Meet our Aerie Real Foundation Community Grant Winners!

Avanza Arkansas empowers women and families through education, wellness, and community-based programs across Arkansas. Through Avanza Latina 2026, they will host a free International Women’s Day event focused on building confidence, leadership, and well-being among Latina women. Aerie Real Foundation funding will be used to provide empowering presentations, wellness-focused services, and hygiene and self-care supplies distributed in tote bags to participants. This support helps ensure women feel confident, supported, and equipped with tools that uplift both their personal and professional lives.

Bee The Difference empowers and supports at-risk teen girls in Jackson, Mississippi and surrounding areas through mentoring, tutoring, and confidence-building sessions. Over six years, they have directly impacted more than 80 young women by providing safe spaces, positive role models, and consistent support. Funding from the Aerie Real Foundation will support tutoring services, materials and supplies for educational workshops, conferences, meals during programming, school supplies,
and stipends for women facilitators and mentors, ensuring high-quality, sustainable programming that builds confidence, resilience, and self-worth in young women.

For nearly seven decades, Chicago Youth Centers has been a trusted partner on Chicago’s South and West sides, providing safe, supportive spaces for children, families, and seniors. Through early learning, out-of-school-time programs, workforce pathways, and senior wellness initiatives, CYC helps individuals build skills, connection, and purpose at every stage of life. This funding will support CYC’s SheThrives program, which builds confidence in women and girls by promoting positive self-image, leadership development, emotional wellness, and inclusive, intergenerational spaces developed with family and community support.

Community Source is dedicated to empowering women by providing the resources, support, and opportunities they need to build confidence and strengthen their sense of self. Through their programs, they offer education, mentorship, community connection, and direct services that foster personal and professional growth. The Aerie Real Foundation’s generous support will enable them to expand their reach and deliver meaningful, confidence‑building experiences to even more women who need them. This funding directly advances our mission to create a supportive and uplifting environment where women can grow, lead, and realize their full potential.

Dress for Success Vancouver empowers women and gender-diverse individuals to achieve financial independence and personal success through meaningful employment. Since 1999, we have served over 48,000 individuals, providing professional attire, career programs, leadership development, and a strong community of support. Their wrap-around services address the systemic barriers that impact economic security, personal growth, and family stability. More than helping women find jobs, this organization helps them build confidence, resilience, and opportunities for a thriving future. They know that when women succeed, families and communities flourish.

FORGE is a nonprofit organization forging a future where trades are valued while building individual wellbeing. Through BuildHER—FORGE’s construction camp for middle school girls—and its BuildHER2GO outreach, girls ages 11–15 gain hands-on construction experience while building confidence, leadership, and essential life skills alongside female mentors and trade partners. Support from the Aerie Real Foundation helps expand these experiences, empowering girls to lead, create, and recognize their ability to make a positive impact in their communities and in themselves.

Girl Scouts of Black Diamond Council builds girls of courage, confidence and character who make the world a better place. Funding will support the G.L.O.W. (Girls Lead Our World) Summit and Series, a leadership and character development initiative that empowers girls to think critically, communicate effectively and lead with integrity. Through hands-on activities focused on self-awareness, resilience and mental health, girls gain the skills to advocate for themselves and others. By building confidence early, this program helps girls grow into confident, resilient women prepared to lead in every aspect of life.

Girls on the Run Southern Idaho offers empowering after-school programs designed for girls in grades 3 to 8. This program help participants build confidence, increase physical activity, and develop life skills like managing emotions, resolving conflicts, and forming friendships. Led by trained volunteer coaches, girls activate their limitless potential through a blend of physical activities and engaging lessons. The research-based curriculum explores topics relevant to girls, such as expressing empathy and standing up for oneself and others. The program includes a community impact project and culminates with a celebratory 5K. Funds will support essential resources for our volunteer coach training.

Hopeful Horizons provides safety, hope and healing to survivors of child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault through evidence-based practices, outreach, prevention and education, serving multiple communities across South Carolina.

