Introducing the IDEAL Small Grants Program

Overview

Every year NGOs, bilateral/multilateral donors, and host governments spend hundreds of million dollars through emergency and development programs to improve food and nutrition security outcomes among the most vulnerable communities.  That funding is often highly restricted and earmarked for important activities that ensure families don’t go to bed hungry; but this can leave field-level implementing partners with limited flexible resources to develop new field-level tools, arrange knowledge sharing events, strengthen internal knowledge management systems or conduct innovative research projects that were not in the original work plan. IDEAL aims to support food and nutrition security stakeholders by offering small grants (<$50,000; <$100,000 and <$250,000 awards) for practical projects and events that accelerate progress and help address field-level challenges.

Please join IDEAL as we introduce the Small Grants Program, types of awards, procedures to apply and explore the first RFA (targeted for release in early July). This webinar will provide participants with information about IDEAL’s content focus areas and samples of the types of activities that are eligible for funding under IDEAL’s SGP mechanism.  Farm Radio International will share their lessons learned from applying for a previous small grant, and the resulting resource that was developed and disseminated for the food and nutrition community.  Attendees will have a chance to ask questions about current and upcoming small grants RFAs. 

Webinar Agenda

• Introductions and Webinar Objectives
• Understanding the IDEAL Activity
• The IDEAL Small Grants Program Goals and Technical Focus Areas
• Small Grant Funded Interactive Rural Radio Program from Farm Radio International
• Current IDEAL Small Grant RFAs
• Q&A

Presenters

Austen Musso
Austen is the Small Grants Manager with the IDEAL Activity. Prior to joining Save the Children, Austen worked with Vitamin Angels for seven years, most recently as the African Regional Program Manager.  He was responsible for overseeing a portfolio of grants and partnerships that reached more than 20 million underserved children and mothers with essential micronutrients. Austen holds an MPH from Boston University and received his BS in Nutritional Science from Pennsylvania State University.  

Gitau Mbure
Gitau is the lead technical advisor on IDEAL. He is responsible for ensuring technical quality and rigor of program outputs. Gitau has been working in food security and poverty reduction programs for more than 15 years. He is an economist by training and an avid Chelsea supporter.

Caroline Montpetit
Caroline is Regional Program Manager, West Africa & Gender Specialist with Farm Radio International.  Her portfolio focuses on climate resilience, agriculture and food security, nutrition, gender equality and maternal and child health projects in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, and Nigeria. She also provides technical support to the integration of gender equality across FRI’s programs and organizationally. Prior to joining FRI in 2013, she worked in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali and Morocco in community development and gender equality.