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Equality Fund CONNECT Open Call 2026

Equality Fund

Equality Fund’s CONNECT funding stream supports collaborations between feminist organisations and allied movements working together to advance gender equality, social justice and collective power in the Global South and East. Selected collaborations can receive CAD 500,000–1,000,000 per year, initially for two years, to strengthen cross-movement organising and coordinated responses to anti-rights, anti-democracy, anti-gender and authoritarian forces.

Who can apply

  • Registered non-profit organisations serving as lead and financial lead
  • Feminist organisations
  • Women-led organisations
  • Youth-led organisations
  • Girls-led organisations
  • Non-binary-led organisations
  • Collaborations connecting feminist organisations with allied movements
  • Lead organisations operating in ODA-eligible countries in the Global South and East

Focus areas

  • Gender equality
  • Feminist movement building
  • Women’s rights
  • Youth leadership
  • Girls’ rights
  • Non-binary and gender-diverse rights
  • Social justice
  • Cross-movement collaboration
  • Human rights
  • Democratic participation
  • Countering anti-rights movements
  • Countering anti-gender movements
  • Collective power building
  • Movement organising
  • Coalition and alliance strengthening

Requirements

  • The lead organisation must be a registered non-profit organisation.
  • The lead organisation must also serve as the financial lead for the collaboration.
  • The lead organisation must operate in an ODA-eligible country in the Global South or East.
  • Afghanistan is excluded from this call.
  • The lead organisation must be primarily governed, led and directed by local women, youth, girls and/or non-binary people from the Global South and East.
  • The lead organisation must have had annual expenditure of at least CAD 325,000 in one of its last two fiscal years.
  • The organisation must have annual external financial audits or project audits for the last two fiscal years.
  • The proposal must involve meaningful collaboration between feminist actors and allied movements.
  • The collaboration should address shared structural challenges and build collective power rather than operate as a single-organisation project.

Application steps

  • Review the official CONNECT Application Guidelines.
  • Confirm that the proposed lead organisation meets all minimum eligibility requirements.
  • Identify the feminist and allied organisations that will form the collaboration.
  • Agree on the shared challenge, objectives, roles and governance arrangements of the collaboration.
  • Prepare the CONNECT Expression of Interest using the official template.
  • Provide the required organisational, financial and collaboration information.
  • Demonstrate how the collaboration will connect movements that have not historically worked together.
  • Explain how the proposed work will build collective power and advance gender equality and social justice.
  • Submit the Expression of Interest through the application process indicated by Equality Fund.
  • Submit no later than 16 September 2026 at 17:00 EDT (UTC-4).
Global Grants Hub strategic note

This is a high-value but highly selective funding opportunity for established feminist and allied organisations capable of managing large multi-year grants and genuine cross-movement collaborations. African organisations can apply where they meet the ODA-country and leadership requirements. The lead organisation must already have substantial financial capacity, including annual expenditure of at least CAD 325,000 in one of the previous two fiscal years and recent external audits. Smaller grassroots groups may still participate as collaboration partners even where they are not suitable to act as the financial lead.

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