Applications Open for Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists

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Linda Douglass, Co-Chair, IWMF
Linda Douglass, Co-Chair, IWMF

The International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF) is now accepting applications for the second Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists for promoting the work and advancing the role of women in the news media across the globe.

The IWMF advocates for the advancement of women in the global media as it believes in the importance of women’s voices in providing high quality information in the public’s interest.

The fund was established with a $4 million gift from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and will support projects that include educational opportunities, investigative reporting and media development initiatives. Funding rounds will open for applications two times each year and applications take approximately 8-10 weeks to process after the application closes at the end of August.

The fund was designed to help women journalists by providing grantees support to expose under-reported but critical global issues; undertake ambitious projects that challenge traditional media narratives; develop field-based expertise and strengthen careers; pursue training and leadership opportunities and launch entrepreneurial news projects or acquire the skill to do so.

Applicants may apply for one of two different types of funding: reporting projects or professional development opportunities.

Reporting projects include journalistic work in any media format, including but not limited to print, digital, video, photography and new media. The Fund for Women Journalists will prioritize reporting projects pitched around underreported stories of global importance.

Professional development opportunities can include security training, conferences, workshops and media development initiatives such as technical skills-building trainings. Fund for Women Journalists encourage skills-building applicants who are pitching media development initiatives to include an element of mentorship in their proposal.

Applicants are encouraged to consider a one-year timeline or less for completion and publication of their project and to note the average grant size is 10,000 USD. Projects with timelines longer than one year or requesting grants over $10,000 will be considered on a limited basis.

Projects pitched for this opportunity need to be completed and published/produced in under a year. All applications must include a detailed preliminary budget and timeline. There are certain requests that the Fund selection committee will not consider. The Fund will not provide money to cover tuition expenses for undergraduate or graduate degree programs. Requests for assistance with equipment will be considered on a limited basis.

Approximately $230,000 will be disbursed each year. Grant sizes will depend on the proposal and the inclusion of a detailed budget.

There are two funding rounds each year, in January and June; applications take approximately 6 weeks from the end of the application period to process.

The applications is open to female journalists from anywhere in the world with three or more years of professional journalism experience. Teams of journalists may apply, however the submission must be from a woman journalist and her team must include at least 50% women.

All applications must be in English.

Applications close on September 5, 2019

For more information, click: https://www.iwmf.org/