COMPETITIVE GRANT CYCLE

Community-Powered.
Women Focused.

The Fall 2025 Grant Cycle is open now until August 29th, 2025 at 11:59 PM CST.

Each year, Women’s Foundation of Alabama accepts proposals from local, community-based organizations across the state, representing greater potential for even broader impact towards gender and economic equity for women in the state. Through this process, Women’s Foundation of Alabama aims to support high-impact organizations and projects working to usher women and girls along the path of greater economic opportunity and to remove the complex, interconnected barriers women face along that same path.

This year’s cycle will now award nine grants of $50,000 each to innovative, high-impact programs that advance women’s economic opportunity.

This cycle reflects a strategic shift in the Foundation’s approach to grantmaking, deepening investments while sharpening focus on its goal of moving 10,000 women into the workforce and on the path to economic mobility by 2027. Alabama has one of the lowest labor force participation rates for women in the country and in the South, at just 51%. Despite 74% of Alabama women serving as breadwinners, many still face challenges such as limited access to workforce training and child care, which can make it harder to find quality employment.

Our three grant focus areas are Women + Work, Women + Leadership, and Women + Wellbeing — Financial Wellbeing, reflecting the foundation’s interest in holistic, innovative approaches to women’s economic opportunity. We fuel organizations that address the barriers to entering the workforce.

For questions or more information, please reach out to us at community@wfalabama.org.

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Fall 2025 Grant Cycle Overview

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Grant Portal

Grant Timeline

The initial phase of the 2025 grant cycle is now open.

The deadline for submitting brief proposals is Friday, August 29, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. For this cycle, we are following a two-stage process (brief proposal and full proposal stages). For applicants advancing to the full proposal stage, site visits will take place in October, and final decisions will be announced in December.

Phase 1

Applications Open

Phase 2

Deadline for Brief Proposal Application

Phase 3

Site Visits for Applicants Advancing to Full Proposal Stage

Phase 4

Final Decisions

Fall 2025 Grant Overview

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Frequently Asked Questions

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A catalyst for change.

As of October 2022, Alabama had 143,000 job openings, but only 53 workers for every 100 vacancies. It hasn’t gotten appreciably better. Now, consider the fact that more than 80,000 Alabama women are missing from the workforce because of barriers that prevent them from holding a job such as child care, training, maternity leave, and pay. To address these problems, we must mobilize an army of organizations, and that is what our grantmaking does. We fuel the organizations that address these barriers to entering the workforce for women.

Only 52% of Working Women

Participate in the Economy, vs 63% of Men

Alabama has a 40% Supply Gap

in Affordable, Quality Childcare

Alabama has the 3rd Highest

Maternal Mortality Rate in the US

Women Are Paid 67 Cents

for Every Dollar a Man Makes

WOMEN + WORK

The future of Alabama’s workforce depends upon inclusion and equity for women. In 2022, over 80,000 women were missing from the state’s workforce, placing Alabama dead last in labor force participation for women in the South. This doesn’t have to be Alabama’s fate. Through this focus area, the foundation plans to fund nonprofit organizations providing education, skills training, credentials, critical supports, and public policy initiatives that enable women to access quality jobs and advance along their career path.

Previous Grantees

Athens Limestone County Family Resource Center – Workforce Development
Birmingham Corps – Place for Purpose
Community Care Development Network – CCDN Mothers Matter Initiative
Hope Inspired Ministries – Workforce Development
Legal Services Alabama – Income Protection Project
Pathways, Inc. – Early Learning Center
Vincent’s Foundation of Alabama – Jeremiah’s Hope
United Women of Color – Career Certificate Scholarship Program

WOMEN + LEADERSHIP

Where women lead, change follows. Whether on the job, in the community, at the highest levels of power, or in the home, decades of studies show women leaders help increase productivity, enhance collaboration, and improve fairness for everyone. Through this focus area, we aim to support programs and public policy efforts that invest in the personal and professional leadership development of women and the implementation of women led solutions.’

Previous Grantees

Alabama Campaign for Adolescent Sexual Health – Girls at the Center Youth Advisory Council
Alabama Justice Initiative – AJI’s Reimagine Community Fellowship
Breakthrough Birmingham – Thrive Teachers Program
Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama – Girl Scout Leadership Experience
Girls Inc. of Central Alabama – Project Accelerate
Girls Inc. Huntsville – GEL-Girls Excelling in Leadership
Greensboro Middle School – Girls Engaged in Math and Science (GEMS) STEM Leadership Program
Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama – Elevating Hispanic/Latinx & Immigrant Women in Leadership
Momentum Leaders – Expanding Momentum Works to Greater Birmingham
The Aum Foundation – Pathways 2 Success – Girls at the Center
Troy Resilience Project- Sprout Early Learning Center Preschool Salary Support
Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema – Women in Film Week 2024

WOMEN + WELLBEING

Success at work and personal well-being do not have to be mutually exclusive. At Women’s Foundation of Alabama, we believe good jobs and living wages are only the beginning. For this focus area, we are focused on funding programs and public policy solutions that enable women to thrive, within and beyond their career, along the eight dimensions of wellness with a focus on the following three: financial, physical, and mental wellness.

Previous Grantees

Alabama Prison Birth Project – Advancing the Emotional, Physical, and Financial Wellness of Incarcerated, Pregnant Women
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alabama -Alabama Maternal Health Project
BirthWell Partners – Leveraging the Power of DOULAS to Improve the Health and Wellbeing of AL Women
The Birth Sanctuary – Birth Center Equipment and Outfitting
Community of Hope Health Clinic – Improving Women’s Wellness Through Access to Mental Health Care and Counseling
Community on the Rise – WHOLE Restoration
Diane’s Heart – She Knew There Was More Coaching and Mentoring Program
Diamonds for Doulas – Childbirth Support for Medicaid and WIC Clients
Dumas Wesley Community Center – Protecting the Women and Children of the Sybil Smith Family Village
East Lake Initiative (ELI Thrive) – Building Healthy Relationships
Elmore County Family Resource Center – Nurturing Together
Global Ties Alabama – Refugee Resettlement Women’s Program
Khairi and Little Angels’ Memorial – Childbirth Education Project – CHILDBIRTH
Megan Montgomery Foundation to prevent domestic violence, Inc. – State-wide Volunteer Speakers’ Bureau Outreach
One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center – Developing Agency and Pathways to Hope for Survivors
Shelby Emergency Assistance- Thrive Together Shelby County
Tuscaloosa Latino Coalition – Bridging the Gaps – Service Connection for Maternal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders
West Alabama Women’s Center – Prenatal Care & Support for Uninsured Patients
Women Under Construction Network – What I Learned At Home Project
YMCA of Greater Birmingham – Women helping women – a program for Latinas to access well-being resources