We established ‘Allies in Action’ because we believe that for a
social change towards acceptance of diversity and towards equality to
happen, we need to activate and develop meaningful ties and
relationships between different communities, create a diverse support
network for LGBTI persons, and be strengthened by voices and expertise
of non-activist allies. Simply put, we believe in the power of
person-to-person contacts, the significance of committed individuals
that become multipliers within their communities, and in bottom-up
progress.
We established ‘Allies in Action’ to support impactful, creative, and
genuine ideas by local LGBTI communities and those who are ready to
contribute by action and knowledge to better environments for LGBTI and
to a better understanding of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex
characteristics (SOGISC).
The fund is meant to enable initiatives and actions that inform and
involve individuals, communities, and groups outside of LGBTI movements.
We seek to enable participation of those who are well-placed to have a
positive impact on the everyday life experiences of L, G, B, T, or I
persons, as well as on improved understanding of SOGISC and diversity.
They would contribute through exercising their professions in an ethical
way and by sharing information within their professional or social
circles. Among these audiences are lawyers, psychologists, educators,
social workers, journalists, healthcare professionals, art and culture
opinion makers, as well as parents and family of LGBTI and more.
Initiatives supported by ‘Allies in Action’ can have very diverse
goals – from stepping up voices of parents of LGBTI, to incorporating
SOGISC issues into broader cultural events, to SOGISC-related
educational activities/ publications by professionals for their
colleagues, etc. We welcome creativity and innovation in approach.
Do you think this vision and your ideas for action match? Share your initiative with us!
First off, be sure to carefully review our conditions. We would not like you to waste time on a proposal that will not fit the program.
We only support initiatives that:
- Are led by LGBTI persons and/ or allies of LGBTI (with no limitation in regards presence or absence of official registration of the group);
- Are implemented locally by groups in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, or Ukraine;
- Are focused on a specific, carefully selected audience/ target group outside of LGBTI movement and serve to engage, inspire, mobilise individuals and collectives that are in a position to impact everyday realities of LGBTI persons, advocacy capacity of LGBTI organisations, and/ or proper understanding of issues pertaining SOGISC;
- Demonstrate a clear vision of how this action contributes its bit to a change you want to achieve in your environment;
- Are concrete and scalable (i.e. with balanced, matching goals and actions);
- Are endorsed by LGBTI organisations (if proposed by an informal group of allies or activists);
- Require funding from ‘Allies in Action’ of no more than 5,000 euros (if your initiative will be additionally funded by someone else, then the total combined budget should not exceed 12,000 euros);
- Value feedback and are interested in the opportunity of engaging external expertise, and therefore commit to regular communication with us in the course of application, implementation, and reporting.
We prefer:
- Initiatives that feed into, reinforce, and/or diversify other ongoing efforts towards better environment for LGBTI persons and protection of their rights (by you or another group);
- Genuine and innovative approach to action that is strongly rooted in a local reality, with its limitations, opportunities, and existing relations;
- Duration of action or initiative of no more than 6 months in total (from receipt of the award to its completion and reporting);
- Willingness to share experience with colleagues and activists across the above-indicated countries and beyond.
We don’t support:
- Initiatives proposing direct support and/or services to the LGBTI communities;
- Initiatives aimed at the anonymous, faceless ‘general public’ or ‘broader audience’, without a clear vision of the specific people (or their groups/ communities) that you want to approach or work with and why you think it is needed;
- Continuation of regular, ongoing activities;
- Structural costs, such as ongoing office rental or salaries (please note that honorariums/ one-off fees needed within your specific action can be supported if scalable);
- Initiatives proposed and managed through external third-party organisations (unless it is a joint action by your group and a local LGBTI organisation). We want to cooperate directly with the groups we support, without an additional layer in-between.
Proposals to which any of the above NO-criteria apply will not be accepted for consideration.
It is possible to submit a proposal if you have received an AiA grant previously already,
We commit to:
- Supporting you in planning, implementation, and reporting if you are selected for award;
- Ensuring that both application and reporting processes are not too heavy, while turning them into our joint learning experience;
- Connecting you with other individuals, groups, organisations, processes, and materials that you might find interesting and helpful in your work, or where your expertise or experience will benefit others.
