The Brink Foundation has officially launched its first call for proposals for the Gender and Learning Evidence Fund, targeting a critical gap in educational research and implementation.
This initiative aims to address how gender norms shape learning trajectories, specifically focusing on the pivotal transition from primary to secondary school.
Evidence shows that while girls often match or exceed boys in early primary school outcomes, a stark divergence begins as they enter adolescence.
This shift often leads to gendered disparities in adult labor market outcomes, health, and decision-making, which the fund intends to address by integrating gender and learning metrics.
The fund seeks to move beyond traditional “silos” where gender and learning programs operate in parallel with separate funders and metrics.
By supporting work that bridges these fields, the Foundation hopes to foster a more holistic understanding of how skill acquisition and gender norms interact to shape life trajectories.
Funding and benefits
Selected projects will receive significant financial backing, with individual awards valued at up to $250,000.
The Foundation anticipates granting a total of up to six awards during this inaugural funding round to support innovative implementation and measurement.
Beyond financial support, the initiative is grounded in “The Big Picture” evidence scan, a framework developed with support from the Gates Foundation to ensure investments build on existing evidence.
Grantees will contribute to a growing body of longitudinal data and causal designs aimed at untangling the impact of multi-component interventions.
Application requirements and eligibility
The call is specifically open to researchers and implementers working within nine African nations: Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania.
Applicants must demonstrate a clear plan to innovate by addressing and measuring both gender and learning outcomes together.
Proposals should prioritize the “critical window” of adolescence, where the divergence in school completion and health outcomes typically begins.
The Foundation is particularly interested in projects that treat learning as a central variable, as evidence suggests that the benefits of education are substantially larger when actual learning is measured alongside schooling years.
Deadline
The application window is currently open, following its launch on April 27, 2026.
Interested organizations and researchers must submit their proposals through the Foundation’s application portal by the final deadline of June 5, 2026.
To apply, visit The Brink Foundation call page. Visit our global opportunity page for more
Summary not available at this time.
