News

More than an awards night – and what a night it was! 

On Thursday 23 October, our 2025 Changemaker Awards event featured two major grant categories, six nonprofit Finalists, and inspired proposals for empowering Melbourne women and families need.

Melbourne Women’s Foundation members, supporters and friends make these grants possible. Thank you to our financial year 2024/2025 members who collectively built this year’s $169,000 grants funding pool and voted to award their grants to…

$45,000 Enabling Grant 

Fitzroy Learning Network–now known as Fitzroy Neighbourhood House: creating pathways for newly settled women to build employment experience and micro-businesses in a supportive community.

$11,000 Spotlight Award

Big Group Hug–delivering tailored Safety and Wellbeing Packs to mothers and children escaping family violence and homelessness

Caring Mums by NCJWA Victoria–strengthening and scaling the Caring Mums perinatal mental health support program for culturally diverse women.

$80,000 Capacity Building Grant

Centre for Women’s Economic Safety (CWES)–expanding the Melbourne Money Clinic to support 180 women experiencing economic abuse with financial counselling and capability building.

$11,000 Spotlight Award

DV Safe Phone–providing free repurposed phones and connectivity kits through new family violence agency partnerships and collection points across Melbourne.

Left Write Hook–growing its peer-led trauma recovery program for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse by embedding clinical expertise and governance for safe, scalable delivery.

Our sincere congratulations and thanks to all six Finalists doing amazing work that we are proud to support–truly a very special night of collective giving in action!

Read more about our 2025 Changemakers

Our sincere thanks to event sponsors, Bendigo Community Bank Elwood and the JLL Melbourne Women in Property Transactions network, for sharing in our vision of a vibrant community investing in the wellbeing of Melbourne women and families in need and making the 2025 Changemaker Awards event possible.

About Melbourne Women’s Foundation Grants

Our grants are shaped by our community:

• Innovative & immediate–reaching grass-roots organisations and initiatives.
• Rigorous–sound applications and shortlisting processes and governance.
• Democratic–a voice and vote for every member in our granting purpose and our grant recipients.
• Educational–members and friends gain insights into pressing issues how they are being addressed in the community.
• Impact-focused–helping nonprofits to access more of the funding they need to meet their missions with resilience and confidence.

This year, we are especially proud that our Enabling Grant is untied, giving the recipient organisation flexibility to put their funding to work where it’s most needed.

Join or renew today to build the grants funding pool for 2026!