Chapter 4: Grants, Fellowships, and Awards for Female Journalists

Grants and Fellowships

Below is a list of grants and scholarships designed specifically for women and nonbinary reporters, and/or for stories about women.

For a general list of grants and fellowships available to all, visit the GIJN resource page.

The International Women’s Media Foundation has a number of grants for women and nonbinary journalists around the world, with varying deadlines throughout the year. These include Women’s Health Reporting on reproductive health, rights and justice in the Americas, in partnership with the Women’s Equality Center; Reporting Grants for Women’s Stories for coverage of under-reported topics, in partnership with The Secular Society; and the Kim Wall Memorial Fund for reporting on subcultures, in partnership with the Wall family. The IWMF also runs the Howard G. Buffett Fund for Women Journalists, which supports projects including educational opportunities, investigative reporting, and media development initiatives.

WanaData is a network of female African journalists, data scientists, and techies collaborating to produce data-driven stories. The network and its partners recently offered a digital journalism training program for Ugandan women journalists.

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, the Wole Soyinka Center for Investigative Journalism hosts a leadership fellowship. It is aimed at empowering Nigerian female journalists through skill-building, support, and tools to take leadership positions at their publications while mobilizing a network of female journalists.

Women in News annually selects 50 women from sub-Saharan Africa and 30 women from the Middle East and North Africa, who are mid-to-senior-level editors or senior journalists, to further their newsroom management, leadership, and editorial skills. The program offers online leadership and media management training, one-on-one coaching support, peer mentoring, and national and regional networking.

Chicas Poderosas has chapters in 13 countries in Latin America and Spain and has facilitated fellowships in US newsrooms. The organization’s New Ventures Lab also provides guidance and funding for women-led independent media ventures.

Foreign Policy Interrupted offers a fellowship program to women in the foreign policy arena. The program focuses on building media and branding skills through an online educational module and editorial connections. The program is open to women globally.

The Doria Feminist Fund (MENA region) gives grants to both new and established feminist groups in the MENA region to continue and establish their work.

Inma Elevate Fellowships aim to accelerate learning for professionals from under-represented groups who are committed to growing the news business and aspire to global best practices. Deadline is usually in October.

The 7-month Elizabeth Neuffer Fellowship gives academic and professional opportunities to advance the reporting skills of women and nonbinary journalists who focus on human rights and social justice. Deadlines usually in April.

The Women Leaders for the World (WLW) Fellowship is specifically designed to provide the comprehensive support you need to accelerate the growth of your organization.

Awards for Women

Awards can be a great way to get recognized and have your work spotlighted. For a general directory of global and regional awards open to international entries, check out GIJN’s resource page for dozens of opportunities, while the opportunities below are focused on women reporters.

One World Media Award includes the “Women’s Solutions Reporting Award.”

The International Women’s Media Foundation sponsors the Courage in Journalism Awards, which honor women journalists who face danger to uncover the truth and raise the bar for reporting under threat or duress. The prizes are open to women journalists worldwide and they consider nominations.

The Women in News Editorial Leadership Award is awarded to one editor in sub-Saharan Africa and one editor in the Middle East and North Africa. The award recognizes women who have made an exemplary contribution to their newsrooms and, under their leadership, the contribution of their media to society.

Premio Inge Feltrinelli is an Italian award for young women journalists covering human rights violations. The best books, investigative reports, and podcasts receive awards.