Education Awards and Development Grants Programs

Members of FAUSA are enthusiastic supporters and recipients of The FAWCO Foundation’s Development Grants (DGs) and Educational Awards (EAs) as well as FAWCO’s Target Projects. FAUSA members are eligible to apply for DGs and EAs. Applications are available in the fall or contact VP Programs, The FAWCO Foundation. Recipients are announced at FAWCO’s annual meeting in March of each year. FAUSA applications for DGs must be submitted through the FAUSA 3rd VP, Philanthropy preferably 30 days before the application deadline.

FAUSA supports The FAWCO Foundation with annual sponsorships of both a Development Grant and an Education Award.  FAUSA fully funds the following:

• The FAUSA Effecting Change for Women and Children at Risk Development Grant under the category of Human Rights. 2024 award: $4000. (Made possible by the Coughlan Foundation)
• The FAUSA Skills Enhancement Educational Award, allowing a FAWCO or FAUSA member to acquire​ ​new​ ​skills​ ​or​ ​enhance​ ​already​ ​existing​ skills. 2024 award: $4000.

Helping People Around The World

Learn more about recent recipients of development grants and education awards
Pictures, videos and stories from grant recipients
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The FAWCO Foundation Education Awards Program

The Education Awards are sponsored by various individuals or organizations. Applications are sent to the FAWCO Education Administrator who removes any identifying information. The submissions are then sent to 2 committees that select the best recipient.

Who is Eligible?

The FAWCO Foundation Education Awards program is open to all FAWCO and FAUSA members and their children, regardless of nationality and regardless of whether or not the affiliated Club has made a contribution to The Foundation’s programs. The children of the members, and the members themselves, of the Board of Directors of The FAWCO Foundation are not eligible for awards, in conformance with IRS rules and regulations governing 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporations.

FAUSA funds The FAWCO Foundation's Education Award, FAUSA SKILLS ENHANCEMENT AWARD that allows FAWCO/FAUSA members to acquire new skills or enhance already existing ones ($4000).

And the 2024 Recipient Is …

Deborah Lillian is a member of AAWE Paris. She is a hatmaker and will use this award to undertake a professional certificate in millinery, administered by the State University of New York at the renowned Fashion Institute of Technology. The subjects she will undertake include Cold-Weather Headgear, Bridal and Special Occasion Headwear, Contemporary Men’s Hats, and Creative Design.

2022 Recipient

Doan-Trang (Suzy) Nguyen, a member of AWC Berlin. Suzy is working on her first children's book for publication for the 50th anniversary of the fall of Vietnam in 2025. She is writing and illustrating the story of her childhood Vietnam by capturing images of exotic lands, unfamiliar cultures and her people. As part of her grant, she has attended a retreat from Jennifer Orkin Lewis, whose works are seen in the New Yorker. Jennifer Orkin Lewis teaches techniques of gouache ad how to use one's surroundings as inspirational starting points, an important technique for recreating scenes from Suzy's childhood.

More information about current Development Grants and grant applications can be found HERE.

The FAWCO Foundation Development Grants

Development Grants are also sponsored by various individuals or organizations or clubs. The applications are sent to the FAWCO Development Grant administrator who removes any identifying information and vets the information about the grant’s organization or NGO, if applicable. Every FAWCO Club is then sent one ballot to vote on the various grants. This year there were 9 grants awarded in the areas of Education, Environment, Health, Global Issues, and Human Rights.

Who Can Apply?

FAUSA members can recommend organizations that FAUSA, or at least two FAUSA members, have supported for at least one year for nomination for any of the Development Grants.  Such recommendations should be submitted to the FAUSA board in a timely manner to meet grant submission deadlines (usually the end of January).

The FAUSA-nominated recipients this year were Kiwimbi Prep for Success and Tewa Women United

 

Kiwimbi Prep for Success

Sue Frick (left, with certificate) and Renuka Matthews (right) accept the 2024 Educating Women and Girls Worldwide grant on behalf of Kiwimbi Prep for Success. FAUSA member Renuka is the sponsor of this grant; FAUSA member Stephanie Biery nominated Kiwimbi Prep for Success for the grant. Also pictured: Tracy Moede, coordinator for the Development Grant program, for the FAWCO Foundation.

The Kiwimbi Prep for Success program empowers disadvantaged children in three primary schools in rural Western Kenya in their pursuit of a quality education. For more than 10 years, Kiwimbi International has expanded the students’ prospects for success in life by equipping the nearly 300 8th grade students each year with math and English skills that are crucial in the national exams that determine the quality of high school they can attend. Kiwimbi provides teaching assistants, books, desks, and other teaching materials, along with nutritious lunches that bolster energy levels and keep the children at school. (Normally, the children would walk home several miles for lunch and might not return.) In rural Kenyan schools fewer than 5% of students achieve passing grades on the national exams. Kiwimbi’s Prep For Success program has raised that pass rate to over 60%, enabling the students to attend higher-quality secondary schools.

Tewa Women United: A’Gin Healthy Sexuality and Body Sovereignty - Braided Curriculum Project

Liz Jansen (left, with certificate) and Michele Hendrikse Du Boise (right) accept the 2024 Hope for Education grant on behalf of Tewa Women United. FAUSA member Michele is the sponsor of this grant, in memory of her parents Joan and Denis Du Bois; FAUSA member Liz Jansen nominated Tewa Women United for the grant. Also pictured: Tracy Moede, coordinator for the FAWCO Foundation Development Grant program.  

The grant money will go directly to implementing the culturally congruent and newly revised Weaving Courage curriculum for middle/ high school students, addressing issues of healthy decision making, consent, gender-based violence prevention, and suicide prevention. There are few culturally responsive and congruent prevention curricula that have been created by Indigenous peoples for Indigenous peoples. To have one rooted in the values of Tewa people increases impact. Located in the ancestral Tewa homelands of Northern New Mexico, Tewa Women United (TWU) is a multicultural and multiracial organization founded and led by Native women. The name “Tewa Women United” comes from the Tewa words "wi don gi mu" which can be translated as “we are one” in mind, heart, and in the spirit of love for all. TWU has created and implemented this curriculum and others for nearly ten years, impacting more than 400 Native students. FAUSA has also supported TWU through the 2023-24 $5000 Annual Grant, given at our Denim & Diamonds Getaway in Nashville, TN.

More information about current Development Grants, grant application, and grant recipients can be found on the FAWCO Foundation website.

Previous Recipients

FAUSA Sponsored Skills Enhancement Education Award

Below is a list of previous recipients of the FAUSA-sponsored Skills Enhancement Educational Award:

Previous recipients of FAUSA supported Development Grants