Sex Worker Giving Circle Fellowship

While we navigate growth and capacity shifts within Third Wave Fund, participation in the 2026 Fellowship is by invitation only. We are grateful to have a community of past advisors and fellows to call upon to distribute over $800,000 to first time and returning SWGC grantees from across the United States this year.

Participation is open to current or former sex workers and people with experience in the sex trade. This includes trading sex or sexual services for money, shelter, or anything else of value, as well as experiences of coercion.

No prior organizing or grantmaking experience is required. Fellows must be committed to supporting sex worker led work and moving resources to sex worker communities.

We strongly encourage applications from people most impacted by criminalization and systemic oppression, including Black, Indigenous, and people of color, trans and gender nonconforming people, disabled and chronically ill people, immigrants, people with experience with substance use, and people impacted by the criminal legal system.

Participation in the Fellowship is open to people living everywhere in the United States and its territories, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Fellowship requires about fifty total hours from March through June. This includes virtual meetings, applicant interviews, and independent work between sessions.

All meetings are held virtually.

All Fellows receive a five thousand dollar stipend in recognition of their labor. The stipend is paid in monthly installments during the Fellowship.

Tech support and childcare reimbursements may be available upon request.

Fellows participate in collective learning, review grant applications, interview applicants, and make funding decisions together. Fellows also build relationships with other sex workers and contribute to shared political education and community care.

We understand that many people are not public about their experiences with sex work. Applicants may use a name and email address that feel safe for them. We do not share identifying information without consent. Legal names are only required for stipend processing and are kept confidential with staff involved in payment.

Fellows cannot be significantly involved in any organization applying for funding during the Fellowship cycle. This helps protect the integrity and fairness of the grantmaking process.

A person is considered significantly involved if they are or have been a paid staff member, board or steering committee member, key volunteer, consultant, or in a major decision making role within the last twelve months.

Organizations may apply for funding once a Fellow has completed or withdrawn from the Fellowship.