NEW YORK CITY, NY (March 16, 2026) |
UNFCU Foundation awarded $795K to 21 grant partners that align with its mission to sustain pathways out of poverty for marginalized women and youth. This year’s grant partner selection by UNFCU Foundation, now in its 11th year of philanthropy, focused on impactful programs benefitting migrants and refugees globally.
“The intersection of sustainability, inclusion, and economic empowerment is at the center of our work,” said Yma Gordon, Executive Director, UNFCU Foundation. “Through this year’s grants we are proud to expand access to skills-based training, quality education, and critical healthcare for women and youth and in this way further our strategy to leave no one behind.”
“Having recently marked 10 impactful years of grant-making, we remain deeply committed to bridging social, economic, and digital divides,” said Pamela Agnone, Chairperson of the UNFCU Foundation. “Program participants’ resilience in overcoming difficult circumstances by seizing new opportunities like artisan collectives, agribusiness, and social entrepreneurships, inspires us to do even more. We look forward to following progress as women shape brighter futures for themselves and catalyze positive change for their families and their communities.”
UNFCU Foundation grant partners located in six countries represent non-profit, non-governmental, and UN organizations. The grant selection process identified their program alignment with UNFCU Foundation’s mission and their impact equipping women and youth to break the cycle of poverty. These purposeful alliances spotlight the power of collective action:
- “As a long-time partner, UNFCU Foundation’s support helps to ensure that The Floating Hospital is meeting the behavioral-health needs of women and girls in public schools, family homeless shelters, and the medically underserved community at large,” said Floating Hospital President Sean T. Granahan. “This enables our teams to provide a continuum of care for families across New York City and assistance in rebuilding lives.”
- “UNFCU Foundation’s support comes at exactly the time when we’re aiming to scale up our digital training programs for refugees,” said Fabien de Castilla, Konexio Africa Director. “It will enable us to sustain and grow the successful program we’ve just completed in Kenya, especially in Kakuma Refugee Camp.”
- “Because of the UNFCU Foundation’s critical support, we can provide integrated, no-cost medical, sexual and reproductive health, and behavioral and mental health services to even more girls and young women in marginalized communities,” said Dr. Sarah Wood, Division Chief of Adolescent Medicine and Director of the Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center in New York City. “Many of our youth have experienced trauma and would otherwise be unable to access services.”
- “UNFCU Foundation’s commitment to refugee women’s success is reflected in the tangible progress we’ve made together,” said Preethi Nampoothiri, Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee in Silver Spring, Maryland. “We’ve been able to expand our reach and provide job readiness training, financial literacy workshops, and credit-building services to an increasing number of women. This partnership allows us to continue working toward creating a future where refugee women can thrive and contribute to their communities with confidence.”
- “Emma’s Torch is proud to be a grant recipient of the UNFCU Foundation,” said Kerry Brodie, its Founder and Executive Director. “Partnering together helps us provide effective training that is well-regarded by employers in the hospitality industry, creating high demand for Emma’s Torch graduates and increasing the skill level of the culinary workforce overall. By providing refugees with opportunities for stability and economic mobility, we are making a meaningful, lasting impact not only on our graduates, but on their families and communities as well.”
Grantees and projects supported by the UNFCU Foundation in 2026 include: Health care grantees:
- The Floating Hospital continues to provide behavioral health services and support programs for women and children in New York City.
- Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center provides integrated medical, sexual, and reproductive health, as well as behavioral and mental health services to youth in New York City, facing unmet needs.
Education grantees:
- Building Tomorrow ensures children in rural Uganda access to foundational learning opportunities, including literacy and numeracy via its Roots to Rise Program.
- MindLeaps supports at-risk girls ages 12-18 and their mothers in Katwe, Uganda through its Girls and Women Rising Program. This holistic initiative focuses on providing academic and advanced digital literacy skill-building. It offers access to MindLeap’s Family Strengthening Program with four Self-Help Groups that foster independence and self-reliance through economic leadership and leadership training.
- The YWCA of Brooklyn offers college access and leadership skills training to girls of color from poverty-impacted communities in Brooklyn, NY.
Livelihood training grantees:
- Emma’s Torch supports women and youth refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking in New York City through culinary education and on-the-job training to achieve financial independence.
- Global Fund for Widows empowers widows and female heads of households to overcome poverty through skills-based training, job creation, and micro finance through enrollment in Widows’ Savings and Loan Associations, WISALAs, in Kenya.
- Hot Bread Kitchen expands workforce development and social entrepreneurship programs in the food industry for women, immigrants, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities in New York City.
- Imagine Her enables young women in rural Uganda to gain leadership and social enterprise training in the green energy sector.
- International Rescue Committee (IRC) provides employment services to refugee women in the United States through its Women’s Employability Program.
- Konexio empowers young refugee women through digital skills training in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp. The program leverages a rigorous curriculum and connects participants to international job platforms.
- Mission for Community Development (MCODE) enhances the income-generating capacity of young rural women and girls in Uganda through agricultural vocational skills.
- RefuSHE expands social enterprise Artisan Collective/vocational training and apprenticeship programs for young refugee women to gain entrepreneurial and financial skills in Nairobi, Kenya.
- Resilience Action International equips refugee women and youth through computer literacy and digital skills in Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp.
- Sanctuary for Families addresses the root causes of abuse, poverty, and homelessness in New York City via intensive living-wage career training.
- Together We Bake provides women in the Washington, DC area with livelihood training and direct experience in the food industry, as well as post-program professional development support. • Trickle Up improves economic opportunities for Indigenous women, including people with disabilities, living in extreme poverty in Guatemala. The organization also builds their resilience to socioeconomic shocks using the Graduation Approach.
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) delivers livelihood training and social reintegration care to indigent obstetric fistula survivors in Nigeria.
- UN Women empowers refugee and host community women in Adjumani, Uganda, with practical, market relevant skills and provides them with startup tools to establish micro and small enterprises, enabling long-term self-reliance and economic resilience.
- Village Enterprise expands the Poverty Graduation Program, an entrepreneurship training program for primarily women and girls in rural Uganda.
- World Food Program USA supports the mission of World Food Programme Senegal to strengthen food systems and create job opportunities for youth in Senegal through vocational training, entrepreneurship support, and career counseling.
Furthers impact by supporting emergency relief efforts in 2025:
UNFCU Foundation also worked in partnership with the UN system to decrease the impacts of job, health care, and education loss post-disasters. UNFCU Foundation teamed up with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, in Sudan and Myanmar, as well as the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, to provide emergency humanitarian aid in the Caribbean in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa.