Take Two Community Workspace Fund Application Guide — Sankofa Sustainability Collective

Unpacking our eligibility criteria

The Take Two Community Workspace Fund provides grants for youth across Canada to start or expand a workspace in their community to further local sustainability and environmental justice.

Community workspaces are spaces (physical or virtual) where community members can gather to collectively learn, ideate, and take action on local issues related to sustainability and/or environmental justice. (Want some examples? Check out our Idea Board)

Your workspace must:

Be led by and for youth (folks younger than 30)
Address a specific issue or issues related to sustainability and/or environmental justice in your local community
Include an element of social entrepreneurship or youth economic empowerment
Be based in Canada

We define community workspaces as spaces (physical or virtual) where community members can gather to collectively learn, ideate, and take action on local issues related to sustainability and/or environmental justice.
An existing space converted into a workspace (e.g. a classroom, student lounge, room at a community centre, etc.)
A new physical space that you are creating (e.g. a renovated shipping container, greenhouse, geodesic dome, garden, outdoor space, etc.)
A pop-up, traveling, or temporary space (e.g. a bicycle cart, market stand, tent, etc.)
We recognize that gathering physically is not always accessible, especially for folks who are COVID-cautious, disabled, chronically ill, neurodivergent, and more. Projects that centre virtual gathering due to access needs or to better suit the scope of the project will also be considered for funding.
Just as with physical workspaces, virtual workspaces should gather community members to collectively learn, ideate, and take action.
We’re looking for projects that further the ethos of Operation Take Two (visit this page to learn more about that project and how it led to the Take Two Fund).
Our original plan when we dreamed of the Take Two Fund (when we were 17 & 18 years old), was to fund replicas of our Take Two workspace in new communities. However, with more experience, we realized that copy-pasting solutions in new communities isn’t the most effective, and also that plastic recycling alone cannot create sustainable change.
So instead of replicating our exact workspace, we’re seeking to fund projects that follow a similar community workspace model in creating sustainable communities.
Sustainability: The ability of a community to ensure that resources are shared equitably and in a way that allows future generations to thrive.
Environmental justice: As Renee Skelton, Vernice Miller, Courtney Lindwall write, "Environmental justice essentially means that everyone—regardless of race, color, national origin, or income—has the right to the same environmental protections and benefits, as well as meaningful involvement in the policies that shape their communities."
Social entrepreneurship: A project that effects positive social and/or environmental change and generates a profit, with the funds going back towards the community or social change efforts.
For example, Operation Take Two was a social entrepreneurship project. We recycled plastic from our community into new items which we then sold, with the profits going back into the workspace.
Youth economic empowerment: A project that does not generate profit, but directly increases the capacity of young people to access sustainable means of income and resources to meet their needs.
This could include distributing honoraria to participants/volunteers, providing skills training, coordinating mentorship, building professional or mutual aid networks, etc.

Examples & Inspiration

Here are some examples to demonstrate eligible projects and get your ideas flowing!

Note that many of these ideas could be accomplished in-person, virtually, or a mix of both.

Community plastic recycling workspace (Operation Take Two!)

Healing forest or greenspace for Indigenous land stewardship and reconnection
Mobile library for environmental justice education
Vermicomposting station
Greenhouse for herbalism education
Student lounge for BIPOC environmental studies students
Repair cafe
Makerspace or hackerspace for green decolonial tech education
Mutual aid community garden
Sustainable futurisms art studio
Micro-press and zine library for environmental organizing
Environmental justice night school
Climate emotions peer support space
Digital archive of local land history
Citizen science lab

💡 If you have an idea but you're unsure if it's eligible, send us an email! SankofaSustainability@gmail.com

SECTION 1

Applicant Information

Basic questions about you or your group, including:

Name(s)
Pronouns (optional)
Age(s) (to confirm eligibility—only youth under 30!)
Where you’re based in Canada
Email address
Any equity-deserving communities you belong to (optional)

Additionally:

If you’re applying as a group: a brief (1-2 sentence) summary about your group (e.g. are you an existing community group, a group of friends, etc.)
If you’re under 18: the name & email of an adult sponsor

This can be any trusted adult (e.g. a teacher, community leader, family member...) that agrees to help out with the project. We ask this for a few reasons:

Legality— we can't release funds to minors
Accountability— they’ll help all of us maintain our roles & boundaries
Support— they’re someone trusted you can turn to for help throughout your project

SECTION 2

Project Proposal

This section consists of 8 questions.

