Thanks to the generous support of our members and donors in 2015, DFW has awarded three reserve grants. These grants are awarded when excess funds are accumulated in our grant reserve fund. Reserve grantees are named alternates in previous grant cycles which means they were thoroughly vetted and met all of our rigorous criteria. These organizations were also required to submit updated information and budgets for evaluation prior to being awarded a reserve grant. The three reserve grantees for 2015 are:

Visions Global Empowerment (Ethiopia) — $46,728

Mercado Global (Guatemala) — $28,061.99

EDUCATE! (Uganda) — $15,000

Visions Global Empowerment provides meaningful educational support, mentorship, livelihoods development assistance, human rights and advocacy training to highly marginalized deaf women and girls in Ethiopia. The aim is to enable these women and girls to lead educated, self-sufficient, socially active and healthy lives. DFW’s $46,728 grant will directly impact 400 women and girls.

Mercado Global is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides economic opportunities to indigenous women in rural Guatemala. It connects emerging women entrepreneurs to international markets and provides tools to gain and maintain financial independence while breaking the cycle of poverty. DFW’s grant will fund the “Power to Change” program which equips indigenous women with the tools and knowledge needed to lead their newly-formed businesses and build stronger, healthier lifestyles for their families and communities. This $28,062 grant will directly impact 380 women and will indirectly impact 2,091 women and their families.

EDUCATE! strives to develop young leaders and entrepreneurs in Africa. It envisions a world where the national education system in Uganda and beyond prepares youth to take leadership initiative, create their own small businesses and improve their livelihoods. DFW’s $15,000 grant will deliver the EDUCATE! Experience at six schools, reaching 120 girls, which is part of EDUCATE’s Ten Year Vision of reaching at least 500,000 girls across ten countries in Africa.