GLOBAL RUNNING FOR GENDER EQUITY GRANTS

Are you using running to advance gender equity in your community? Perhaps you are creating safer opportunities for girls and women to run, using running as a form of advocacy or resistance, or helping people who have traditionally been excluded from sport take up space outdoors?

Free to Run is inviting applications for a new global pilot supporting community-led ideas that use running to advance gender equity. We've seen running change lives in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine. Now we want to help you create that in your community. 


Up to 10 groups, organizations or initiatives will receive grants of up to USD $1,000. Selected applicants will also have opportunities to connect with Free to Run, receive support and mentorship tailored to their activities, and share learnings from their work. Proposed activities might involve starting a new running group, expanding an existing initiative, introducing running into other existing community programs, or addressing a barrier that prevents girls and women from running safely and freely.

Applicants do not need to represent a formally registered organization. However, you should be able to demonstrate relevant experience, relationships or previous activities that show you can deliver what you propose.

WHAT THE GRANTS SUPPORT

The grants provided through this pilot will support 10 community-led initiatives that use running to advance gender equity. Each selected group will bring together at least 10 girls or women for regular activities over four to six months. Running should be a central and ongoing part of the initiative, rather than a one-off event or incidental activity.

Activities will be designed locally and what the funds are used for may look different in each community. Your initiative could focus on creating safer opportunities to run, improving access to running, growing connections or wellbeing through group activity, or using running to address any kind of gender inequity that exists in your local context. Applications are welcomed from anywhere in the world.

Up to 10 successful applicants will receive a grant of up to USD $1,000 (based on the needs stated in your application), along with technical support and mentorship from Free to Run.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

You may apply if:

  1. Your group or proposed initiative is led by a woman or women.

  2. Your proposed initiative will use running as a central and regular activity over four to six months, and will advance gender equity or create social change/community benefit for girls and women.

  3. The initiative will engage at least 10 women or girls for the duration of the project. While runners of any gender can be involved, the initiative should primarily benefit girls/women.

  4. The majority of participants in your group experience barriers, exclusion or underrepresentation within running, sport or public space in their local context, or belong to marginalized groups.

  5. You can demonstrate relevant experience, relationships or previous activities that show you can safely and responsibly deliver what you propose.

  6. You commit to ethical and transparent financial reporting, including clear records of how the grant is spent.

  7. You agree to share stories and content with Free to Run (with appropriate participant consent and safeguarding).

  8. You commit to working collaboratively with Free to Run and participating in regular check-ins and learning sessions during the 4-6 month initiative.

HOW TO APPLY FOR A GRANT

To apply for a grant, please complete the application form below by October 30, 2026. We expect to notify applicants of the result by the end of November 2026.

If you have any questions, please send us an email to grants@freetorun.org.

THE STORY BEHIND THE GRANTS

The idea for this pilot was inspired in part by Atefa, a Free to Run alumna from Afghanistan who reached out for support to start a running program when she was living as a refugee in Iran. Atefa first joined Free to Run in Afghanistan, signing up for online sports classes in secret after her family dismissed running as useless. When in-person running sessions began, only her mother knew she was taking part. In 2021, the Taliban took control of Afghanistan and Atefa’s family fled to Iran.

“In 2021, the Taliban took over and we had to leave everything behind. We became refugees in Iran. And here also, life wasn’t easy. I faced lots of problems and challenges, because I am a refugee, and a girl. But then I remembered Free to Run. I thought why not bring that freedom to girls like me here? I looked around and found Hasina, Free to Run’s Afghanistan Program Manager. I messaged her and told her my idea regarding having a running team in Iran for Afghan refugees. After a whole year of hard work, we made it happen.”

In 2025, Free to Run supported Atefa to lead a running program for Afghan refugees in Iran - a context in which women participating in sport is not widely accepted. The group of young women met twice a week at 7am and Free to Run provided transport to a park where they could run while the neighborhood was still quiet and few people would see or try to stop them.

By the end of the pilot:

  • The proportion of participants who felt safe exercising in public had increased from 20% to 80%

  • Those who strongly believed in the mental and physical benefits of running had increased from 20% to 90%

  • Those who strongly enjoyed physical activity had increased from 10% to 100%

  • Those who felt comfortable in their bodies had increased from 30% to 80%

“Now when I see these girls running, I see the same joy that I had when I ran for the first time. And the most surprising part is that my father - the one who used to say sports were useless for girls/women - he told me, ‘I am so proud of you’.” - Atefa