The Trustees of the McConnell Foundation recently approved funding for several organizations and initiatives as well as two new impact investments.
Grants:
Academy for Sustainable Innovation ($483,000)
The Academy for Sustainable Innovation (ASI) will use a grant from the Foundation to scale its curriculum to post-secondary institutions across Canada and to develop complementary programs.
Maytree Foundation ($500,000)
The Urban Project aims to empower Canadian cities to take on the big challenges they face, and to generate the action and ideas needed to solve those challenges — from immigration, affordable housing, and the need for new infrastructure, to adapting to advances in technology, urban mobility, and the impacts of climate change. The Urban Project will strengthen relationships and leverage expertise across all orders of government, civil society, the private sector, and academia in ways that will promote, build, and share innovative and scalable local best practices to tackle these challenges in cities, where the vast majority of Canadians call home.
Entremise ($165,932)
A grant from McConnell would enable Entremise to work with the City of Montreal and partners to expand its project transforming transitional vacant urban spaces for use by community services.
Public Policy Forum ($600,000)
A grant from the Foundation will enable the Public Policy Forum and the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill to create a Media, Technology and Democracy Institute in order to better understand challenges posed by misinformation and hate, develop policy and market-based responses, and lead a conversation about the broader governance issues emanating from emerging technologies.
Micro-Entreprendre ($450,000)
With a grant from the Foundation, MicroEntreprendre plans to strengthen the state of microcredit in Canada by capitalizing a centralized fund. The organization will also be developing its model in an Indigenous community.
Winnipeg Boldness ($375,000)
A grant from the Foundation will support Winnipeg Boldness as it moves from prototyping to documenting completed Proofs of Possibilities (POPs) in the areas of health and wellness, baby baskets, traditional Indigenous parenting, community leadership, transportation and Indigenous evaluation.
Dene Nahjo ($150,000)
A grant from the Foundation will enable Dene Nahjo to hire a full-time staff person to lead strategy development and implementation.
Sacred Fire Productions ($150,000)
A grant from the Foundation will support Sacred Fire to broaden its support for Indigenous cultural entrepreneurs while also working to achieve policies that protect the rights of Indigenous artists throughout Canada.
Pour 3 Points ($300,000)
A grant from the Foundation will enable Pour 3 points to extend its operations throughout Quebec and build partnerships outside the province.
Desta ($110,820)
A grant from the Foundation will support Desta’s new “Tech Buro”, an 18-week skills development program in data management and cloud computing for Black youth living in Little Burgundy and surrounding areas.
Open North ($322,463)
Open North will use funds from this grant to hire two analyst positions and to develop training materials that address the needs of the community and public sectors.
Powered by Data ($150,000)
This grant will support Powered by Data to develop case studies that demonstrate how the community sector can make use of digital data.
Commonwealth Climate and Law Initiative ($100,000)
Funds will be used by the Canadian arm of the CCLI to develop case studies and advance communication and knowledge mobilization.
Fellowship on Society and Climate ($75,000)
With support from the McConnell Foundation, Seth Klein will write a book about mobilizing public support for an economic transformation towards a more sustainable future.
Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network (CEGN) Low Carbon Funders Group and partners ($500,000)
Funds will be used to support several organizations working to translate the Pan-Canadian Framework on Climate Change and Clean Growth into policies, programs and measures that enable the transition to a low-carbon economy.
LEAP | Pecaut Centre for Social Impact ($400,000)
The Pecaut Centre will use a grant from the Foundation to expand its services and add two new staff members.
You can view all of our grants in our Grants Database.
Investments:
Cycle Capital ($5,000,000)
Cycle Capital is a Private Equity firm financing entrepreneurs with sustainable technology innovations. The Fund invests in commercialization-stage clean technology ventures in the North American market.
Raven Capital Partners – Aki Community Outcomes Contract ($250,000)
Aki Energy is an Indigenous-led social enterprise enabling clean energy solutions in remote communities. This recoverable grant, structured through Raven Capital Partners as an intermediary, supports the installation of 26 geothermal units in Fisher River Cree Nation and Peguis First Nation.