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Seeding Strengths Grants

Over the next 12 months, we will distribute $200,000 to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations fighting injustice and building Blak power.

Picture of two First Nations People walking and smiling at each other. On the left is a woman wearing a grey shirt and jumper with her hands crossed. On the right is a man wearing a black cap and shirt, with his hands leaning on the woman's shoulder.
SHR

Grant Round 2: Campaign, movement or project based is closed. Applications for Rapid Response Grants are open all year round. 

What are the Seeding Strengths Grants? 

Round 2 of the Seeding Strength Grants is up to $80k total of funding available in 2023, open to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (16-35) and organisations fighting injustice and building Blak power across the country.

We are offering two types of grants in both rounds:

  • Rapid response: First Nations young people (aged 16-35 years) can apply for rapid response grants of $2,000 to $10,000 for urgent campaigns/movements/initiatives relating to social change in response to systematic oppression & specific injustices of First Nations young people.
  • Campaign, movement or project based: First Nations young people (aged 16-35 years) can apply for grants (from $2,000 to $50,000) to support core funding for existing or new campaigns, movements and projects in four impact areas:
    • Truthtelling and storytelling
    • Decolonising and re-Indigenising
    • Building and strengthening movements, campaigns and global solidarity
    • Facilitating vision creation

A total of $200,000 in funding will be distributed in 2023.

Why?

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people and their campaigns, movements and projects need financial backing to win campaigns, and achieve the self-determined, long term change they want to see. 

Seeding Strength is designed to shift resources through grant-making, increasing philanthropic connections and supporting initiatives to secure ongoing sustainable funding for long term change.

When are applications open?

Rapid response:

Applications for Rapid Response grants are open for all of 2023. You can apply anytime. 

Campaign, movement or project based Round 1, 2023: CLOSED

Campaign, movement or project based Round 2, 2023: closed

Applications open 20 July
Online info session 24 July 
Applications close 13 August
Recipients announced 4 September
Funds released Mid September

Who can apply?

Seeding Strength Grants are open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people and organisations led by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people aged 16-35. 

We will prioritise applications from grassroots and not-for-profit campaigns, projects, organisations and movements.

Ready to apply? Great decision!

Applications for 2023 Round 2, Campaign, movement or project based have closed.

You can apply for Rapid Response Grants at any time during 2023, using the form below.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can I contact for more information?

If you have questions or want more information about Seeding Strengths you can email them to the First Nations team at firstnations@fya.org.au or you can book a time to yarn about the Grant Round 2 here.

 

How is this grant program funded?

Seeding Strengths is fully funded by FYA. FYA is investing $2.3 million into our dedicated First Nations work over 3 years (2021-2023).

What happens after I submit my application?

  • The shortlist: You’ll be notified if you have made it onto the shortlist by 18 August 2023. If you are on the shortlist, you’ll be invited to meet online with a member of the First Nations team to finalise a more detailed application (including a breakdown of budget & theory of change) with an accompanying video explaining your project/ program.
  • Final decision: The panel will consider your application. You’ll be notified of the outcome of your application by 4 September 2023. If you are unsuccessful, there will be an opportunity for you to meet with the First Nations team to get more feedback here.
  • If you are successful, the funds will be released to you by mid-September.
  • Reporting: There’ll be a reporting process, but we’ll keep it simple. We’ll tailor this to your needs.

How will recipients be chosen?

Grant recipients will be selected by a panel of three First Nations people from our First Nations Governance Group. These are all young mob aged under 35 years. You can read more about our First Nations Governance Group here.

Priority will be given to grassroots and not-for-profit campaigns, projects, organisations and movements. 

We will also aim to fund a diverse mix (age, ability, gender, mobs) of people and projects recognising that there are multiple layers of discrimination and injustice for intersectional mob. 

We select grant recipients based on the following criteria here.

What happens if my application is successful?

Successful recipients will:

  • Spend the fund within a 12-24 month period on the initiative they outline in application. 
  • Be supported by the FYA First Nations team to submit a short evaluation report to demonstrate the impact of your work with the aim of securing ongoing sustainable funding for long term change.

What happens if my application is unsuccessful?

If you don’t make the shortlist or your final application to the panel is unsuccessful, you can still get some feedback from our team on these documents for your next funding application via this link.