One of the things I appreciate about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex is their wide array of charitable interests. I usually learn a lot when I’m covering their charitable work and the programs, charities and non-profits they choose to highlight and platform. So it is with the latest Archewell collaboration. Archewell has teamed up with The VING Project to give grants to inspirational women. A million dollars will be given away in $1000 grants, and it feels like Archewell is donating a chunk (if not all) of that money.
The Archewell Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and Prince Harry, has teamed up with The VING Project to give $1 million in grants to women who serve as inspiration to young individuals. The partnership, which was inspired by “Archetypes,” a Spotify podcast created by the former Meghan Markle, asks anyone between the ages of 14 and 18 to nominate a woman who has inspired them and worked hard to meet their goals, despite facing challenges such as financial hardships.
If chosen, nominators will be able to give a $1,000 dollar grant to the nominee of their choice, which not only supports women in need, but also helps the next generation participate in the joy of giving. In order to qualify for the grant, nominees “must be U.S. residents, non-extended or immediate family members and in need of financial assistance to be eligible,” according to a press release.
“Two things that bring me great joy are supporting women, and the spirit of giving,” Meghan expressed in the press release. “With the return of Archetypes, Archewell Foundation and VING have come together to create the perfect combination of these loves. By donating $1 million in grants to women in need, our hope is not to only provide support where it may be felt deepest, but also empower young adults to embrace the gift of giving at an early age. I’m very proud of this partnership and the good we hope to see come from it.”
VING, which is all about sparking the next generation of givers, has already awarded nearly $1 million in $1,000 grants to deserving nominees, and the partnership aligns with the Archewell Foundation’s mission to uplift and unite communities with acts of compassion.
“We share the joy of philanthropy with Archewell Foundation and are proud to help young people make a difference by giving a financial boost to others who are financially vulnerable,” Liz Lefkofsky, founder of VING, said of the partnership in the press release.
So, they’re asking kids from the age of 14-18 to “nominate” a woman who inspires them, and if their nominees are chosen, those inspirational women get $1000 grants. Nice. It also seems kind of unnecessarily complicated, but I understand that the point of this is multifold, and they’re trying to teach kids about charity work, donations, how non-profits work, etc. I like how it ties into Archetypes too.
EXCLUSIVE: The Archewell Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, has teamed up with The @VINGproject to give $1 million in grants to women who serve as inspiration to young individuals. pic.twitter.com/yosFjMVdO5
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) October 7, 2022
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Spotify.
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- Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM – Meghan Markle speaks at the One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit in the UK. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 5 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM – Meghan Markle speaks at the One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit in the UK. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 5 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Manchester, UNITED KINGDOM – Meghan Markle speaks at the One Young World 2022 Manchester Summit in the UK. Pictured: Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 5 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Dusseldorf, GERMANY – Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex attending a lunch reception during the One Year to Go event, one year before Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023, at the City Hall on the Market Square in Dusseldorf, Germany. Pictured: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle BACKGRID USA 6 SEPTEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Amazing! I will tell my niece… she is super involved in charities and she has nominated her teachers and mom for various things.
Im so happy they continue thriving !
I think its great. There are a lot of unsung heroines out there who are putting in the work to help young people. And most use their own funds to help out with no reimbursement. I remember growing up my next door neighbor used to teach the kids on the block how to crochet and make little craft projects during the summer. She wasn’t running a day camp or anything, she just loved to teach kids things. It meant a lot to know she cared.
I don’t necessarily get the ages restriction. But other than that it’s a good initiative.
However i do think they may have kept it smaller. Instead of a 1000 women receiving 1000 dollars it could have been a smaller amount of women receiving a slightly bigger grant. But more women will be helped this way, and I appreciate that.
Yeah, if they had unlimited funds that would be greate. This isn’t just about the money, it’s also about youths awarness of other peoples good deeds and recognitions for the ones doing them.
I never claimed that Archewell needed to give unlimited amounts of money to these women. I think 1 million is fine. But i also think that if you spread that over let’s say 500 women instead of a 1000 it would have been more practical. For Archewell as well as the recipients. And i was just wondering why they chose this age restriction. Why not ages 16-25? Or 20-30? Why 14-18?
Because it’s an opportunity for kids to recognize the important women in their lives other than a parent. Especially women who may not be getting paid but do things out of the goodness of their hearts. Or women who do get paid but have to spend their money to go the extra mile with no reimbursement. I don’t get your complaint about the ages though. The recipients are not teenagers, it’s teenagers who get to nominate the recipients.
The answers are on their website. They want to encourage teens to be thankful, aware, charitable.
Perhaps you can start up a charity and run it as you like?
We need a LIKE button 😍😍
@flowerlake: please don’t bore me with this. Questions are allowed to be asked.
@Chloe – unless your questions are rhetorical, you’re asking them to people who aren’t involved in the charity. The best way to get answers is to go to the website.
Can she ever do anything perfect by anyones standards?? The bar for her is just too damn high…
It isn’t H&M’s initiative to dictate the terms. This is how the charity they donated the money to was set up before their donation. I imagine it is to get teens thinking about those in need around them and to find other ways to help besides just the money.
But this is their MO. It’s always been $1000 grants. Are you saying the charity should’ve switched up their model specifically to collab with Archewell?
this is awesome. There are so many people for whom a thousand dollars would make a huge difference. I like that they are giving out so many of these grants, it makes it feel more accessible than if it was just ten 100,000 grants.
