FemFirst Lab - A Feminist AI Incubator
IT for Change applications from South and Southeast Asia to join the FemFirst Lab.
Objective
To incubate feminist AI prototypes that seek to address challenges of gender equality in a manner that is community-driven, responsive to local needs, and advances social justice and human rights.
What we offer
A 12-month incubation period for you to develop your AI prototype with:
- Funding of between 10,000 and 35,000 CAD (depending on the scope of the proposed project) to develop an idea into a functional prototype, or to create an additional component for an existing prototype.
- Opportunities for peer networking and wider community engagement.
- Expert mentorship on feminist ethics for gender-responsive tech design.
Eligibility criteria
Prototype eligibility criteria
We will support initiatives that:
- Possess either the basic infrastructure necessary for development (e.g., access to compute, GPUs, training datasets, talent, etc.) or a plan in place to acquire the infrastructure, to start work immediately on receipt of the grant. We will not support initiatives where the end product is a blueprint.
- Intervene at one or more of the following stages of the AI lifecycle:
- building a feminist AI prototype
- improving and refining an existing model for more gender-inclusive outcomes, or
- developing a complementary feature or additional component for an existing model.
- Models, along with datasets that serve as building blocks for future AI applications, such as NLP or speech-to-text models for poorly represented languages, are also welcome. Proposals for work that will only produce datasets will not be considered.
- Make use of open source technologies throughout the prototype lifecycle. We prefer applications that commit to licensing at least parts of the prototype to be open, if not all, so that the broader community may benefit from the work.
- Enlist participatory and community-driven approaches to development and deployment.
Team eligibility criteria
- Applications are accepted only from registered legal entities (such as a university, not-for-profit organization, for-profit firm, etc.). Joint applications are allowed, but only one lead entity will be contracted.
- Any applying entity can be the lead in only one application, but may be involved in others.
- Any applying entity may collaborate with up to two additional entities, excluding the lead entity.
- We encourage applications that demonstrate interdisciplinary skill sets across areas like gender justice, engineering, and design.
- The call is limited to organizations from any country in South Asia and any of the following in Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Timor-Leste.
- Teams must be co-led by at least one woman or transgender/non-binary person.
How to apply
Submit your application for joining the FemFirst Lab by filling in this form. Ensure you read the detailed call carefully to ensure alignment with the project’s goals before applying. Please note that due to the high number of responses, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
The deadline to submit your application is 15 May 2026.