Overview
The ImpactWX Genesis Grant provides small grants to people and community organizations that are focused on developing new ideas related to severe weather response and awareness.
ImpactWX is a Toronto-based social impact fund with a mission to enable organizations that, through scientific understanding and public awareness, work to improve people’s response and safety during severe weather events. We are proud to have experience partnering with world-class organizations that actively move the needle on our understanding of severe weather and are thrilled to introduce a new stream of community-oriented funding through the ImpactWX Genesis Grant.
Aligned with our mission, this fund seeks to support initiatives that can improve people’s response and safety during severe weather events. The ImpactWX Genesis Grant has a specific interest in initiatives that promote innovation, creativity and opportunities, as aligned with our core principles.
In 2024, ImpactWX Genesis Grant awarded four successful projects with $25,000.
Core Principles / Focus
Create Opportunities
- Create opportunities for community and public engagement
- Enable educational and learning experiences
Promote Innovation
- Promote human-centred innovation and design
- Develops and tests new concepts and ideas
Eligibility
Eligible applicants
We invite applications from individuals, groups and collaborators such as local community groups, researchers, artists, collectives, non-profits, public sector agencies, and registered charities. If you are not already a charity, you must include a Canadian charitable trustee as a partner. A charitable trustee is required to administer funds, but it is not necessary to be a programming partner in the project. Private for-profit businesses may not be the sole applicant but can be part of an application as a partner.
Geography
Applicant must be located in Canada; impacts must be felt in Canada.
Duration
The grant duration is 12 months; ideas/projects should be achievable within 12 months of receiving the grant.
Grant can cover:
- Operational and staff costs of directly delivering the project, core activities and/or ongoing work
- Research development
- Planning, public consultation, and community outreach
- Capital costs
- Programming and event costs
- Honorariums to people directly associated with implementing the project
- Website development or online activities
Grant will not fund:
- Previously incurred costs
- Contributions to a general fundraising campaign
- Activities or projects that duplicate existing work
RECIPIENTS
2024 RECIPIENTS
Alliance North, in partnership with CIFAL-York, Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA), Canadian Wings of Rescue, and the City of Stratford
“Emergency Air Corps. Ambassador Project”
This collaborative project between Alliance North, CIFAL-YORK, COPA, Canadian Wings of Rescue and the City of Stratford seeks to develop an educational program that utilizes knowledgeable civilian pilots to act as ambassadors to educate the aviation community and public on the innovative potential of specialized air supports during weather related emergencies. Their goal is to create a sustainable training and education program that will bolster emergency preparedness and responses to severe weather events within communities.
Archway Community Services
“Enhance senior’s resiliency on extreme weather preparedness in Abbotsford through a two-pronged approach: Community engagement and public health”
Archway Community Services’ multi-pronged initiative engages peer educators and pharmacists to provide extreme heat preparedness information to seniors in low income societies in Abbotsford, BC. This project aims to enhance senior’s resiliency by fostering social cohesion and preparedness for extreme weather emergencies.
Evergreen
“AI for the Resilient City””
AI for the Resilient City (AI4RC) is a data visualization and analytics tool that focuses on the impacts of Urban Heat Islands and extreme heat in Canadian cities and provides resources to better evaluate infrastructure projects, mitigate climate risks and prepare communities for extreme weather events. With the support of the Genesis Grant, Evergreen seeks to scale the AI4RC to new municipalities and launch a public-facing version of the tool that will support vulnerable communities at risk of adverse weather events across the country.
Thunder Bay + Area Food Strategy (TBAFS), in partnership with Roots Community Food Centre
“Community-Based Responses to Severe Weather in Northern Ontario: Developing and Implementing an Emergency Food Plan (EFP) for the Thunder Bay Region”
The Emergency Food Plan (EFP) is a community-generated plan that provides a coordinated response to food access challenges presented by medium to climate-related emergencies in Thunder Bay, ON. The goal of this initiative is to implement community feedback into the EFP through working groups, an annual tabletop exercise and expansion of partner networks. The Genesis Grant will help sustain the stewardship and upkeep of the EFP, ensuring it evolves dynamically to provide dignified food access during emergencies.
FAQ
Monday, November 20, 2023, 12:00 AM EST: Application portal opens.
Sunday, January 14, 2024, 11:59 PM EST: Applications due.
Early March 2024: All applicants are notified of their status.
End of March 2024: Successful applicants must submit grant documents and wire transfer information.
Early April 2024: Funds sent to successful applicants.
End of March 2025: Impact report due.
This grant is highly exploratory, and we are eager to learn what kind of work is being done to advance our understanding of community awareness, response and safety during severe weather events. Some examples of activities that could be funded are, but are not limited to:
- Art exhibits, documentaries, or installations
- Educational Programming
- Research
- App or technological development
- Activating or creating solutions to protect vulnerable communities from extreme heat or cold
Severe weather is, in general, any destructive weather, usually applied to such things as tornadoes, damaging winds, large hail, heavy snow, ice storms, etc.
In Canada, for example, Environment and Climate Change Canada specifically defines summer severe weather as tornadoes, wind gusts of 90 km/h or more, hail with diameter of 2 cm or more, and heavy rain (with thresholds that are regionally dependent).
Extreme weather, on the other hand, is severe weather that has a size, intensity or even time of year well beyond what is typically expected based on past observations. This includes violent (EF4-5) tornadoes, wind gusts of 130 km/h or more, hail with a diameter of 5 cm or more, prolonged periods of intense heat or cold, an ice storm with accretions that cripple infrastructure, or a heavy snow event in southern Ontario in May. Extreme weather events, due to their unusual nature, are far less frequent than severe weather events.
Yes, core funding activities are eligible for the ImpactWX Genesis Grant, with the condition that there is alignment to the grant’s mandate and core principles.
Submittable is a secure and trusted grant management platform that ImpactWX is using to manage the grant process. As an applicant, you must create an account with Submittable to apply. Once you have an account, you can access the grant application, save your progress, and view status updates. Should your application be successful, Submittable will also be used to collect grant documents and reporting.
The ImpactWX team will inform each applicant of their status through email notification and a status update on Submittable.
If your grant application is approved, we will reach out to collect signatures for the grant letters and collect wire transfer information.
Funds will be distributed via wire transfer.
Towards the end of the 1-year grant term, our team will reach out to request a 2-3 page impact report and have a conversation to understand the grant’s impacts, lessons learned and next steps.
A strong application should include:
- Ability to demonstrate alignment with the mandate of ImpactWX and at least one of the two core principles of the grant
- Ability to clearly and concisely communicate concepts and ideas, bringing the application to life in a compelling way
- Very well-developed supporting materials, including the budget, timeline, and milestones