Philanthropy Women

The Fearless Fund Has Been Taken Down. Who’s Next?

The Fearless Fund (FF) made the heartbreaking decision to end its grant program for companies owned by Black women. The program has been under attack from right-wing activists who claimed the program was discriminatory.

On June 3, 2024, the 11th Circuit Court ruled that the program was discriminatory and forced FF to suspend its Striver’s Grants program.

Ariana Simone and two young volunteers make the point about the impact of this ruling. (Image Credit: Fearless Fund Twitter Page)

As of September 11, 2024, Fearless Fund has chosen to settle the lawsuit by shutting down that program completely. Given the conservative super-majority on the US Supreme Court, with its record of hostility to Affirmative Action, FF decided that the best path forward was to find other ways to accomplish its mission.

US News Measures Global Gender Equality in Best Countries Report

US News & World Report Provides Important Data on Gender Equality in its Best Countries Rankings

The Best Country report from US News & World Report is in its ninth year. As part of its ranking, the report includes information on a country’s commitment to gender equality.

Denmark is ranked number one on the category of Social Purpose, of which Gender Equality Commitment is one indicator. (Screenshot of US News and World Report)

The results show that international support for gender equality remains strong all across the globe, despite generational gaps. The very good news is that 89% of respondents believe that women should have the same rights as men. Oddly, support for gender equality is stronger among those aged 46 and older, with 94% in favor.

How Trump’s Tax Policies Decreased Philanthropic Giving

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law in 2018 eliminated incentives for charitable giving for about 20% of US taxpayers.

One of the signature moves in the act was to increase the amount of the Standard Deduction to $25,000, which more or less doubled the threshold for itemizing deductions.

Taraji P. Henson has been given the AARP Purpose Prize. Read more below. (Image credit: Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation)

Overall, the reform decreased charitable giving by about $20 billion annually.

While many middle-class taxpayers give to charity such as a church, most are not able to give enough to put them over the threshold for itemizing deductions. In effect, the TCJA eliminated the incentive for making these donations. For middle-class taxpayers, this eliminated the incentive to give money to charity since these donations could no longer be used for itemized deductions from annual income tax payments.

Philanthropy Women and Kiersten Marek Featured in Time Magazine

In case anyone had doubts, Philanthropy Women is one of the world’s leading authorities on feminist giving. Time Magazine recently ran a story on the topic, and one of their major sources for the story was Kiersten Marek and the Philanthropy Women website.

Screenshot from Time Magazine, August 6th, 2024 edition.

The information presented in the opening paragraphs will be familiar to regular readers Philanthropy Women. The article cites both the World Bank and a McKinsey Report that have found that directing grants to women and girls can boost the overall world economy.

In addition, progressive-thinking countries like Sweden, Canada, and France have recently implemented feminist agendas to their giving in order to advance the cause of humanity.

The Day Philanthropy Died: What Happened with Fearless Fund Ruling

As previously reported, the efforts, and perhaps the existence of the Fearless Fund have been the target of a lawsuit since July of 2023. We at Philanthropy Women have been tracking this case as it has significant ramifications for all marginalized populations receiving philanthropy dollars, including gender justice philanthropy.

On June 3, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued a ruling that will prohibit the Fearless Fund from issuing its Strivers Grants. These are grants of $20,000 given to small businesses that have at least one woman of color in a leadership role.

Arian Simone, Co-founder and CEO of the Fearless fund described herself as “outraged” and said the fund is weighing its legal options going forward. They may take the case to the Supreme Court, or they could also take the route of taking the case to another district appellate court.

Cultural Breakthrough? Market for Women’s Art Growing Rapidly

According to Artmarket.com, 2023 was the most dynamic year in the history of the global art market. In the year ending December 31, 2023, over one million works of art in all media were put up for auction.

With three-quarters of a million individual transactions, the number of works sold set a record, an increase of 5% over the previous year.

The Ms. Foundation has added three new board members: Dr. Renée T. White, Mary Kathryn Nagle, and Kathy Ko Chin. Read below about these new leaders stepping up. (Image credit: Ms. Foundation)

Women artists were a key component for this growth. As Artmarket.com explains, they are finally being given the recognition and the place in the market they deserve. In particular, interest in, and appreciation for the women artists of the 20th Century have increased significantly.

Expert Interview on the Fight for Women’s Bodily Autonomy

Vice-President Kamala Harris issued a stinging rebuke to the “hypocrisy” of conservatives in a speech delivered on the anniversary of the overturning of Roe v Wade, in which she pointed out that conservatives continuously seek to restrict access to health care. “How dare they?” she demanded.

Kamala Harris speaks out for women everywhere.(Image credit: ABC News video screenshot)

There are reasons for her charges. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently published a study showing that the number of women aged 18-30 choosing to undergo tubal ligation has increased dramatically since Roe was overturned. The rate of vasectomies has also increased, but only at half the rate of tubal ligations. It appears that, in the age of shrinking space for abortion rights, women are now much more fearful about their own bodily autonomy.

It IS Rocket Science: Astrophysicist Amber Miller New Hewlett Prez

The Hewlett Foundation has named Amber Miller as its new president. The selection of Dr Miller is a paradigm-changing move; she will be the first woman and the first scientist to hold the position, and she represents a new generation of leadership for the foundation. She will take up her responsibilities at the beginning of September.

Amber Miller has been named the incoming President of the Hewlett Foundation. (Image credit: Hewlett Foundation)

Dr Miller is an astrophysicist who is currently Dean of The Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California. In her role, Dr Miller oversees a staff of over 2,000 faculty who teach a wide variety of subjects. In addition, she previously served as Dean of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University.

Raising the Value of Communities by Investing in Girls of Color

Editor’s Note: Happy Juneteenth! In celebration, we are sharing the words of Dr. Monique Couvson, president and CEO of G4GC and the author of six books, including “Charisma’s Turn” (The New Press, 2023), a graphic novel about girls and their gifts.

As we navigate through this pivotal moment in history of rollbacks to civil rights, gender justice, and social progress, we are also seeing a generational transfer of wealth boosting women’s economic power and women taking bold measures to move capital into the hands of other women.

*Dr. Monique Couvson, president and CEO of G4GC* (Image credit: G4GC)

While we recognize and applaud how women are poised to shape a new type of philanthropy, it is imperative that in this effort girls —and in particular girls and gender-expansive youth of color, receive a robust and intentional investment. These young people are at the forefront of all social justice movements, and yet their contributions go overlooked and erased. As we move funds to women-serving organizations, we must also move money explicitly to organizations that center and are led by girls of color. That is how we can combat the erasure of Black girls and girls of color, and create opportunities for their courageous activism and leadership to thrive.

New: Convicted Felon Trump Tries to Roll Back Climate Justice

Maya Angelou famously said: “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” She may not have been talking about Donald Trump, but the advice seems especially pertinent to him.

There is no distinction between social justice and climate justice. The poorest suffer from a deteriorating climate and the majority of those suffering are women. They are often women with children who do not have the means to relocate to a safer location.

Donald Trump has taken extreme positions on climate action both in the past and today. (Image credit: We Don’t Have Time)

We Don’t Have Time is the world’s largest media platform for climate action. The organization was created after the election of Trump in 2016. This event made it plain that world leaders were not going to take significant action that would even slow down climate degradation. “Trump digs coal” was a slogan and an election pitch that helped him get elected.