LeverforChange

Strong coalitions don't happen by accident, they're built with intention. 🤝

That's why we're excited to spotlight the PAI Coalition Building Guide, a new resource from Bold Solutions Network member and awardee PAI.

Packed with lessons learned over decades of advocacy work, this toolkit offers practical guidance for building, strengthening, and sustaining impactful coalitions.

Explore the guide: https://leverforchange.org/resources/pai-coalition-building-guide/

Ending violence against women and girls requires more than individual resilience. It requires leadership at every level.

In Sierra Leone, girls and young women are challenging deeply rooted norms around violence, child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and FGM. Through the Action for Women’s Health awardee FORWARD and their longtime local partner the Girl to Girl Empowerment Movement, what began as a participatory research project has grown into a movement of more than 450 young women leading change in their communities.

In this article, FORWARD UK Executive Director, Naana Otoo-Oyortey, reflects on why investing in girls' leadership is essential to ending violence against women and girls by 2030.

📖 Read the full article here: https://leverforchange.org/article/blog/forward-uk-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls/

An open call isn’t a finish line: it’s a launchpad.

The goal isn’t a single “yes.” The goal is to create more pathways to funding by helping promising organizations gain visibility, build relationships, and unlock new opportunities long after the open call ends.

In her latest blog, our President Kristen Molyneaux shares how we’re widening access and building the connections that make funding possible across our global network.

Beyond the Open Call: Building Partnerships That Sustain Impact - Lever for Change As we reflect on the past year at Lever for Change, one thing is clear: momentum is building.  In 2025, we launched both a domestic…

📢 NEW RESOURCE! 🤩

📒 Bold Solutions Network member and awardee PAI has released the PAI Coalition Building Guide: A Toolkit to Build, Strengthen, and Sustain Advocacy Networks and Their Impact

This must-read resource is grounded in decades of experience and an invaluable roadmap for anyone looking to build or strengthen coalitions in their work. 🤝

Learn more and download the guide 👉 https://pai.org/resources/coalition-building-toolkit/

What a landmark moment for the DREAMS program! 🎉

✅ Real results for more than 22,000 refugee community households in Uganda and Ethiopia.

✅ Over $10M in new funding to continue and expand their work.

😍 We love seeing our Network members achieving real-world impact and growth like this. Congratulations to the full Village Enterprise team!👏

We’ve got big news to share! Groundbreaking new evidence released today shows that DREAMS significantly reduces extreme poverty among refugees and host communities in East Africa.

Two high quality studies found that DREAMS—which combines Village Enterprise’s poverty graduation model with Mercy Corps’ expertise in market development—significantly increased consumption, savings, and assets among refugees and host communities in Uganda and Ethiopia.

The two randomized controlled trials, conducted by independent evaluator IDinsight, found that compared to a control group, DREAMS participants increased:

💵 Monthly consumption by 17% in Uganda and 9% in Ethiopia, meaning families spent more money on food, medicine, and other essentials like soap, firewood, and school supplies

💰 Savings by over 90% in both countries, strengthening household safety nets and resilience to economic and climate shocks

🏠 Household assets by 20-24%, as entrepreneurs bought livestock, built homes, and bought solar panels, tools, furniture, and more

At a time of unprecedented cuts to humanitarian aid, these findings offer powerful evidence that refugees and host communities can move beyond aid dependence when they have access to entrepreneurship, stronger markets, and economic opportunity.

Recognizing the program’s success, we are thrilled to announce continued support for DREAMS:

🇪🇹 In Ethiopia, the IKEA Foundation is funding the program's continued implementation and growth as DREAMS further embeds in local government systems

🇺🇬 In Uganda, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation is funding the next stage of DREAMS, as well as an evaluation of how DREAMS can embed into existing early childhood development programs across Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique

We're incredibly grateful to all of the funders who have supported DREAMS to date and made this impact possible: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Gates Foundation, ICONIQ Impact, IKEA Foundation, LeverforChange, and the generosity of anonymous donors.

Read our press release to learn more about these life-changing results: https://villageenterprise.org/blog/dreams-rcts/

What if fundraising wasn't limited by who you know?

In IPM Advancement's Nonprofit Funding Exchange podcast, our Vice President, Marketing Communications Marc Moorghen explores how a "$10 million mindset" can help break down traditional funding barriers and expand access to transformational philanthropy.

Tune in to hear why open calls matter, how they create new pathways to funding, and what it takes to build a more equitable philanthropic ecosystem.

🎧 Listen to the episode:

How a $10M Mindset Can Break the "Who You Know" Funding Barrier — ipm advancement Finding the right funding for new ideas is challenging, but open-call grant models are leveling the playing field. In today's episode, we discuss ways open calls are reshaping access to philanthropic funding, the value of approaching major grant applications as learning opportunities, and how to use

The strongest systems are built when women's perspectives help shape what gets funded, scaled, and sustained.

We're partnering with The Female Quotient for a LinkedIn Live conversation on how women are reshaping philanthropy by expanding access to resources and influence at every level of decision-making. When capital flows with greater intention and inclusion, outcomes strengthen and innovation accelerates, and that starts with ensuring women are the ones guiding those decisions.

This conversation will explore what becomes possible when we reimagine how funding moves and who leads the way.

🎙️ Tune in to FQ Live to join the conversation. RSVP: https://leverforchan.ge/4vuBSHY

• Susan Boster, FQ Advisor, Founder and CEO, Boster Group
• Cecilia Conrad, Ph.D., Founding CEO, Lever for Change
• Xin Liu, President and Founder, The Enlight Foundation

One open call can lead to many opportunities 💫

Sinergias, a Colombian nonprofit strengthening maternal and child health in remote communities, first became a finalist in the Maternal and Infant Health Award in 2023. Two years later, they were named an awardee in Action for Women’s Health 🎉

Their journey shows that an open call is more than a single funding opportunity. It’s a pathway for organizations to gain visibility, strengthen their work, and build momentum over time.

Read how the Sinergias team navigated the process twice and what they learned along the way:

Continued Pathways for Progress: Sinergias’ Journey from Finalist to Awardee - Lever for Change When organizations apply to a Lever for Change open call, they’re stepping into more than a single funding moment—they’re entering a long-term pipeline of opportunity. …

What is our Bold Solutions Network? How do organizations become members? What does the network offer funders and members?

Learn the answers to these questions and more in our explainer video.

An Intro to the Bold Solutions Network What is the Bold Solutions Network? How do organizations become members? What does the network offer funders and members? Learn the answers to these question...

Now that's a lot of impact ✨

We're proud of the partners, supporters, and donors who continue to show up and deepen our collective impact.

Learn more at leverforchange.org