As part of the Transitions Project, the McGill Mastercard Foundation Transitions Fund provides opportunities for Scholars and Alumni to engage individually and in cohorts, with McGill partners and alumni working on concrete short-term projects (less than 4 months) or long-term projects (4 months or more). The McGill Mastercard Foundation Transitions Fund has themes around which Mastercard Foundation Scholars and Alumni apply for funding to work collaboratively, building on internship and other work-integrated learning experiences, through entrepreneurship and employment-creation projects. Along with working on their projects, they have opportunities to engage in relevant professional development and career placement, and receive academic and professional mentorship, including peer and senior mentors from networks of partners and alumni.
Among other things, Mastercard Foundation Scholars and Alumni will develop proposal writing skills, which are vital in the contexts of employment (e.g., bidding on proposals for one’s organization), or as entrepreneurs (e.g., pitching for investment), or policymakers (e.g. developing briefing notes for policies and legislation).
Three different levels of funding will facilitate Mastercard Foundation Scholars and Alumni initiating or scaling projects or developing collaborations with organizations that may subsequently hire them, or that may lead to opportunities with other organizations. The funding streams are:
- Tiny Stream awards, below $1,000 for initial ideation and minor projects (e.g., conducting initial needs assessments, participating in events);
- Startup Stream between $1,000-5,000 for projects beyond the initial ideation phase (e.g., prototyping, testing, conducting market research for scaling); and
- Partnership Stream above $5000 for longer-term partnership projects (e.g., implementing projects with organizations, especially those that provide matching contributions; funding of up to $15,000 typically for partnership projects of about 4-6 months, with higher levels of funding for projects up to 2 years).
Also central to our approach is the activation of a McGill Mastercard Foundation Transitions Fund Governance Council (GC) that includes McGill staff, students, alumni, and industry/community partners with relevant experiences and networks in the review of proposals and allotment of funds.
For more information, see link to English Version of the McGill MCF-TF 1-Pager:- 
mcgill_mcf_transitions_fund_1pager_202102_EN.pdf;
le lien pour accéder à la version française: - mcgill_mcf_transitions_fund_1pager_202111_fr.pdf
Eligibility & Evaluation Criteria:- mcgill_mcf_tf_evaluationcriteria_202111.pdf
Critères d’admissibilité et d’évaluation:- mcgill_mcf_tf_criteresdadmissibilite_et_devaluation_202111.pdf
McGill Mastercard Foundation Scholars/Alumni may email us to request the McGill Mastercard Foundation Transitions Fund Application Form. Please contact the McGill Mastercard FoundationTransitions Project team at mcf-transitions [at] mcgill.ca.
For frequently asked question on the Transitions Project Fund, see the FAQs on the McGill Mastercard Foundation Transitions Fund