Applications Invited for Howard G. Buffet Fund for Women Journalists

About the Organization:

International Women's Media Foundation works to unleash the power of female journalists to transform the global news media. Their fellows and grantees — both freelance and staff journalists — become experts in reporting in underserved regions, generate must-read stories, align with top outlets, and bring critical issues affecting women and others to light. They are the only organization that provides safety training, byline opportunities, and emergency support tailored to female journalists and photographers around the world.

Howard G. Buffet Fund for Women Journalists:

The IWMF’s Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists supports the production of ambitious projects and underreported, globally important stories. For the next eight years, the IWMF will make an annual total of $230,000 worth of grants to support women journalists in their projects and endeavors. The fund is not limited in either the grant dollar amount or the number of grants awarded within the annual total.

The fund was designed to help women journalists from around the world by providing grantees support to

• Expose under-reported but critical global issues
• Undertake ambitious projects that challenge traditional media narratives
• Develop field-based expertise and strengthen careers
• Pursue critical skills training and leadership opportunities
• Launch entrepreneurial news projects or acquire the skill to do so

A voting committee comprised of distinguished IWMF Board Members, Courage in Journalism Awardees, former IWMF grantees, and senior practicing journalists and editors will select grantees.

The Fund for Women Journalists is accepting applications on a rolling basis. Applicants will be notified of the fund’s grant decisions approximately 3 weeks after submission. We will work with individual grants recipients to determine a completion timeline that best suits the project – most project timelines are six months to one year long and funds are distributed when the grant recipients are chosen.

Applicants are encouraged to consider their project publication or production plans in advance of submission and may include an optional letter of support for their project.

Eligibility:

• Women journalists from anywhere in the world are eligible to apply.
• Applicants must identify as women. (The IWMF believes that gender does not conform to one notion. We are inclusive of all journalists who identify as women, which includes trans women, and non-binary people.)
• Practicing journalism must be the applicant’s primary profession.
• Applicants must have three or more years of professional journalism experience.
• Teams of journalists may apply, however the submission must be from a woman journalist and her team must include at least 50% women.
• Special consideration will be given to freelance journalists.

What types of projects and opportunities will be supported by the fund?

• Applicants may apply for one of two different types of funding: reporting projects or professional development opportunities.
• Reporting projects include journalistic work in any media format, including but not limited to print, digital, video, photography and new media. The Fund for Women Journalists will prioritize reporting projects pitched around underreported stories of global importance.
• Professional development opportunities can include security training, conferences, workshops and media development initiatives such as technical skills-building training. We encourage skills-building applicants who are pitching media development initiatives to include an element of mentorship in their proposal.
• They encourage applicants to consider a one-year timeline or less for completion and publication of their project – please note the average grant size is 10,000 USD. Projects with timelines longer than one year or requesting grants over $10,000 will be considered on a limited basis.  Projects pitched for this opportunity need to be completed and published/produced in under a year. All applications must include a detailed preliminary budget and timeline. There are certain requests that the Fund selection committee will not consider. The Fund will not provide money to cover tuition expenses for undergraduate or graduate degree programs. Requests for assistance with equipment will be considered on a limited basis.

Applying for a Grant:

Applicants must be prepared to provide the following information (in English):

• Contact Information and Resume/CV
• Brief description of the project or opportunity you are seeking funding for
• If applicable, a list of any other team members or applicants
• Description of the purpose of the proposal and the issue/problem it is designed to address
• Estimated budget and time frame
• Contact information of two professional references

If you have specific questions to the Fund, please email program manager Jin Ding at jding@iwmf.org.

For more information please check the Link

Tags Women Empowerment Journalism/ Reporting Others