The Anita White Fund(AWF) is a micro-grant fund which aims to support female leaders in sport around the world. The Fund is a legacy of the Anita White Foundation and consists of two sets of awards – The Anita White Catalyst Grant and The Cath Sweet Award – established to honour Dr Anita White OBE and the late Cath Sweet, two leading figures in the women and sport movement who collaborated on a number of international sport development projects.
- The Anita White Catalyst Grant is to enable women who have successfully completed leadership programmes to advance the women and sport movement in their countries/regions/organisations. For example, the grant could be used to implement initiatives promoting networking and coalition building or to develop action plans for the advancement of women and sport.
- The Cath Sweet Award supports women who wish to deliver programmes that promote social inclusion through sport, and will prioritise activities with a focus on disability. This fund is supported by UK Sport in memory of Cath and her work to use sport to deliver positive social impact around the world.
Eighteen projects were funded by the 2023 Anita White Fund, spanning 13 countries and encompassing leadership programmes, training, entrepreneurship and education.
Meet the recipients of the Anita White Fund 2023
From a social enterprise and adaptive sport for landmine amputee survivors in Uganda to leadership boot camps for women with disabilities in Botswana, each recipient of an Anita White Fund grant is making a significant difference to equality and equity for women and girls, through sport and physical activity, in their community.
Akello Dorcus
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Uganda
- Project: Adaptive sport to engage landmine amputee survivors in small scale social enterprise.
Sofia Papadopoulou
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Greece
- Project: Training camp to empower and equip female coaches in sailing, including provision of key skills and networks to break into coaching opportunities.
Game Mothibi
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Botswana
- Project: Leadership workshop to empower women to take leadership roles within Women Sport Africa Network.
Caroline Wanjira
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Kenya
- Project: Wheelchair basketball and entrepreneurship.
Dikshita Gupta
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: India
- Project: Adapted sports (blind football, wheelchair, ultimate frisbee) to equip children with life skills.
Paida Mpaso
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Malawi
- Project: Provision of leadership training and support to develop action plans to advance women and girls sport in the country.
Uwase Ingrid
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Rwanda
- Project: Adaptive football to promote social inclusion and provide sexual health education.
Sherry Ngueren Yongoikyo
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Nigeria
- Project: Skill development and safe space programme to equip women leaders with knowledge and expertise to take on leadership roles.
Samantha Miyanda
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Nigeria
- Project: Business training.
Touko Sandrine
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Cameroon
- Project: Promotion of gender equality and empowerment of girls and women with disabilities through a range of sports.
Nelly Nkatha
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Kenya
- Project: Table tennis and education workshops targeting women and girls with disabilities.
Memory Kahlari
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Namibia
- Project: Leadership training and empowerment programme for women with disabilities, which seeks to increase numbers of women with disabilities in leadership positions.
Cathy Neap and Rutha Omenefa
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Papua New Guinea
- Project: Women’s leadership in rugby league.
Loubna Belabbes
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Morocco
- Project: Leadership programme and development of national network for women with disabilities.
Memory Baluwa
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Malawi
- Project: Leadership training and awareness campaign to raise visibility of leadership opportunities for women with disabilities.
Keenese Katisenge-Tizhani
- Anita White Catalyst Grant and Cath Sweet Award
- Country: Botswana
- Project: Leadership bootcamp for women with disabilities, focused on empowerment and personal development to increase representation.
Divya S Karthik
- Cath Sweet Award
- Country: India
- Project: Swimming and football to develop the skills of children with neurodiverse conditions.
Houri Sadat Seyed Aghamiri
- Anita White Catalyst Grant
- Country: Iran
- Project: Table tennis to develop social inclusion for children with disabilities.
Anita White Fund Governance
The AWF is hosted by the IWG UK’s Secretariat via the IWG Funding, Accountability and Assurance Group.
The AWF budget forms part of the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s commitment to have financial management for the IWG, and the fund is ringfenced for these awards.
The Fund is coordinated by Professor Elizabeth Pike, co-founder of the Anita White Foundation, in a voluntary capacity.
The operation of the fund is delivered by the following AWF Team of volunteers:
- Dr Lombe Mwambwa (AWF Scholar)
- Dr Lucy Piggott (AWF Scholar)
- Jen Browning (UK Sport)
English (UK) 
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