Introduction
The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains is a pooled philanthropic fund that supports women-led and community-based organizations working to strengthen the health, safety, economic resilience and climate resilience of women connected to global supply chains. The Fund was created to shift traditional philanthropic practices toward flexible, locally led and participatory funding approaches.
The Fund is currently opening a 2026 grantmaking round for women-led, community-based organizations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Vietnam. The current round provides flexible, unrestricted, two-year grants ranging from US$15,000 to US$50,000. Applications opened on September 18, 2026, and the current application deadline is October 12, 2026.
Key points about the Resilience Fund:
- Supports women-led and community-based organizations.
- Focuses on women’s health, safety, economic resilience and climate adaptation.
- Works with communities connected to global value chains.
- Provides flexible and unrestricted funding rather than narrowly restricted project grants.
- Uses participatory grantmaking and community-based peer review.
- Current 2026 grantmaking covers Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Vietnam.
- Current grants range from US$15,000 to US$50,000 over two years.
History and Background
The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains was launched in 2021 as a collaborative funding initiative involving the United Nations Foundation’s Universal Access Project, BSR and Women Win/Win-Win Strategies, together with corporate partners and investors. The Fund was established in response to the disproportionate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on women workers and communities connected to global supply chains.
The original model brought together companies, corporate foundations, private foundations, women’s funds and civil society organizations to pool resources and invest in locally led solutions. The Fund’s objective was to strengthen the long-term health, well-being and economic resilience of women who are part of global value chains.
The Fund was initially designed around issues including gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women’s safety and economic resilience. Its approach has subsequently expanded to address the growing connection between climate change, women’s health, workplace conditions, livelihoods and supply-chain resilience.
The Fund describes its approach as a new model of corporate philanthropy that combines pooled resources, flexible funding, participatory decision-making and learning among investors, grantee-partners and community stakeholders.
Mission and Purpose
The Resilience Fund’s central purpose is to invest in locally led solutions that strengthen the resilience of women and communities connected to global value chains. Its funding model places significant decision-making power and resources in the hands of women-led organizations that understand the needs of their communities.
The Fund’s work recognizes that women workers and community members can face interconnected challenges involving health, safety, gender-based violence, economic insecurity, climate risks and working conditions. It therefore supports organizations addressing these issues through community-led approaches.
Key areas of focus include:
- Women’s health and well-being.
- Women’s safety and protection from gender-based violence.
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights.
- Economic resilience and empowerment.
- Climate adaptation and community resilience.
- Rights and well-being of women workers in global value chains.
- Grassroots organizing and women’s leadership.
- Locally developed solutions to social, economic and environmental challenges.
The Fund’s philosophy is based on the idea that organizations rooted in communities are often best positioned to identify priorities and develop practical responses. Its flexible funding model allows grantee-partners to adjust their activities as community needs and circumstances change.
Governance and Structure
The Resilience Fund uses a governance model designed to distribute decision-making power among different stakeholder groups. Its Advisory Board includes representatives from corporate investors, women’s funds and civil society organizations. The Fund states that non-corporate members represent at least 50% of voting members, helping prevent any single sector from controlling Board decisions.
The Fund also uses participatory grantmaking. A community peer panel made up of women or non-binary community leaders from the regions where the Fund invests reviews applications and makes recommendations to the Advisory Board. This approach brings community perspectives into funding decisions.
The Fund’s governance model incorporates several important principles:
- Democratized governance: Decision-making is shared among corporate, philanthropic and civil society stakeholders.
- Participatory grantmaking: Community representatives participate in reviewing and recommending grantee-partners.
- Flexible funding: Organizations receive greater autonomy over how resources are used.
- Language justice: Applicants can receive translation and application support in local languages.
- Accessibility: The Fund provides support intended to reduce technological, linguistic and other barriers to participation.
- Learning and collaboration: Funders, grantees and other stakeholders participate in knowledge-sharing and learning activities.
The Fund also maintains a Learning Hub that brings together grantee-partners, women’s funds, investors, Advisory Board members and other stakeholders. The Learning Hub is intended to facilitate real-time learning, networking, information sharing and collaboration.
Funding and Grants
The Resilience Fund uses a pooled funding model in which resources from corporate and philanthropic partners are combined and directed toward locally led organizations. This structure is intended to reduce duplication, strengthen collaboration and provide organizations with more flexible resources.
