active Foundation Award

Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards

Cartier Women's Initiative

$30K / $60K / $100K

See if you qualify — free Visit official program ↗

Researched for this program: 7 rejection traps · 7 required documentsWhat decides this award ↓

The short version

Prestige global grant for women impact founders

The Cartier Women's Initiative awards cash grants of $30,000, $60,000, and $100,000 to women-led impact businesses across nine global regions. Open to any country and sector, the program targets women in CEO or equivalent roles whose businesses generate $50K–$5M in revenue and have strong social or environmental impact tied to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The 2027 cycle is currently open worldwide, including US founders.

Funding type: Award
Level: Foundation
Amount range: $30,000 – $100,000
Realistic amount: $30,000 (most fellows receive the 3rd-place regional award; 1 in 9 per region wins $100K). Additional Science & Technolo…
Deadline: 2027 cycle — applications close June 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM CEST
Status: active
States: Nationwide
Payment model: lump sum

Who qualifies

Woman in a main leadership role (CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director)
Woman owns a share greater than or equal to that of any co-founder
Business generating revenue for at least 1 year as of application date
Annual revenue between $50,000 and $5,000,000 USD
Employs between 5 and 250 team members
Has raised no more than $2,000,000 USD in dilutive or potentially dilutive funding
Business has been in licensed/registered operations for 1 to 6 years as of application date
Strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact aligned with at least one UN Sustainable Development Goal
Applicant is at least 18 years old
English proficiency at CEFR Level B2 or higher
Any country and sector eligible — US founders compete in the North America region

Hard requirements

Must be incorporated
Demographic eligibility: women-owned
Women ownership required
Minimum $50,000 annual revenue
Minimum 5 employees

What it covers

Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards is a foundation award from Cartier Women's Initiative, open to businesses nationwide, with a published award of $30K / $60K / $100K. Deadline for Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards: 2027 cycle — applications close June 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM CEST. Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards covers 5 categories of eligible expense and excludes 1. $30,000 (most fellows receive the 3rd-place regional award; 1 in 9 per region wins $100K). Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards pays out as a lump sum.

Eligible expenses

Unrestricted — grant is awarded as a prize with no reporting requirements on fund usage
Business expansion and operations
Team growth and hiring
Product or service development
Impact measurement and scaling

Ineligible expenses

No formal restrictions on fund use — award is a prize grant

How to apply

Applying to Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards ($30K / $60K / $100K from Cartier Women's Initiative, businesses nationwide) takes 4 steps and about 18 hours in total. Deadline for Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards: 2027 cycle — applications close June 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM CEST.

1

Verify eligibility and prepare impact narrative

Confirm your revenue, funding raised, team size, and years in operation against the hard criteria. Map your business model to at least one UN SDG with specific evidence. This groundwork typically takes the most time.

~4 hrs
2

Complete the online application at cwi-portal.com

The application requires detailed business information, founder background, financial data, impact metrics, and essay responses describing your social/environmental mission. Applications are only accepted through the official portal.

~12 hrs
3

Due diligence and jury review

Five finalists per region/category are selected for detailed due diligence before the jury makes final selections. Finalists may be contacted for additional information.

~2 hrs
4

Fellows announced and awards ceremony

Fellows are announced publicly. The awards ceremony for the 2026 cycle was held in Bangkok. Fellows receive not just the cash prize but also mentorship, media exposure, and access to Cartier's global network.

~0 hrs

Insider tip

The program awards 27 fellows across 9 regions — US founders compete in the North America region, not globally. This means you're not competing against 5,000 global applicants for one prize. The impact framing is decisive: vague 'we care about sustainability' narratives lose; specific SDG alignment with quantified outcomes (e.g., '1,400 smallholder farmers trained, $2.3M income increase documented') win.

Deadline & timing

Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards is listed as active in the GrantCompass catalog as of August 24, 2026. Deadline for Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards: 2027 cycle — applications close June 16, 2026 at 2:00 PM CEST. Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards awards $30K / $60K / $100K to businesses nationwide through Cartier Women's Initiative. The Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards application runs to 4 steps and about 18 hours of work in total. Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Awards sits at the foundation level and is classified as an award.

The 2027 award cycle (confusingly labeled as the '2027 edition') accepts applications from April 16 through June 16, 2026. Fellows are announced in early 2027. The 2026 fellows (30 total) were announced March 26, 2026 at an awards ceremony in Bangkok. New cycles typically open in April each year.

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