Empower-Emerging Markets Foundation

EMpower supports organizations working with youth in this critical transition period to give them the tools they need to overcome these challenges and become healthy, productive adults.

EMpower partners with quality, local organizations for up to 10 years supporting their programming, development and growth. We build more sustainable interventions that empower youth through education, livelihoods opportunities and improvements in health and well-being.

GRANTEE INVESTMENT MODEL
EMpower invests in grantees for the long term and gives flexible funding. We provide up to 10 years of support, as long as mission alignment continues and grantees show results, accountability and learning. EMpower takes a partnership approach and seeks to support organizations for up to 10 years, beginning with single year programmatic support, shifting to multi-year programmatic support, and then to negotiated general support (which tends to focus on organizational strengthening). Both are considered best practices in philanthropy, and provide grantee partners stability, flexibility and increased ability to plan.
CAPACITY BUILDING
In addition to its financial grants, EMpower provides capacity building to grantee partners to strengthen them. This can take many forms: sponsoring visits to similar organizations to learn from them, conducting workshops on particular topics, providing resource materials and tools or linking them to other funders and experts. These durable investments deepen organizations' programmatic impact and potential, by helping the organizations be more efficient, effective, or sustainable.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP ON ADOLESCENT GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN
Over the past 12 years, EMpower has invested in strengthening opportunities for at-risk adolescent girls and young women. We have helped organizations improve their outreach and programming for girls, infused an awareness of gender throughout organizations' work, and supported the development and sharing of knowledge, tips and resources about how to empower and skill girls in several critical areas (such as employment, entrepreneurship, sports, sexual and reproductive health).
EMpower has also supported the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of an Adolescent Girls Learning Community in Mumbai for the past 4 years. The Adolescent Girls Learning Community brings together seven organizations enhancing the skills and effectiveness of organizations' staff and the training 80+ girls and young women to be "agents of change" in their communities, working to lift restrictions that limit girls' ability to move freely, and safely, attend

Since its inception, EMpower has awarded $24,090,496 in 768 grants to 224 organizations. Our work has directly impacted the lives of 337,966 youth. We have touched the lives of over 1 million other people.