15 NGOs Shortlisted for $150,000 EPIC Grant

EPIC

man in suit delivering a presentation

MONDAY 07 OCTOBER 2024, PORT OF SPAIN, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – Fifteen non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with groundbreaking visions have been shortlisted for the highly anticipated TT$150,000 EPIC Grant, which aims to fuel transformative projects across Trinidad and Tobago. From grassroots movements driving social change to initiatives advocating for sustainability and equality, these 15 NGOs are competing for funding that will have a direct impact on the lives of people across Trinidad and Tobago.

For a second year running, the Digicel Foundation has partnered with Shell Trinidad and Tobago to fund the Extraordinary Projects Impacting Communities (EPIC) grant programme for 2024-2025. The combined investment in this year’s EPIC is TT$1.4 million, with Shell Trinidad and Tobago donating over half a million dollars.

Each of the 15 shortlisted NGOs has proposed a project that tackles critical issues across one of five categories: Renewable Energy, Agriculture, Education, Technology and The Environment.  On September 11th, the NGOs delivered passionate pitch presentations to the judging panel at Digicel’s Port of Spain Headquarters, outlining their project implementation plans, innovations, sustainability goals and budgets.

The judging panel, comprising Directors from the Digicel Foundation and a team from Shell Trinidad and Tobago, now have the hard task of selecting the 10 grant recipients. The 15 shortlisted NGOs vying for this year’s EPIC grant are (in alphabetical order):

  1. ALTA

  2. Arts in Action

  3. Cashew Gardens

  4. Court Shamrock

  5. Eva Foundation

  6. Gasparillo Organisation for Community Development

  7. Grande Riviere Tourism Development Organisation

  8. Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), UWI

  9. Learning to Live Meaningfully

  10. Living Water Community

  11. Rebirth House

  12. Ryu Dan Empowerment Foundation

  13. Trinidad and Tobago Association of Energy Engineers (TTAEE)

  14. We Code Caribbean

  15. Women Owned Media and Education Network

Only 10 of these non-profit organisations will be awarded with funding of up to TT$150,000 to execute their projects.  The awardees will be announced in November 2024. Launched by the Digicel Foundation in 2016, the EPIC programme has thus far funded 150 projects, benefiting over 88,000 persons across Trinidad and Tobago