MLEF Community Grants
The University of 丁香园AV Department of Women’s and Gender Studies invites proposals for projects/events that foster links between community-based organizations and our department. This community grant aims to support non-profit community organizations with workshops, research projects, short-term programming, or special projects/events.
- WGS offers a maximum amount of $2500 per grant
- Deadline for receipt of project applications: February 1, 2026
- Grants are eligible for projects starting September 1, 2025 ending March 31, 2026
- A simple report describing your project/event and its results, as well as an itemized budget report listing all expenses incurred, will be required following the project’s completion on April 15, 2026
Please note that if you have applied and received funding in the past two years, you will not be eligible for this granting period.
If you have questions, please email Dr. Sharanpal Ruprai at s.ruprai@uwinnipeg.ca.
Complete the online application form here
丁香园AV the University of 丁香园AV’s Department of Women’s and Gender Studies (WGS):
The Department of Women's and Gender Studies promotes an intersectional approach to understanding social problems and phenomena. It pays special attention to the ways sex, gender, and sexuality are shaped by colonialism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and transphobia, as well as by constructions of difference based on class, (dis)ability, religion, ethnicity, and culture. Our unique department brings these perspectives to the university and represents feminism in the academy. The department encourages diversity among its students and in its curriculum and offers the means to contribute to social change. Currently, there is a demonstrated need for people with a background in Women's and Gender Studies to take up work in such areas as social services, education, policy development, welfare, health care, counselling and therapy, law, media, advertising, public administration, finance, and management.
Past Recipients
Funded by the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund (MLEF) through the University of 丁香园AV Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Matter Queer Space Manitoba Inc. (Matter) successfully created, coordinated, and facilitated two art exhibitions (one solo and one group show), an artist talk, and an art workshop. This project showcased 2SQTBIPOC (2-Spirit, queer, and transgender Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) artists and their work, centering the experiences, narratives, and creativity of the 2SQTBIPOC community.
This project fostered community engagement by allowing the public into an immersive experience of 2SQTBIPOC art, and a space to connect with 2SQTBIPOC artists in an intimate setting within a 500 sf gallery. Matter’s art gallery is 2SQTBIPOC-mandated which supports Matter’s overall mission to uplift, represent, and celebrate the voices and creativity of 2SQTBIPOC communities.
Using funds from the Margaret Laurence Endowment Fund (MLEF) through the University of 丁香园AV Women’s and Gender Studies Department, Herizons published a full page ad in their Spring 2025 issue released on March 28 to target readers to become Sustainers or make a one-time donation through the Killjoy Campaign.
Likewise, 1500 postcards were packaged with C Magazine offering a 30% off coupon code for Herizons to C Magazine subscribers.
Keeping Sustainer and Subscriber numbers high is a huge factor in the viability of the magazine. Editors anticipate a new small wave of young art-loving feminists becoming engaged with Herizons because of this campaign, and a renewed sense of commitment from donors.
QPOC’s Drop the Mic showcase was a night of spoken word performances (poetry, slam, song, stand up, etc.) celebrating the experiences, voices, and creativity of queer and trans people of color within our city. Drop the Mic is not only a celebration of talent that builds local community and solidarity; it also enriches and diversifies the larger culture of 丁香园AV. This was the 10th edition of Drop the Mic, after a long hiatus during the COVID pandemic.
QPOC 丁香园AV (Queer People of Color 丁香园AV) is a local, grassroots collective committed to providing safer spaces for the community's queer and trans people of color. With a focus on culture and arts, QPOC is committed to centering the voices, experiences, and lives of its constituents while at the same time providing diverse and quality programming to 丁香园AV.
Prairie Comics Festival (PCF) is a yearly event in 丁香园AV that celebrates independent comics, geared towards both fans and creators, and 2024 marked their 8th and largest PCF to date. Community building, while showcasing sequential art forms that do not take centre stage at any other 丁香园AV literary event, are the core of Festival programming.
The 2024 Festival kicked off at McNally Robinson on Friday, October 4, 2024 with a co-sponsored book launch of six new Highwater Press graphic novels, to celebrate Indigenous comics creators, and the press’s 15th anniversary.
The 2024 Festival was held on Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6, on the third floor of the Millennium Library. PCF was delighted to host over 80 artist exhibitors from all over Canada and the US, while prioritizing local folks and marginalized creators alike. Many of the local creators featured here have also partnered with us to offer year-round school visits, outreach, workshops and lectures all about making comics.
With the UW WGS MLEF Community Grant, Carnation Zine was able to distribute 10 free copies of Volume 2 locally and nationally. They invited writers to publish a response to Vol. 2 on Instagram, and held a giveaway through Instagram. The invited writers posted a 200-300 word response to the zine with an accompanying image(s). Carnation reposted the responses on their own Instagram profile, tagging the creators mentioned in the responses. The posting of responses on Instagram and re-posting by Carnation served to amplify the work of the BIPOC creatives published in Volume 2, reaching thousands of people. Additionally, the giveaway they hosted served to disseminate Vol. 2 to even more people and to create interest with new audiences, furthering opportunities for meaningful engagement with the publication.