Vancouver Foundation: Transforming Systems Grants

Stage One Application Deadline: July 6, 2026

Program Summary:

Transforming Systems Grants (TSG) support organizations addressing the root causes of inequality and allow those most affected by systems that create unfair conditions to shape their own futures. The grant’s funding supports efforts that influence one or more of the six conditions of systems change: policies, practices, resource flows, relationships, power dynamics, and mental models.

PURPOSE OF FUNDING:

TSG supports work led by those most affected by deeply rooted issues. This work focuses on changing the conditions that keep those issues in place to support lasting change.

The 2026 program includes two funding streams. They support organizations at different stages of changing systems: those beginning to explore root causes and those ready to test, deepen, or expand their influence.

WHAT WE MEAN BY SYSTEMS CHANGE:

Systems change focuses on shifting the underlying conditions that keep complex problems in place. These conditions include:

Structural conditions:

• Policies – the rules or laws that guide decisions
• Practices – the routines and norms that shape everyday decisions
• Resource Flows – how people and organizations work together and build trust

Relational conditions:

• Relationships — how people and organizations work together and build trust
• Power dynamics — who makes decisions and who is left out

Transformational conditions:

• Mental models — the beliefs, assumptions, and stories that shape how people see problems and solutions

These six conditions work together to keep the status quo. Systems‑change work aims to shift these conditions, so the same problems do not continue.

WHEN WE THINK OF SYSTEMS CHANGE, WE THINK OF WORK THAT:

• Goes beyond maintaining services and seeks to change how systems act
• Deals with root causes, not only symptoms
• Links learning to action with a clear path for change
• Creates impact beyond one organization through shared learning and collaboration
• Centers the people most affected by the issues, with meaningful leadership and/or decision‑making roles

WHEN WORK IS NOT SYSTEMS CHANGE:

Work falls outside systems change when it does not affect the conditions that hold a problem in place, including:

• Delivering services without changing how the system works
• Responding only to symptoms without examining deeper causes
• Awareness‑raising without a plan for action
• Innovations or pilots that stay within one organization and do not connect to wider change

COMMUNITY‑LED SYSTEMS CHANGE:

Community‑led systems change means the people most affected by an issue lead the work. They define the problem, set priorities, and make decisions. Their lived or living experience drives the work, not just informs it.

This approach centers:

• Self‑determination: Communities set their own goals and solutions.
• Shared leadership: Power and decision‑making are shared with those most impacted.
• Accountability: Organizations build trust and work in ways that reflect community priorities.

At its core, community‑led systems change is about transforming systems with communities, not for them.

Grant stream: “Explore”:

PURPOSE: Explore grants support organizations in the early stages of systems change work. They support learning, planning, and testing ideas that prepare organizations to take on systems change work. They help teams explore and confirm root causes alongside those who are most affected by the issue(s).

GRANT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Grants: up to $50,000 total
• Shorter timelines: up to one year
• Focus on capacity‑building, not system‑wide impact or interventions yet
• Work is co‑led and co‑designed with those most affected by the issue(s)

EXPLORE GOALS:

1. Build shared understanding of a systemic issue Support teams in developing a common understanding of an issue they are already working on, examining root causes, and identifying a shared direction or plan for addressing them.
2. Build internal readiness Build the skills, structures, and organizational conditions needed to engage in long‑term systems‑change work
3. Build inclusive partnerships and networks Support relationship‑building and shared leadership with people most affected by inequality, ensuring that community voices guide the direction and design of future systems change initiatives.

Grant stream: “Influence”:

PURPOSE: Influence grants support organizations with established systems‑change plans who are ready to put those plans into action. They help teams test, apply, and strengthen strategies aimed at shifting conditions that create inequity. They also support organizations to deepen partnerships, expand their influence, and advance changes alongside the communities most affected.

GRANT CHARACTERISTICS:

• Grants: up to $100,000 per year
• Multi‑year commitment: up to 3 years
• Requires evidence of prior systems change work, including a clear strategy or project plan, established partnerships, and demonstrated understanding of the system and how to leverage it
• Work is co‑led and co‑designed with those most affected by the issue(s)

INFLUENCE GOALS:

1. Put systems change plans into action Support organizations to advance strategies that shift policies, practices, resource flows, stories, and power dynamics toward lasting systemic change.
2. Influence real-world conditions Provide resources to pilot, adapt, assess system change practices, and learn how they function within complex, real‑world environments.
3. Scale-up approaches that are working Strengthen and expand approaches that have demonstrated success so they can be adapted more widely.
4. Strengthen cross‑sector partnerships and advocacy Bring partners from different sectors together to work toward a common goal, build shared strength, and create change across systems.
5. Build learning to support long‑term change Produce learning and data that help scale what works and can be adopted widely by institutions to create long‑term system‑level change.

Grant Amount:

Grant Steam “Explore”: Grants up to $50,000 total

Grant Steam “Influence”: Grants up to $100,000 total

TSG will award around $9.5 million for the 2026 cycle.

• Explore grants — around 10 grants of up to $50,000
• Influence grants — around 30 grants of up to $100,000 per year for up to three years

Eligible Applicants:

To apply for TSG (Explore or Influence), your organization must serve a community benefit (as defined by the federal government ) and meet one of the following criteria:   

• Be a qualified donee operating in British Columbia.
• Be a registered non-profit society  that has been operating in British Columbia since January 1, 2025.
• Be a registered community service co-operative  operating in British Columbia. 

If your organization received a Transforming Systems Grant in 2024, you are not eligible to apply again until 2027, which is the final year of your funding.   

Each organization may submit only one application. This keeps the process fair and accessible because TSG uses randomized selection. If you have multiple funding requests, Vancouver Foundation staff are available to discuss which one is the best fit for TSG. 

Not sure if the Transforming Systems Grants is right for your organization? Take the online eligibility quiz.