From Doubting Her Eligibility to Securing Three Funding Opportunities: Angella Babirye’s Journey with GRANTED | GRANTED
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From Doubting Her Eligibility to Securing Three Funding Opportunities: Angella Babirye’s Journey with GRANTED
Funding Opportunities
3
Grants Awarded
$50,000
Story overview
After moving to Canada, entrepreneur and community builder Angella Babirye struggled to find relevant funding opportunities for her environmental, community, and business initiatives. Through GRANTED, she discovered new opportunities, secured two grants worth CAD $5,500, and was selected for a third opportunity valued at $10,000–$15,000. Discover how finding the right opportunities helped her fund her work and build the confidence to pursue more.
About
Discover how Angella Babirye used GRANTED to find funding opportunities for her environmental projects, community initiatives, and agribusiness, securing two grants and gaining the confidence to pursue more.
From Doubting Her Eligibility to Securing Three Funding Opportunities: Angella Babirye’s Journey with GRANTED
How GRANTED helped an entrepreneur and community builder discover funding opportunities, strengthen her applications, and build confidence in pursuing her ideas.
Customer: Angella Babirye Location: British Columbia, Canada Organisations: Lamalo Agribusiness Company Limited and Mirembe Global Foundation Use case: Grant discovery, application support, and community project funding
Overview
When Angella Babirye moved to Canada in June 2025, she wanted to continue the community development and environmental work she had spent years building in Uganda. But starting over in a new country meant finding new networks, relevant funding opportunities, and ways to communicate her ideas to funders.
Through GRANTED, Angella discovered opportunities that helped her pursue environmental initiatives, mental health projects, and her agribusiness. She secured two grants worth CAD $5,500 and was selected for a third opportunity valued at $10,000–$15,000.
Beyond the funding, the experience changed how she viewed herself as an entrepreneur and community builder. She became more confident in identifying opportunities, preparing applications, and pursuing projects she might previously have ruled out.
The Challenge: Starting Over in a New Country
Angella is an entrepreneur and community builder based in British Columbia, Canada. She is the founder of Lamalo Agribusiness Company Limited, a Uganda-based agribusiness focused on agricultural value addition and sustainable production, and Mirembe Global Foundation, a Canada-based organisation focused on community well-being, empowerment, and environmental action.
Before relocating, she had been involved in environmental initiatives, projects supporting women and girls affected by gender-based violence, mental health initiatives, and community development.
Moving to Canada meant rebuilding the connections and support systems that had helped her do this work.
“I felt like I had left everything back home,” Angella recalls.
Finding relevant funding was another challenge. Although she had applied for grants before, she sometimes struggled to identify opportunities that aligned with her projects. She also found it difficult to communicate her ideas in ways that addressed what funders were looking for.
She needed a better way to discover relevant grants and approach applications with greater clarity.
The Turning Point: The Grant She Almost Didn't Apply For
Angella discovered GRANTED through Justina Kanza, whom she met through a newcomer program in Canada.
During one of the sessions, Justina shared a funding opportunity and encouraged participants to apply.
Angella saw potential in the opportunity, but there was one detail that made her hesitate: the grant was open to applicants up to age 29, and she was already 30.
Her first instinct was to assume she was ineligible.
Instead, Justina encouraged her to apply, and Angella decided to take the chance.
She submitted an application for Protecting Our Waters and Planet, an environmental project designed to engage her community in environmental sustainability.
She received CAD $2,500.
The award meant more than funding for her project. It challenged her assumption that certain opportunities were beyond her reach and gave her the confidence to pursue others.
Three Funding Opportunities, New Possibilities
Following her first successful application, Angella began approaching funding opportunities differently. She had seen that an idea could become a funded project, and she was ready to explore what else was possible.
1. Protecting Our Waters and Planet: CAD $2,500
Angella's first award supported her environmental project and helped her begin building partnerships with local organisations and schools, including Nanaimo Forest School.
It also gave her practical experience in turning an idea into community activity.
2. Healing in Motion: CAD $3,000
Angella later applied to the Canadian Red Cross with Healing in Motion, a project shaped by her interest in mental health and her experience as a survivor of domestic violence.
The project focused on supportive experiences for women, newcomers, refugees, and other members of marginalised communities. Activities included art-based sessions, outdoor experiences, and initiatives centred on healing, connection, and well-being.
She secured another CAD $3,000 to support this work.
3. Anzisha/Mastercard Foundation: $10,000–$15,000
Angella was also selected for an Anzisha/Mastercard Foundation opportunity connected to Lamalo Agribusiness Company Limited, her agribusiness in Uganda.
The opportunity was valued at $10,000–$15,000, and she had begun receiving funding at the time of the interview.
Together, these three opportunities represented new sources of financial support across Angella's environmental, community, and business initiatives.
How GRANTED Supported Her Funding Journey
For Angella, one of GRANTED's biggest advantages was having funding opportunities gathered in one place.
Previously, she relied on general searches, personal networks, and opportunities shared by others. Finding grants that genuinely matched her work could be frustrating, especially while she was still learning the funding landscape in Canada.
GRANTED gave her a central place to discover opportunities and explore funding relevant to her projects.
Finding opportunities relevant to her work
Angella particularly valued being able to search by areas such as the environment and business, helping her identify opportunities that aligned with her interests and activities.
As she explained:
“It puts all the grants in one place, so it really becomes easier to search and know.”
Getting support with applications
Angella also used Gigi, GRANTED's AI support tool, when she needed help developing ideas or structuring applications.
She recognised that some of her earlier applications had not communicated her projects as clearly as they could have.
“I would just write anything and not give out the content or go straight to what they needed,” she explains.
Having support to organise her ideas and communicate them more clearly helped her approach the application process with greater focus.
The Biggest Change: Believing She Could Apply
While the funding awards were tangible outcomes, Angella describes a deeper change in her confidence.
Before these experiences, she sometimes viewed herself as someone who might not be capable or qualified enough to pursue certain opportunities.
Her first successful application challenged that belief. It showed her that she could put forward an idea, compete for funding, and use the support to create something meaningful in her community.
It also helped her build relationships in Canada, connect with people working on similar issues, and gain practical experience in delivering community projects.
As she reflects:
“I used to look at myself as someone who is not capable. But right now I'm like, ‘You know what? I can apply for this.’”
That shift changed how she approached subsequent opportunities. Instead of ruling herself out immediately, she became more willing to assess an opportunity and give herself a chance.
Her Advice to Other Founders
Angella's experience offers a practical lesson for entrepreneurs and community builders who hesitate to apply because they are uncertain about their eligibility or qualifications.
Her first grant is a reminder of what can happen when someone takes the time to explore an opportunity rather than rejecting themselves before the funder has made a decision.
Her advice is simple:
“If you feel like you know 80% of it you qualify or 70%, do it anyway.”
She also recognises that unsuccessful applications can provide valuable experience. Each application offers an opportunity to understand funder expectations, communicate a project more clearly, and improve the next submission.
What's Next for Angella?
Angella is looking ahead to expanding her work, developing her business in Canada, registering her foundation, and continuing to pursue funding opportunities.
Her journey demonstrates how access to relevant funding information and application support can help entrepreneurs and community builders take practical steps towards their goals.
As she puts it:
“GRANTED gave me that hope. It gave me that belief in myself that there are so many grant opportunities that we can receive.”
Discover More Funding Opportunities with GRANTED
Whether you're building a business, running a nonprofit, or developing a community initiative, finding relevant grants is an important first step towards funding your work.
GRANTED helps you discover funding opportunities, assess their relevance, and get support as you work through the application process.