Exactly. A $100,000 grant would involve already existing organizations who can actually use that big chunk of money in a productive way.
Most people I know who work with kids would balk at a huge grant. But give them $1k? That’s pretty easy to spend quickly and productively for stuff that is actually needed. School uniforms, art supplies, schools supplies, more school supplies, musical supplies, craft supplies, gardening supplies.
Donors choose is filled with small requests from teachers for just minor things that they just can’t afford yet would make a world of difference. These small grants could do wonders.
The answers are on their website. It’s to encourage youth to be thankful and charitable…although imho it should be up until age 21 as that is the age most people finish college and someone in college can have a professor who encouraged them, etc but that’s a minor minor gripe. I think this is a great initiative. At the same time I don’t get why people are coming for you. You’re allowed to ask questions and be inquisitive.
It is supposed to be for someone in need according to the Ving website. Most professors are hopefully being compensated enough to not be in need.
ITA; $1000 IS a lot, especially to those who need it, and (@Chloe) for the goal of “teaching the next generation the joys of giving”, it makes sense that the quantity is focused on the total number of recipients, not the grant amount.
The age cap doesn’t seem unnecessary to me either; teenagers have less power, agency, and access to funds than even someone fresh out of high school, working or not, living at home or not. It’s a completely different mindset. And the whole point is to empower young people (yeah, age is relative, but clearly the focus is on kids) to be able to recognise/thank/support their own communities and inspirations and to keep that spark of “I want to recognise your need” flickering by providing access to the funds to do it.
This is incredibly important, I think, because it makes it not about the money, and therefore not really about the philanthropist; it’s not about multimillionaires swoopinh
Whoops, eaten by my own attempt to edit.
Meant to finish with:
It’s not about multimillionaires swooping in to save the day with $10,000 or $100,000 for single causes (that must therefore go through all the due diligence etc etc etc); it’s about the thanks that a young person has for someone who has inspired them, their ability to voice it, and fostering that natural want to help as something strong and worth listening to and developing.
All that to say, go Meghan and Archewell and VING for supporting the hearts not just pockets. I think she would have done this had she never met the BRF, but I’ll totally reiterate: THIS is service *wink*
That’s awesome. Good folks doing good work.
Really like how they partner with existing organizations that align with their goals. And it’d be cool if in the future Meghan added in some mini segments of Meghan speaking with some of the young recipients on archetypes.
This is really great.
Also looking forward to the rota rat commentary about how this is a slap in the face blah blah blah.
Meghan is consistent, which is why I like her so much
So true!, Osty! There is a straight line linking all of M’s charitable endeavors and her passion projects over the decades. This woman is consistent!
I’m sort of fascinated by how her brain works. She found a nonprofit already doing good work to provide microgrants, which have been shown to be very effective. Then she set up this partnership, highlighted this organization & added a way to teach girls about philanthropy while recognizing women in their communities.
My ADHD brain could never. I just had to abandon making lunch after losing focus due to an unexpected phone call lol.
Great project! Im looking forward to hearing about the nominators and winners, won’t that be wonderful? I’m passing this info on to middle school Literature teachers in our community to possibly use as an enrichment assignment or after school programs or for a girl’s club activities. Well done as usual, Archewell.
It sounds like a wonderful initiative
Nice one Archewell!
Never heard of VING before, but reading a bit about it, I can see the project itself and the Foundation behind it are right up Meghan’s alley. I get the rules though. They very specifically want only teenagers nominating women outside of their families because it’s just as much about creating a foundation
of empathy and charitable giving in young people as it is about helping women in financial hardship. And the video requirement probably weeds out scammers.
Service is universal.
Say it again!
As others have pointed out, the main reason for the partnership is to teach kids about philanthropy and appreciation for the people who work in their communities. A lot of people (not just young) take those people for granted so getting people to notice them is a good starting step for them.
And 1k might not be much in the grants world but 1k could help a woman buy groceries for her family for 2-3 months maybe more. Or help buy some supplies for her kids. Or be a general contribution into her savings account.
Compassion in action is our Madame duchess and her prince.
$1000 could help a teacher buy the school supplies she needs for her classroom without having to ask for donations. It could help a librarian buy books for their school library. Or it could help a health care worker have a much-needed spa day, or five. But far more than $1000, the recipients will get the invaluable gift of being recognized by a young person from their communities or families. That will be a priceless treasure for them. And the young people submitting the nominations will learn an equally invaluable lesson, that it is important to perceive the women around them who are doing good work and thanking them for it. Meghan is basically creating the conditions for teens to experience what she did as a girl, which is to speak up about a cause they believe in (in Meghan’s case, a sexist TV commercial, and in this case, women who are contributors), and by doing so, understand that their voices are important and they need to use them to do good things in the world and help others.
Excellent comment!
Beautifully said!
Archewell really needs to set up an IG account. So many people want to follow what they’re doing and actually respond to these kind of initiatives. It is hard to keep up with what they’re doing when there isn’t a main place to go to to get all the information. They have their website but I definitely think a social media account with the comments turned off would really help their cause.
Considering how everything they do makes waves in social media, not having one works. They let the orgs they work with highlight their own social media.
I love this! I love that it’s about individuals in this instance instead of organizations. I can think of so many in the community that just give selflessly even when they are in need themselves. This is a great thank you. They’ll not only get a bit of help but bc of the nomination process they’ll know they are seen.
I agree with @kaiser. I love finding out about new orgs. It’s really inspiring to see the creative ways people are coming up with to put some good in this world.
Yay