Sustainable Ocean Alliance
/OVERVIEW: SOA makes small grants to support grassroots organizations and projects led by individuals under the age of 35. Grants are modest but are designed to make a significant impact.
IP TAKE: This funder has an accessible application process and would be a good fit for groups led by young people just beginning to get their project off the ground. However, its LOI process requires concise statements, so pare down your writing to the essentials. This is an accessible and approachable funder to know in its areas of focus.
PROFILE: Created in 2014, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance (SOA) was founded by Daniela Fernandez, one of Forbes’ 2019 30 Under 30. This San Francisco-based funder focuses on ocean restoration. It seeks to “bring next-gen leaders, entrepreneurs, advocates, mentors, and partners together to create solutions for the largest challenges facing our ocean.” In addition to its grantmaking, SOA also provides mentorship, development, and scalability programs and workshops. Microgrants support projects, led by young people, that work to address ocean health.
Grants for Environment, Marine and Freshwater
This funder offers small grants of $500 to $2000 to projects benefiting ocean health. Grants support “young ocean leaders” and grassroots organizations working to address urgent ocean issues, especially those working toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals. Funding goes to a broad range of ocean issues, but funded projects must “involve direct action rooted in science or research” and must engage the local community in some way. Project leaders must be under 35 years old and the project must be sustainable and replicable.
SOA also has a Leadership for Climate-Resilient Fisheries fellowship program that “supports early career change-makers and fishing community members who are working to advance fisheries and their communities’ ecological and socioeconomic resilience to climate change.”
To get a better idea of the types of projects and organizations this funder supports, new grantseekers can view recent grantees here. View FAQ here and apply here.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts tend to be modest and range from $500 to $2000. Applicants can submit a proposal using SOA’s extensive online form. Some of the entry boxes have relatively low character limits, so grantseekers should anticipate having to explain their project using clear, concise language.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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