One of the Fund’s defining characteristics is flexible, unrestricted funding. Rather than requiring grantee organizations to spend every dollar against narrowly defined activities, the model gives organizations greater autonomy to determine where resources can produce the strongest results. This can include strengthening organizational operations, leadership, programs and responses to unexpected challenges.
Current 2026 grant opportunity:
- Eligible countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Vietnam.
- Eligible applicants: Women-led, community-based organizations.
- Grant type: Flexible, unrestricted funding.
- Grant duration: Two years.
- Grant amount: US$15,000 to US$50,000.
- Application period: September 18 to October 12, 2026.
- Thematic focus: Women’s health, safety and economic resilience; community-led climate adaptation; and the rights and well-being of women workers in global value chains.
Applicants should consult the official Resilience Fund application page and current call documentation for the latest eligibility requirements, application instructions and supporting materials because grant conditions can change between funding rounds. The Fund’s website announced a new participatory grantmaking round for 2026.
Major Programs and Initiatives
Flexible and Unrestricted Funding
Flexible funding is at the center of the Resilience Fund’s grantmaking approach. The Fund states that flexible multi-year funding enables women leaders to determine their own priorities and allows organizations to respond to rapidly changing circumstances. It can also support investments in organizational infrastructure, leadership, fundraising and program development.
Participatory Grantmaking
The Fund uses participatory grantmaking to involve community representatives in funding decisions. Community peer panels review applications and provide recommendations to the Advisory Board, creating a mechanism through which local perspectives influence grantmaking.
Learning Hub
The Learning Hub creates opportunities for grantee-partners, funders, women’s funds and other stakeholders to share information, experiences and emerging lessons. The Fund describes the Hub as an important part of its broader governance and learning structure.
Accessibility Justice and Language Support
The Fund provides accessibility support for applicants and grantee-partners, including translation assistance, application guidance and support for organizations facing technology or language barriers. The Fund reports that its language-support work has covered more than 12 languages.
Climate Resilience and Women’s Leadership
Climate resilience has become an increasingly important area of the Fund’s work. Its research and communications highlight how heat, flooding and drought can affect women’s health, safety and livelihoods in supply-chain communities. The Fund emphasizes investment in women-led organizations as part of locally led climate adaptation and resilience-building.
Women’s Health, Safety and Rights
Earlier grantmaking focused strongly on sexual and reproductive health and rights and protection against gender-based violence. These issues remain connected to the Fund’s broader objective of improving women’s ability to participate safely and sustainably in economic and community life.
Impact and Examples of Work Funded
According to the Resilience Fund, since 2021 it has invested US$4.27 million in 66 direct and indirect grantee-partners, primarily in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Vietnam. The Fund states that this investment has supported women’s health, safety, economic resilience and climate resilience.
The Fund reports impact across three broad areas:
- Organizational resilience: Supporting organizations to strengthen operations, programs, fundraising and leadership so they can respond to changing needs and unexpected shocks.
- Learning: Building connections among corporate investors, grantee-partners, women’s funds and Advisory Board members to encourage peer learning, collaboration and knowledge exchange.
- Philanthropy: Demonstrating alternative approaches to corporate philanthropy through flexible pooled funding, participatory decision-making and locally led solutions.
The organizations supported by the Fund work at different points within global value chains. According to the Fund, some grantee-partners work directly with industrial and agricultural workers, migrants and their children, while others work with formal and informal workers and community members.
Examples of work highlighted by the Fund include initiatives addressing gender-based violence, crisis support, legal assistance, media campaigns, shelter services, women’s health and community resilience. In more recent work, the Fund has also focused on climate-related risks such as extreme heat, flooding and drought and their effects on women in supply-chain communities.
The Fund’s impact model therefore extends beyond individual project activities. It aims to strengthen the organizations receiving funding, build networks between different stakeholders and demonstrate how flexible and participatory philanthropy can support long-term community resilience.
Conclusion
The Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains is a philanthropic funding initiative focused on women-led, community-based solutions in communities connected to global supply chains. Since its establishment in 2021, the Fund has developed a model based on pooled resources, flexible funding, participatory grantmaking, community leadership and shared learning.
The Fund’s 2026 grant opportunity provides US$15,000 to US$50,000 in flexible, unrestricted funding for two years to eligible women-led community-based organizations in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India and Vietnam. The current application deadline is October 12, 2026.
Organizations interested in applying should carefully review the current application guidelines and eligibility requirements through the official Resilience Fund website before submitting a proposal.
For more information, visit here.
