Voqal
OVERVIEW: Voqal promotes economic opportunity and education initiatives as part of its overall mission to use media and technology to bring about social change through access to education.
IP TAKE: This is a highly directed and proactive funder that conducts its grantmaking by invitation only, so grantseekers will need to network to get on Voqal’s radar. Unfortunately, it’s not accessible, but it is responsive.
PROFILE: Voqal started in 1983 as a provider of free educational and instructional videos to schools, and has since grown into a national collective of Educational Broadband Service (EBS) licensees dedicated to “advancing social equity by building an educated, empowered and engaged public.” While Voqal does support traditional education organizations, like K-12 schools, it also funds groups outside of the classroom that work to ensure equal access for all. The foundation’s work in this field involves providing Grants and Fellowships, as well as Increasing Internet Access, Investing for Educational Impact, and Protecting Public Airwaves.
Grants for K-12 Education
Voqal’s Investing for Education Impact program supports education organizations working to educate and empower the “public to foster a stronger, healthier democracy.” One of this program’s priorities has been to fulfill the mission of the Educational Broadband Service by investing “in organizations and companies focused on creating a more educated world.”
Grants for Democracy and Civic Engagement
Voqal conducts grantmaking related to democracy and civic engagement through its Protecting Public Airwaves program, which works to ensure “that the country’s telecommunications resources and infrastructure contribute to a socially equitable world for all.” Voqal engages with “the FCC and other government agencies” to promote this idea. The foundation also believes in Increasing Internet Access in order to “bridge the digital divide by offering free and low-cost internet to educational institutions, nonprofits and social welfare agencies.”
Voqal’s Investing for Education Impact program aims to educate and empower the “public to foster a stronger, healthier democracy” by supporting innovators in the education space. Indeed, Voqal has strived to fulfill the “mission of the Educational Broadband Service (formerly called Instructional Television Fixed Service) for more than 30 years.”
Lastly, Voqal’s Fellowship program awards prizes to “social justice-oriented leaders, thinkers, doers and believers who have a big idea for a new way to organize communities.” Eight winners per year each receive a $30,000 stipend for six months in order to develop an innovative media or technology based social justice initiative. Eligible applicants may not be enrolled full-time in school or working full-time, as the fellowship is intended to allow applicants to dedicate themselves fully to developing their projects.
Voqal also offers a Grants program that supports organizations “committed to the promotion of social, economic, and racial justice through the support of community organizing and public policy advocacy.” The grants program seeks to build “the capacity of communities to win political power and […] prioritize funding communities who have traditionally had power used against them.” View the grants page to see a list of select grantees and an interactive map highlighting the geographic regions where grantees are located.
Grants for Economic Opportunity, Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights
Voqal’s Fellowship program awards prizes to “social justice-oriented leaders, thinkers, doers and believers who have a big idea for a new way to organize communities.” Eight winners per year each receive a $30,000 stipend for six months in order to develop an innovative media or technology based social justice initiative. Eligible applicants may not be enrolled full-time in school or working full-time, as the fellowship is intended to allow applicants to dedicate themselves fully to developing their projects. Voqal also offers a Grants program that supports organizations that use “media and technology to empower the politically, economically and socially disenfranchised.”
Important Grant Details:
Voqal conducts its grantmaking by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
PEOPLE:
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