2023 Global Innovation Challenge: Food Security

Eligibility

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

• Applicant organizations must be registered as nonprofit entities under local law. For example, for U.S. entities, applicants need to be tax-exempt public charities as per Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

• Applicant organizations must be able to submit at least one year of externally audited financial statements, covering all or part of calendar year 2021.

• Applicant’s proposed program must align with the Foundation’s mission of supporting low-income communities as defined by local standards and definitions.

• Applicant’s proposed program covers one or more of the target geographies (see Q5).

The Citi Foundation asks that nonprofit organizations eligible to apply submit only one application to the RFP. If you are interested in applying to this program, please contact Anna LeMarquand (asamuels@ucalgary.ca).   

Summary

The Citi Foundation is launching its first ever global innovation challenge (“Challenge”) to identify and provide philanthropic support to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) developing innovative solutions to social and economic challenges facing low-income communities. Challenges will be administered via global requests for proposals (RFPs) with specific eligibility criteria. The first of these global innovation challenges will focus on food security, an issue of significant importance in communities across Citi’s global footprint. Addressing food insecurity will strengthen the financial health of families, which directly aligns with the Citi Foundation’s mission of catalyzing economic opportunity in underserved and marginalized communities around the world.

In recent years, food insecurity has become a growing challenge, disproportionally impacting low-income and marginalized communities across the globe. The second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2) established by the United Nations in 2015 is to “end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” worldwide by 2030. However, global conflict, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic downturns have slowed progress towards achieving SDG2 in recent years.

The magnitude of the food crisis and the need in communities across the world requires the public, private, civic, and philanthropic sectors to collaborate in new ways and build momentum to effect meaningful change at more intensive speeds than ever before. This new philanthropic initiative is one of several ways that Citi and the Citi Foundation are working to bring our resources as a global financial institution to address hunger and food insecurity, and we are interested in supporting NGOs with innovative, evidence-based ideas that can move the needle on what has become a crisis of unprecedented proportions.

Application deadlines

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsotrainee@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Registration Stage

Organizations must register to confirm they meet the eligibility requirements and gain access to the Citi Foundation's online grantmaking portal. Registrations may take up to three business days to process. The deadline to register to apply is 4pm Eastern Daylight Time on March 22, 2023.

Please contact Anna LeMarquand (asamuels@ucalgary.ca) if you are planning on submitting a registration. 

A RMS record is not required at registration stage.

Full Application Stage

Full applications, plus approval in the Research Management System (RMS) (https://research.ucalgary.ca/conduct-research/additional-resources/research-management-system-rms), will be required by RSO by noon on March 31, 2023.  Please be sure to select "Submitted for approvals" (Under Save & Progress) in RMS in good time to allow for approvals from your Department Head and/or ADR prior to the Research Services deadline. Consult your department and faculty for more information on their approval processes and timelines. .

Once your RMS record has been approved by Research Services, submit to the agency by their deadline on April 5, 2023.