In March, DFW announced its first impact partnership grant – a $100,000 commitment to the Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn Fund in support of girls’ education.  The Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn Program helps adolescent girls around the world complete their education by removing the social and structural barriers that many girls face in accessing an education.

So what has been happening since this partnership grant was announced earlier this year?

DFW’s grant funds have been awarded to the Peace Corps and are already being put into action by Peace Corps Volunteers around the world!

How are the funds dispersed?

1. Peace Corps Volunteers receive specialized training on Let Girls Learn priorities and programming interventions, and hundreds of Volunteers are helping their communities identify barriers to girls receiving a quality education. Peace Corps Volunteers work with leaders at the community level in the country where they are serving. Together, they identify local needs and generate ideas for projects to address those pressing challenges.
2. Peace Corps Volunteers work with their communities to create a grant application in the Peace Corps’ grants system.
3. The grant application undergoes a period of review by the Peace Corps.
4. The project is posted online to raise funds from the Volunteer’s family and friends along with other individual donors (crowdfunding).
5. Once the project has been online for two weeks, it becomes eligible for DFW funding – provided it is one of the approved activities under the DFW grant.

According to the terms of our agreement with the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund, DFW will fund activities that fall into one of these four areas:

1. GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camps and Clubs, which promote gender equality and empower young women.
2. Men as Partners/BRO (Boys Respecting Girls) projects, which seek to promote increased gender equality and involve men in addressing the health and gender issues that affect their families and communities.
3. STEM Projects for Girls, which inspire girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.
4. Business and Entrepreneurial Training for Girls, which provides girls with enhanced business skills, increased confidence, and a better understanding of how they can contribute to their economy and country.

All of the projects we will fund are small-scale and community-driven. Community members, including women, must be involved in the development, execution, and sustainability of every project funded. In addition, all communities must contribute a minimum of 25% of the project costs in either in-kind or cash support.  This ensures that the community has a vested interest in the project and helps ensure long-term sustainability.

On a quarterly basis, the Peace Corps will provide us with a list of projects that have been funded by our grant, including a description, the country in which the project is being implemented, the total project cost, and the dollar amount at which DFW is funding each project. These quarterly project announcements will be posted on DFW’s website and in The Dish.  We expect that the first quarterly report will be made available to DFW members in August. The Peace Corps will also provide us with a final report summarizing the impact of the grant, a detailed breakdown of projects supported by region, and project highlights from around the globe.

In addition to sharing the quarterly project lists as they are available, we have also prepared a series of blogs that will describe each of the four activities that are eligible for DFW funds.  This month, we are talking about GLOW Camps and Clubs.

Read blog on GLOW Camps and Clubs

Watch The Dish for future blogs – next month, we will talk about the Men as Partners projects.

You may also want to check out these brief videos on the Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn Program.

Let Girls Learn – Peace Corps Ethiopia

30 Second #LetGirlsLearn promotion

If you have any questions about our Peace Corps partnership, please email us at info@togetherwomenrise.org.

updated 9/1/16