Jewels Academy is a youth-serving nonprofit that delivers hands-on STEM learning experiences for students in grades 4–12. These programs engage students in real-world, project-based learning where they design, build, and complete a tangible project tied to a STEM concept or career pathway. From early exposure in elementary school to advanced exploration in high school, students gain confidence, problem-solving skills, and clarity about future STEM careers. By connecting learning to real applications and industry relevance, Jewels Academy helps students see themselves as innovators, creators, and future leaders in STEM fields.

Journey of Hope was created to interrupt the trauma to school to prison and early death pipeline. Trauma changes the brain and that brain is more likely to self-medicate in addiction, struggle with suicidal ideations and trauma related mental illness; so most of our clients are labeled DUAL Diagnosis (addiction and mental health disorder.). This group of survivors often ends up in the criminal justice system, and the women, youth, and LBGTQIA are abused and exploited in this space; further embedding the mental health issues. Journey of Hope helps survivors to first get safe; get access to a Lethality Assessment and safe domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking resources. They begin to understand that the brain and limbic system can heal once they are safe and they can transition into a healthier life with trauma responsive supports, including: Trauma Informed Therapy; access to Medication to manage symptoms until they feel safe in their bodies; access to education and training for livable wage employment; access to emergency housing spaces and program spaces in the State and outside the State of Utah; as well as low income housing navigation.

NEYFS is a no-barrier family resource nonprofit with free community resources, including a food pantry, clothing closet, diaper bank, hygiene closet, podcast studio, and community garden. They serve mostly families in Northeast Spokane, and many of these clients are women and their children. This grant will ensure that they have hygiene essentials consistently available for the women and girls who visit. NEYFS will go beyond the essentials to provide diverse beauty and self-care items that support mental health and confidence. They will also combat period poverty by consistently acquiring pads, tampons, and women’s underwear.

Plan International Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls around the world, by tackling the root causes of gender inequality. Aerie Real Foundation’s Community Grant will support Plan International Canada’s Girls Belong Here program, which helps young women and gender-diverse youth build confidence, gain career‑shaping experience and develop leadership skills. The grant will directly fund an Innovation Hub, a virtual, think‑tank–style event where 6-8 youth will meet with leaders from Aerie to learn, share insights, offer their perspectives and co‑create actionable solutions to a specific issue.

Reach for Resources empowers people of all abilities to reach their full potential by providing individualized services that build independence, community connection, and emotional well‑being. With support from this funding, they will deliver EmpowerHER support groups and designed specifically for young women in the Twin Cities. These sessions create safe, welcoming spaces where participants can express themselves, develop coping skills, and build confidence as well as meaningful relationships. Funds will support facilitators, curriculum, materials, and accessibility needs, ensuring young women of diverse backgrounds gain confidence, resilience, and a stronger sense of belonging.

The Red Ants Pants Foundation’s Girls Leadership Programs are designed to inspire hope for our youth, develop pride in rural communities, and foster strength and courage in leadership. Each program intentionally brings together a close-knit cohort of eight girls, eight women community leaders, and a dedicated team of professional facilitators, creating a supportive and empowering space for growth. Through the generous support of the Aerie Real Foundation, young women are encouraged to discover their leadership identity, amplify their voices, and build lasting confidence as they complete meaningful projects in service to their communities.

The mission of the Rhonda Walker Foundation (RWF) is to empower inner-city teen girls to become strong, confident, and successful future leaders. Through its award-winning programs—Girls Into Women and Empowering Her Success Academy—RWF provides academic support, college preparation, career exploration, and personal development. The RWF Menstrual Empowerment Program creates a safe, affirming space where teen girls learn about their bodies, strengthen mental well-being, and build confidence and leadership skills. Centered on open dialogue and real-life experiences, the program equips girls with knowledge, emotional tools, and self-confidence to thrive.

Room to Grow provides families in low income circumstances with wraparound support that helps them foster their children’s healthy growth during the most active period of brain development: ages 0-3. Throughout the course of the three-year program, mothers develop self-care and parenting strategies, grow their understanding of early childhood development, access vital material support, and connect with stabilizing public and community resources. This helps them build confidence in their strengths and capabilities both as caregivers and as individuals. Confident, well-supported mothers are equipped to provide their children with the nurturing, responsive care they need to thrive.

