Deadline: September 30, 2025
Applications for the AAUW International Project Grants 2026 are now open. AAUW’s International Project Grants foster lasting impact by supporting International Fellowship alumnae who return to their home countries to lead community-based initiatives. These grants empower alumnae to apply their academic expertise and leadership skills to projects that advance gender equity and improve the lives of women and girls.
From securing property rights for widows to establishing safe and dignified workspaces for cassava producers, alumnae-led initiatives address urgent and deeply rooted equity challenges. By providing targeted funding, AAUW enables alumnae to drive meaningful, locally grounded change — supporting vulnerable yet resilient communities and creating pathways toward greater opportunity and empowerment for women and girls.
Grant
- A $15,000 grant is provided. Grant Term is from July 1 – June 30.
Eligibility
International Project Grants are awarded exclusively to individuals who:
- Identify as a woman
- Are an AAUW International Fellowship alumna who has successfully completed the academic program for which they received a fellowship and all related reporting requirements by June 30 of the application year
- Applicants are expected to reside in and implement their project within their home country for the duration of the grant period.
- Exception for Displacement: Applicants who are residing outside their home country due to conflict, political instability, or humanitarian circumstances may be permitted to implement their project in their current country of residence. In such cases, applicants must demonstrate a meaningful connection to the host community and clearly articulate how the project addresses local needs.
- Are the primary project director, with control over all programmatic, budgetary, administrative, and editorial decisions.
- Are leading a project that has a direct positive impact for women and girls in
their community. - Grant recipients must be non-U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Selection Criteria
- Clear alignment with AAUW’s mission of advancing equity for women and girls and should outline how the proposed project will directly and positively impact these stakeholder groups
- Project rationale that clearly defines a specific, locally relevant need and demonstrates the project’s timeliness, sustainability and significance and is supported by qualitative or quantitative evidence such as local data, community assessments or stakeholder feedback
- Clear project design with specific and measurable target outcomes, proposed activities, and a logical framework that clearly connects project goals, activities, and anticipated results
- Demonstrated capacity of the alumna to implement the project though relevant skills, experience, and leadership, supported by a realistic, time-bound implementation plan, a feasible budget, and evidence of stakeholder input in shaping both the timeline and resource allocation
- A commitment to learning and evaluation by (1) incorporating monitoring/evaluation methods that enable assessment of project outcomes; and (2) describing how results and/or learnings from project implementation will be shared with stakeholders and/or the communities which the project intends to serve
Application
Applicants are required to submit a project proposal and supporting budget.
For more information, visit AAUW International Project Grants.
