PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT GRANTS Professional Development Grants

OVERVIEW

Professional Development Grants (PDGs) provide support for mid-career conservationists to pursue short-term, non-degree training to upgrade their knowledge and skills. These trainings can include short courses, certificate trainings, or conferences among other training opportunities.

PDGs support training-related costs, including registration fees and tuition, meals and accommodations, books and materials, international travel, visa fees, and local transportation. Training may take place anywhere in the world and applicants can request up to $6,500.

See below for grant guidelines or click here for a printable version.

Russell E. Train Education for Nature© WWF
ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES
Individuals from the following countries are eligible to apply. Please note that within the eligible countries EFN gives preference to applicants working in WWF priority regions.

Belize
Bhutan
Bolivia
Cambodia
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Colombia
Dem. Republic of Congo
Ecuador
Fiji
French Guiana
Gabon
Guatemala
Guyana
Honduras
Indonesia
Kenya
Laos
Madagascar
Malaysia
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Republic of Congo
Solomon Islands
Suriname
Uganda
Vietnam
Zambia

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Applicants must meet all of the following eligibility criteria to be considered for a grant.

You must be a citizen of an eligible country.
You must currently be living and working in your home country.
You must have at least three years of paid work experience in a conservation-related field in your home country.
You must have applied to or already be accepted to participate in the proposed training at the time you submit your application.
Your current work and proposed training must help advance conservation in your home country.
You must not be enrolled in an academic degree program.
You must have approval from your employer to participate in the proposed training and the promise of continued employment.
You must have a bank account in your own name that can receive US dollars and international wire transfers.
You must not have received funding from EFN in the past. Previous PDG recipients may be eligible for Alumni Grants.
The proposed training must take place at least 90 days after the application deadline.
You must submit all required documents by the application deadline.

APPLICATION PROCESS
All applicants must complete an application by one of the deadlines noted below. The proposed training must take place at least 90 days after the application deadline to allow EFN time for review, selection and processing of the grant.

November 1, 2019
February 1, 2020
May 1, 2020
August 1, 2020
Individuals may submit an online application at any time. Completed applications will be reviewed on the dates noted above, and applicants will be notified of the results within one month after the application deadline. Please note: PDGs are highly competitive. Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements does not guarantee you will receive a grant.


EFN requires employer approval for all Professional Development Grant applicants. Applicants will put the email address of their supervisor in their application. After the applicant submits their completed application, their supervisor will receive an automatic email requesting an employer approval document to be uploaded. This document’s responses will be used during the review process.

Employers can use this template for ease of filling out the required information. They will then need to save the completed document and click the upload link in the email they received. Please note: Applications will not be considered complete until after the employer approval form is uploaded.

Click HERE https://wwf.submittable.com/submit/145555/alumni-and-professional-development-grant-application  to access the application.


FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information on Professional Development Grants please review the frequently asked questions document. For other questions, please e-mail us at efn@wwfus.org.