UM Grow Your Community Fund

Definitions

As defined below by the Anti-Racism Task Force and Office of Equity Transformation:

Eligibility criteria

• Applicants must apply as a team (minimum of 3 people), with a majority of members belonging to a shared student community that experiences minoritization, marginalization, or under-representation.
• Events or activities must support community-building or community organizing amongst members of minoritized, marginalized, or other under-represented groups. Intersectional student communities will be prioritized, whether as a new or emerging group, or as part of a gap in service within an established group.
• Organizers must commit to working in ways informed by anti-oppression and EDIA.
• At least one applicant must be a registered undergraduate or graduate student at the University of Manitoba at the time of application.
• At least one applicant must be intending to register for the term in which the event or activity will be implemented.
• Events or activities are typically small in scale (<50 people) and take place on a UM campus. Multi-event series (of 3 or more) will be prioritized.
• Applicants must fulfill the Community Leadership Development Program requirements, including financial reconciliation and reporting.
• Applicants must have the time and capacity required to successfully implement their proposal.
• Events or activities must be completed by March 15, 2026.

Timeline

The CLDP has two intake periods for the Grow Your Community fund; Summer 2025 and Fall 2025. We are currently accepting applications for the Summer intake.

Summer intake:

• Applications open: June 2, 2025 at 9:30 am
• Applications close: June 22, 2025 at 11:59 pm
• Applicants notified: July 7, 2025 at 4:30 pm
• Project implementation period: September 15, 2025 - March 15, 2026

Summer training: 

Applicant teams selected from the Summer intake process will be expected to attend 3-hour weekly training sessions in full on the following dates:

• July 17, 24, 31 from 6:00-9:00pm, AND
• August 7, 14, 21 from 6:00-9:00pm

These training sessions will support applicants in planning and developing the materials and resources needed to implement their event(s). 

Applicants will need to invest additional time to plan and prep for their event(s) during and after the training period. This will likely involve ongoing weekly meetings with your team at minimum, but may require more frequent meetings.

Fall intake:

• Applications open: August 5, 2025 at 9:30 am
• Applications close: August 24, 2025 at 11:59 pm
• Applicants notified: September 8, 2025 at 4:30 pm
• Project implementation period: November 8, 2025 - March 15, 2026

Fall training: 

Applicant teams selected from the Fall intake process will be expected to attend 3-hour weekly training sessions in full on the following dates:

• September 18, 25 from 5:00-8:00pm, AND
• October 2, 9, 16, 23 from 5:00-8:00pm

These training sessions will support applicants in planning and developing the materials and resources needed to implement their event(s). 

Applicants will need to invest additional time to plan and prep for their event(s) during and after the training period. This will likely involve ongoing weekly meetings with your team.

If your team is not able to attend the weekly training sessions, please contact us to discuss options.

Grant evaluation criteria

While any applications that aim to build community amongst members of minoritized, marginalized, or other under-represented groups at the University of Manitoba are welcomed, the review committee will prioritize distributing funding to applications based on the following evaluation criteria:

• Applications for multi-event series (of 3 or more).
• Project/events that will take place in Fall 2025.
• Applications from intersectional student communities, whether as a new or emerging group, or as a part of a gap in services within an established group.
• Applications that have clearly defined goals.
• Applications that demonstrate a need/interest from the target student community for the proposed event(s).
• Applications that demonstrate sustainability/continuity of the community building beyond the proposed event(s), including how you will bring in more people to support a long term vision.
• Applications that demonstrate an awareness of and plan to address barriers to participation specific to the target student community.
• Applications that demonstrate connections or willingness to connect with like-minded student groups and admin units on campus.
• Applications that demonstrate alignment with a social procurement policy.
• Applications that do not have access to other funding sources.

Review committee:

The review committee will consist of the following members:

• Anny Chen - Lead, Community Engaged Learning
• Geoffrey Pagcaliwagan - Coordinator, Student Experience and Development
• Madison Reed - Coordinator, Community Engaged Learning
• UM student - CLDP participant
• UM student - CLDP participant
• UM student - CLDP participant

Complete your application for the Grow Your Community Fund via Microsoft Form by selecting the 'Apply now!' button below.

Application questions

In completing the form you will be asked the following:

• List the names of all team members applying for the grant. 
• List the contact emails of all team members.
• Describe the minoritized, systemically marginalized, or underrepresented student community that the majority of your team members share.
• Provide the student number for one member of your team who is a current UM student.
• Can your team attend the required pre-scheduled weekly training sessions in full?
• Provide the student number for one member of your team who is intending to be  a UM student during the time of your event(s).
• Identify at least two, 2-3 hour time slots that your team is regularly available and willing to commit to meet together outside of the scheduled training times.
• Are you applying for multi-event funding?
• What is your group's name?
• Describe your proposal.
• Provide the total amount in dollars that you are requesting.
• Upload an outline of how you anticipate to use the funds using the budget template provided on the website.
• What other sources of funding could you access for this project?
• Who is doing work in this area on and off campus already? Who could help you with your project and in what way?

Find more information in the tabs below that may help you to complete your application!