The Pure Earth Opportunity Fund supports strategic, short-term projects that advance our communal understanding of lead poisoning prevention, interventions, and policies. Our fund is a mechanism to quickly address emerging issues or urgent data gaps related to lead poisoning in low- and middle-income countries.
Due to strong interest and a high number of applicants, Pure Earth’s Opportunity Fund is no longer accepting applications at this time.
Background
Pure Earth, and five other implementing partners (CDC Foundation, Lead Exposure Elimination Project, Resolve to Save Lives, Vital Strategies, and the World Health Organization), are working together on the Bloomberg Philanthropies Lead Poisoning Prevention Initiative, enabling significant expansion in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Pure Earth will provide technical assistance to governments to increase their capability to identify and assess lead exposure sources, identify priorities, and design and implement source-specific exposure mitigation programs, such as site cleanup programs and technical guidance.
Pure Earth, and partners LEEP and Vital Strategies, are administering grants to further expand the impact of the initiative. Pure Earth’s fund will focus on activities associated with lead exposure source assessment and the research and implementation of mitigation activities.
Which Fund Should I Apply To?
–Pure Earth’s Fund focuses on providing technical assistance to governments to increase their capability to identify and assess lead exposure sources, identify priorities, and design and implement source-specific exposure mitigation programs (such as site cleanup programs), not including paint, as well as technical guidance. Due to strong interest and a high number of applicants, Pure Earth’s Opportunity Fund is no longer accepting applications at this time.
–LEEP’s Fund focuses on activities associated with reducing lead exposure from paint and lead chromates, as well as research to design, test, and evaluate practical and scalable solutions to reduce lead exposure from any source. (Contact: [email protected]).
–Vital Strategies’ Fund is intended to promote creative public health responses to the complex challenges of addressing lead exposure. Priority will be given to proposals that advance public health systems engagement, build public health surveillance capacity or systems, and formulate policies that address key gaps in public health systems’ response to lead. (Contact: [email protected]).
About the Pure Earth Opportunity Fund (duration 2025-2027)
The fund prioritizes geographies in low-and middle-income countries. Eligible projects will focus on activities associated with lead exposure source assessment and mitigation activities for various sources, not including paint.
Examples of potential grant activities could include, but are not limited to:
-Screening market goods for lead or a survey of a single potential exposure source (e.g. a survey of fish or other food items)
-Piloting a new lead detection technology or protocol
-Awareness-raising efforts in a particularly sensitive or high-risk community around source assessments or piloting mitigation activities
-A targeted engagement with a specific industry around industrial processes or material inputs (e.g. used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling facilities)
-Seed funding to initiate a national-level lead working group or other related coordination efforts
-Research to answer key questions that presently prevent progress in reducing exposure
-Policy analysis
-Other efforts to assess or prevent lead exposure
Overhead Note:
The research and opportunity grants max overhead allowed is 15%.
Eligibility:
Legally registered NGOs, CSOs, universities, or other types of non-profit entities; preference for organizations based in the country/region where the activities will take place.