We suggest aiming to write 100-250 words per prompt—however, feel free to go under or over that number! Those are just guidelines to help you get started.

Project Title (this can be a working/tentative title)
Project Description: What is your community workspace idea?
Background: Why do you want to create this workspace? What need does it address in your community? What is your inspiration, reason, or motivation?
Impact: What difference do you want to make with this workspace? Who, what, or where will be impacted?
Sustainability: What’s your plan for keeping this workspace going—environmentally, socially, and financially? How will you adapt to changes in your team’s capacity, funding, or other reasonably foreseen challenges?
Community: What community partnerships or connections will you draw on, establish, or seek with this project?
Timeline: What's your anticipated timeline for this project? Please provide it in point form.
Sankofa: How does your workspace align with Sankofa and our values (anti-oppression & pro-liberation)?

💡 If written responses aren't an accessible format for you, please feel free to respond in another format (e.g. a video, creative artwork, etc.). A section has been made for you to upload or link any alternative or additional files such as this!

SECTION 3

Budget

Indicate the grant amount you are applying for:

$2,500
$5,000
$10,000

Then complete your budget using our template.

Make a copy on Google Sheets (File > Make a copy) or download it as an Excel file (File > Download > Microsoft Excel).

Want an example of what a completed budget can look like? See our example here!

This Fund is meant to provide low-barrier grants for grassroots projects. As such, we're pretty flexible with what you can include in your budget and will assess on a case-by-case basis.
Eligible expenses can include (but are not limited to):
- Core Project Expenses (e.g. space rental, materials, fees, honoraria, etc.)
- Promotion & Outreach Expenses (e.g. social media, printing costs, etc.)
- Evaluation Expenses (e.g. audits, surveys, focus groups, etc.)
- Accessibility Expenses (e.g. ASL interpretation, live transcription, etc.)
Ineligible expenses that will not be considered under most circumstances include:
- Legal fees
- Membership fees, tuition fees, & other school expenses
- Expenses soley for fundraising purposes
- Financial reserves or deficits
- Salaries
We don’t like to say “never” though. If you're unsure if an expense is eligible, send us an email!
SankofaSustainability@gmail.com
Yes, estimates are okay!
Try to do your best to source out accurate costs for the expenses listed in your budget. However, it's okay if things change later on.
If you are selected for a grant, you will have an opportunity to update your budget before we give it a final approval and release the funds to you.
If your budget needs to pivot after that point, please just let us know of any major changes in writing before making them to ensure that your updated expenses are still eligible.
Yes, please do!
Just note that your entire budget cannot go entirely towards honoraria for core team members (folks named on your application).

Application Evaluation

Applications will be reviewed by a committee of former Operation Take Two team members.

Applications are evaluated based on the follow criteria:

Demonstrates clear relevance to environmental justice
Targets a clearly-identified community need
Demonstrates a viable plan for project sustainability
Demonstrates an intersectional lens or impact
Demonstrates an ability to collaborate with their community in empowering & reciprocal ways
Demonstrates an understanding of and clear connection to the Sankofa Sustainability Collective’s founding values

Additionally, in the spirit of equity, we will give priority to:

Projects led by emerging leaders under 18 years old
New & emerging projects (less than 1 year old)
Projects led by and/or impacting equity-deserving communities, including:

Black, Indigenous, & racialized peoples
Queer & trans folks (2SLGBTQIAP+)
Disabled and/or neurodivergent folks
Rural, northern, & remote communities

Our Criteria Rubric is accessible here.

Frequently Asked Questions

We have $49,000 in funding to distribute (🥳).
The exact number of grants distributed will depend on the applications we receive. However, we anticipate awarding:
- 2 x $10,000 grants
- 3 x $5000 grants
- 5 x $2500 grants
All applicants will be notified of their application status by December 15, 2024.
- Keep an open line of communication with us throughout your project
- Be open to sharing your learning with other participants—creating a network!
- Be faithful to your budget. Let us know before you make any major budget changes. Return any unused grant money.
- Provide a short report (we like to think of it more as a “scrapbook”) detailing the outcome of your project either at its completion or 12-months after the grant was given—whichever comes first!