Mona Foundation Grant

The Mona Foundation Grant supports grassroots initiatives focused on universal education, gender equality, and community transformation. By empowering women and girls and promoting educational opportunities, the foundation aims to alleviate global poverty and foster sustainable development. Their approach emphasizes self-advocacy and community involvement, ensuring programs are locally operated and address essential needs. This grants initiative not only enhances individual capabilities but also boosts community well-being, ultimately contributing to economic growth and social justice.

Our Focus
All Mona Foundation activities focus on universal education, gender equality, and community transformation.
Universal Education
Learning is intrinsic to human reality and everyone deserves the opportunity to receive a quality education. Educated communities are healthier, more sustainable, and less vulnerable to economic volatility.
Gender Equality and Women and Girls’ Empowerment
Equality not only guarantees basic rights, it is also vital to promoting the robust, shared growth needed to end extreme poverty. World Bank data demonstrates that gender equality and economic development are inextricably linked and increasing education specifically for girls and women has a direct effect on a nation’s economic development.v
There is also a multiplier effect to educating girls and women. More educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more income, have fewer children, and provide better health care and education to their children, all of which eventually improve the well- being of all individuals and lift households out of poverty. These benefits also transmit across generations, as well as to communities at large.
Community Building
All people have the right and the responsibility to lead their own lives and to contribute to the betterment of their own communities. The individuals most affected are the ones most ready to affect change.
Supporting communities in their own self-advocacy promotes empowerment, rather than dependency. Many students we support work with their communities to establish literacy programs, women health centers, parental trainings, cleanliness drives, tree plantations, and many other programs that stimulate harmony and community building in their communities.
Project Selection Criteria
The underlying basis for all the activities of the Mona Foundation is the belief that the key to poverty reduction and the development of human resources lies in universal education and gender equality.
These educational programs address a significant deficit within a community (materially, or morally/spiritually) and focus on quality of teaching and learning, fine arts and character development to train capable, ethical, and altruistic leaders who contribute to the betterment of their families, communities, and ultimately their nation.
The role of Mona Foundation is to find and support educational programs that meet the following criteria:
The program is founded and operated by residents.The program addresses a vital and significant deficit in the basic needs of children which prevent the full development of their capabilities as productive members of the society. These needs must include education but may also include housing, food, and a nurturing environment in support of education.The program serves students of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity, religion, and economic status.The program has a focus on education of girls and women and teaches all students the lessons of equality, oneness and service.The program seeks to develop human resources for the community, and trains capable, ethical, and altruistic students who contribute to the betterment of their families, communities, and ultimately their nation.The program has a history of success, having been established and functioning at least for three years.The program enjoys the support of the local communityThe program administrators have shown a long-term commitment to the development of the program, including not only ongoing maintenance but also capital development and expansion.The program administrators have the capacity to effectively manage funds received from external agencies.The program administrators are active participants in developing and implementing plans, and require and enjoy the participation of the community members in the long-term self sustainability of their program.In cases where the program delivers needed services to the marginalized segment of the population where financial sustainability is not feasible, community members participate and support the program in variety of other ways as their capacity may allow.
To foster collaborative relationships with our partner organizations, we carry out site visits prior to adopting new programs either by members of our Board, or designated representatives of the Board.