Our Approach

Our Giving Pillars

GROW's three giving pillars focus on supporting women and girls to achieve social and economic self-sufficiency.

  • We endeavour to assist women in breaking free from the consequences of poverty with programs such as ending violence against women, skills training, micro-lending, and supportive housing. Breaking the cycle of poverty is a complex challenge; therefore, we are always on the lookout for organizations offering creative solutions that support women to develop a brighter future.

  • A key empowerment tool for women and girls to reach their full potential. We fund programs that assist women and girls in upskilling and reskilling, thereby removing barriers to success. We focus on programs that increase access to knowledge and expertise, female allyship, entrepreneurship coaching, and career training, including a STEM education program for younger girls.

  • We want to support a robust care infrastructure that advances gender and racial justice while fueling economic prosperity. We look for programs supporting the health and livelihoods of all children and families to help women get back to work, enhancing their purchasing power and impacting decision-making roles.

Our Guiding Principles

100% of funds raised go to charities; we are self-administered with three committees, Education, Cultivation, and Investment. These committees help us achieve our goal of helping women while providing philanthropic growth to our membership. We are a pan-Canadian group who make decisions as a group.

We Give

Grant-making is the essence of our Circle's existence. Our investment strategy includes grants to grassroots organizations and charities across Canada. Through targeted grants, we build long-term relations with our partner organizations to have an impact at every level. We seek suggestions from our members for charitable organizations in their region which meet our mission or have the flexibility to adjust their operations to address community needs.

We Learn

Our focus is to provide education for our members and deepen our understanding of social and economic issues affecting women and girls across Canada. We draw upon our charitable partners, Community Foundations, and experts to guide our education sessions. Becoming more knowledgeable with each session leads to more creative philanthropic endeavours and impactful giving, both within and beyond our giving Circle.

We Connect

This sense of community and belonging is at the heart of GROW's mission. We learn about the community's needs and grow in our philanthropic journey together. We become friends with others we might never have met, creating a broad sense of connectedness.