Community Foundations of Canada

Published purpose

Through this 31-month systemic change project, Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) will scale its Communities for Gender Equality cohort program to advance women’s economic security & prosperity, and representation in leadership and decision-making roles in each of WAGE’s 5 regions. It will scale to a new learning cohort of up to 20 of the 206 community foundations that serve communities from coast to coast to coast. The project will work with participating community foundations to: (a) incorporate gender equality into operational or board-level policies and practices ensuring gender parity and increasing women’s leadership in positions of power; and ∕ or (b) change internal pay structures and hiring policies making a sizable impact on their community’s gender-pay gap, © move assets into portfolios incorporating a gender lens and explore the expansion of the program to include intersectional investment programming on climate and sustainability, and (d) work with donors to start funds focused on supporting gender equality. With the supplemental funding and extension provided in early 2026, CFC will host a series of virtual learning opportunities for the cohort of participating community foundations, host an in-person gathering of the cohort, and support each community foundation within the cohort to host a community conversation or event in their community that advances gender equality. Through this, the project will foster deeper learning and will further advance Gender Equality.