Funding Areas
Poverty is not a single problem. It is a web of interconnected barriers — limited education, inadequate healthcare, economic exclusion, and lack of legal protection — that reinforce one another and keep communities from reaching their potential.
The Berhan Foundation's grantmaking reflects that reality. We support work across four core program areas, chosen because together they address the most critical and overlapping challenges facing underserved communities across the Global South. We invest where need is greatest and where sustained, strategic support can make the deepest difference.
Education serves as the essential tool to unleash individual potential while dismantling the persistent cycle of poverty. Our organization empowers both children and adults to achieve academic success and create better futures by offering scholarships, building schools, and distributing educational resources.
Every person deserves access to high-quality medical services because it is an essential human right. Our support goes to programs delivering essential medical supplies and equipment to disadvantaged communities so every person can access necessary healthcare for a healthy life.
The right to justice represents a basic human entitlement which many people cannot access especially those belonging to marginalized or underserved groups. Our support extends to legal assistance programs that work to bridge this gap through their delivery of legal services at free or low-cost rates to persons who are unable to afford representation.
Economic empowerment is essential for generating sustainable progress and helping communities overcome poverty. Our organization backs economic empowerment initiatives that deliver vital resources and training to help people attain financial self-sufficiency and enhance their living standards.
Proposal Guidelines
Change of the kind we believe in does not happen by accident. It happens through deliberate, well-matched partnerships — between funders and organizations whose values, approaches, and ambitions align. That is why the Berhan Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. We engage with potential grantees through a thoughtful, invitation-based process designed to ensure the strongest possible fit.
If you have been invited to submit a proposal, we are glad you are here. Please reach out to your program officer for personalized guidance, they are a resource and a partner in helping you put forward a proposal that reflects the full strength of your work.
The organizations doing the most important work in the world deserve more than a form to fill out. They deserve a real conversation. We look forward to having one.