Child Trafficking to provide beds, sheets and pillows for 31 children who have been trafficked.
A very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all of our Development Grant recipients!
Is your Club considering nominating a project for a 2019 Development Grant? Consult the Timeline below for tips on efficient and timely completion of your Development Grant application.
Development Grant Application Timeline
ACADEMIC STUDIES AWARDS (For Children of FAWCO and FAUSA members)
Arts Award $5000
Recipient: Olivia Jimenez
Olivia seeks a major in film production. She believes that our world is filled with stories worth sharing but in order to share them, these stories need translators. She hopes, with her scholarship and a passport, that she can add her own voice through an American undergraduate education in Cinema. Her mother is a member of AWC Amsterdam.
Sciences Award $5000 Sponsored in part by AIWC Genoa and the Bacigalupo family, in memory of Frieda Bacigalupo Natali
Recipient: Imogen Jacques
Imogen is currently pursuing a Master’s in Science in the Geography of Environmental Risk and Human Security at the United Nations University in Bonn. She is most interested in climate adaptation, which is why she applied for the Young Leader Program at the Global Centre on Adaptation in Rotterdam; she was interning here for the first part of 2019. After this, she will write her Master’s thesis on Climate Adaptation, focusing on Ecosystem-Based Adaptation solutions that reduce exposure to disasters. Her mother is member of AIWC Cologne.
Humanities Awards $5000 Sponsored in part by AAWE Paris, in memory of Gertrude de Gallaix
Recipient: Benjamin Mowat
Benjamin believes the best way to improve the world and fight injustice is through policy and diplomacy. Over the past years, he has volunteered with campaigns, worked with Democrats Abroad, and become active in his local community organizing and speaking at events. He has always wanted to learn more, do more, and make a positive impact on the world. He believes that his chosen major of Political Science will give him the knowledge and
connections he needs to achieve his goals. His mother is a member of AWC The Hague.
connections he needs to achieve his goals. His mother is a member of AWC The Hague.
Humanities Award Sponsored in part by Caroline Newton
Recipient: Rachel Drucker
Rachel plans to pursue a dual degree Master’s program in Social Work and Special Education, with the ultimate professional goal of becoming a school social worker. Her experiences serving as a City Year Student Success Coach with at-risk fifth graders for two years solidified her desire to enter the field of social work and continue to provide trauma-informed social-emotional support to students. She plans to pursue the Children, Youth and Families concentration in social work, in order to focus her efforts on supporting elementary school students’ social-emotional needs. Her mother is member of AWC Amsterdam.
DUAL CULTURAL AWARD (For Children/Grandchildren of FAWCO members - one Parent/Grandparent must be American)
Dual Cultural Award $5000 Sponsored in part by AWC Bern and Donna Erismann, in memory of Suzanne Erismann
Recipient: Sophie Romain
Sophie is applying to the Young Scholars Program at the University of Maryland to gain an authentic and demanding college experience, while earning college credit. Building on the Immerse Law program she completed last summer at the University of Cambridge, she plans to attend the course “Leadership of the Common Good” which will allow her to improve her critical and persuasive reasoning and to study the theory and practice of public leadership, citizenship and civic engagement in the United States. She also hopes to gain a deeper understanding of public policy and a more precise assessment of university life in the United States in order to make a more educated choice in the fall when selecting universities and a course of study. Her mother is a member of IWC Munich.
MEMBER AWARDS (For FAWCO and FAUSA members)
Shirley Kearney University Study Degree Award $5000
Recipient: (Cecilia) Zhou Zhuang
(Cecelia) Zhou Zhuang, member of AIWA Rabat,a has volunteered her personal time to provide entrepreneurship forums and gender equality workshops to hundreds of young professionals in China. She has hosted high-panel discussions between college students with British Parliament members, foreign diplomats, and a former Vice Mayor of Los Angeles. In 2015, she was honored to share her experiences at the UN Women’s “Empower Women Luncheon” in Shanghai. Her social media platform produced a Girls 20 Ambassador, a Harvard Seed Fellow, 160 Asia Pacific Youth Exchange participants, and 109 UNESCO Language Champion Challenge participants. Her intended field of study is a Master’s in development management at the Asian Institute of Management.
Women in STEM $5000 In Honor of AWA Dubai's 21 years serving the international community of Dubai
Recipient: Rebecca Zenkevich
Rebecca Zenkevich, a member of AWO Moscow, has spent 7.5 years working full time in acute care as an Occupational Therapist. In working with an aging population, she learned that she wanted to change public perception about how much this population can do. She wishes to gain a deeper understanding of elderhood, improve her language when talking about aging and become an advocate in “Disrupting Ageism” no matter where she lives or works. It is her plan to enter a Graduate Gerontology program where she can develop her profession as an Occupational Therapist.
FAUSA Skills Enhancement Award $5000
Recipient: Mary Wienke
Mary Wienke worked as an attorney in the United States. Since living in Germany, she has provided legal opinions on matters that involved English speakers, but never felt confident enough to help German speakers. She plans to study German at the Goethe-lnstitut so that she could work as a volunteer to help women who have suffered abuse, such as victims of trafficking, obtain the legal assistance that they need; and to provide support so that such women understand their rights and how the law can help them. She would also liaison with their lawyers to assure their cases receive the necessary attention. She is a member of AWC Hamburg.
Continuing Education Award $5000 Sponsored by Mary Stewart Burgher of the AWC Denmark, in memory of Pauline "Pete" Arnold Schweppe
Recipient: Maya Guice
Maya Guice has worked freelance as a brand consultant, producing websites, posters, press kits, and presentations for a variety of small businesses related to the arts. She plans to begin design courses at the Miami Ad School in Berlin, Germany where she intends to take a custom set of technical classes related to the Adobe Creative Suite, typography and UX/UI design. She believes that taking structured, professional-level design courses will allow her to not only master design and branding principles, but also communicate more effectively with her colleagues and clients, and ultimately, feel empowered to take on bigger, more complex projects. She is a member of AWC Berlin.
A very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to all of our 2019 Education Award Recipients!
Thinking about applying for a 2020 Education Award? Consult the Timeline below for tips on efficient and timely completion of your application.
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