Special Olympics Nova Scotia delivers inclusive sport, health, and wellness programs for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, with an increasing focus on women’s health. This funding will support the expansion of our Sports Bra Fitting Program to include education on menstrual health, menopause, breast health, and access to menstrual products, alongside proper fittings and supportive garments. By addressing pain, discomfort, skin conditions, and health knowledge gaps, the program builds confidence, improves comfort and performance, and empowers women to better understand and care for their bodies—allowing them to participate in sport with dignity, confidence, and pride.

TASC leads at the intersection of health and the criminal legal system. They help people and institutions navigate the complex systems of justice, substance use, and mental health, offering treatment alternatives rooted in compassion, and guided by evidence. TASC knows that justice and health require addressing the social drivers of health including poverty, trauma, and access to basic resources. This grant will allow TASC to provide care packages for women in our programs, offering practical essentials that help reduce immediate stress, restore dignity, and build confidence as they focus on rebuilding their lives and moving forward.

Transform to Flourish is a Georgia-based nonprofit empowering teen girls and young women through trauma-informed anger management, grief counseling, and life skills education. Their programs help participants build confidence, emotional regulation, and healthy coping skills—especially during critical life moments. This Aerie Real Foundation grant will support the Butterfly Confidence & Inclusion Period Care Initiative, providing period care kits paired with affirmations, education, and emotional wellness resources so girls and women can show up to school and life feeling prepared, confident, and supported.

Women Aware is the lead state-designated domestic violence agency for Middlesex County, New Jersey, providing multilingual comprehensive services for victims of domestic violence and their children. These services are free, confidential and available to any victim. Funding from The Aerie Real Foundation supports project staffing for our Luz de Esperanza, “Light of Hope,” project, Women Aware’s Spanish-speaking support group, which serves as a hope- centered and trauma-informed therapeutic environment for victim-survivors moving beyond abuse. The project empowers individuals in a supportive environment that allows women and children to make connections, learn from their peers, build confidence and begin to heal.

The mission of Women’s Fund of Rhode Island is to invest in women and girls through research, advocacy, grantmaking, and strategic partnerships designed to achieve gender equity. Through this grant, they are equipping women across the state with the tools, training, and collective power to influence the laws and policies that shape their lives. Their Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) and Policy & Advocacy Committee builds civic leadership and advocates for systemic changes that help women and families thrive, as well as inspires women to run for office.

Women’s Refugee Care (WRC) is a BIPOC organization serving a diverse community of refugee families from across the globe, representing a broad spectrum of racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. The $2,500 Aerie Real Foundation Awarded will be used to launch and enhance our program titled “Women’s Empowerment in Higher Education”. This program will advance women leaders and focuses on supporting and advancing post-secondary education access and success for women.

Worldmaker Resilience Institute equips individuals and communities impacted by chronic stress, trauma, and crisis with skills to strengthen well-being and navigate adversity. Through evidence-based, trauma-responsive training and community-based programs, we reduce stigma, prevent burnout, and build
psychological resilience and leadership capacity. A core focus of their work addresses the unique, often unseen pressures faced by women in high-stress, male-dominated military, frontline and first responder professions. By fostering trusted peer connection and sustainable resilience practices, these programs empower
women on the front lines to thrive while they protect and serve others.

The YMCA Young Parent Program empowers young mothers under 24, who had their first child before age 20, to overcome barriers and build confidence as parents and individuals. Through wrap-around supports—childcare, parenting education, mental health resources, and life skills training—they create a safe, inclusive environment where women can pursue education and develop resilience. Aerie Real Foundation’s support will provide essentials like diapers, formula, and nutritious food, alongside confidence-building workshops and individualized mentorship. Together, we help young women strengthen self-worth, achieve academic goals, and create brighter futures for their families through empowerment and creating opportunity.

YWCA Cass Clay operates the largest emergency shelter for women and children in North Dakota and a large region of Minnesota. We provide safety, essentials, and trauma-informed support while women rebuild confidence and stability after violence and homelessness. Aerie Real Foundation support strengthens our Education & Employment program and related services that empower women through financial literacy, employment preparation, emotional healing, and family economic stability—helping women move forward with autonomy, resilience, and hope.