New Ellevest Conference to Activate Gender Equality Movements

Since its launch in May of 2016, I have started following Ellevate Network on my Twitter feed, and I am always impressed by the quality of their material on both gender equality and gender lens investing. Now, the new startup that aims to capture the $11 trillion women’s investing market, is holding a conference in June to activate gender equality movements. Sallie Krawcheck, the architect and founder of Ellevest, came to my attention last spring when I was creating a list of 9 Gender Lens Investors to Know About.

Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder, Ellevest

Here is my capsule on Krawcheck from that article:

Sallie Krawcheck, CEO and Co-Founder, Ellevest

Known as one of the most senior women on Wall Street, Sallie Krawcheck is a mastermind of finance who has now broken out on her own to make gender lens investing a priority. Formerly president of the Global Wealth and Investment Management division of Bank of America, Krawcheck is widely published on issues ranging from Wall Street regulatory reform to how to manage a start-up. Krawcheck is on a mission to close the gender investing gap, and help women everywhere figure out a good equation for money in their lives. In a recent interview for CNBC about Ellevest, Krawcheck was quoted as saying, “If I were to go very Gloria Steinem on you, I’d say until we get this gap closed, we’re not going to be equal.” Her new platform, Ellevest, is just getting started on cashing in on the $11 trillion market of assets controlled by women.

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Discovering Black Female Philanthropy: Madam C. J. Walker

American women have not generally been celebrated for their philanthropic activity, so it shouldn’t be surprising that African-American female philanthropists are especially invisible in contemporary culture.

Madam C. J. Walker

But that wasn’t always the case. In the early 20th century, African-American women were engaged in a literal battle for survival in a segregated and violently racist nation. One African- American woman, however, managed to go from being a laundress who sometimes earned less than one dollar a day to becoming one of the first self-made female millionaires in the United States. Her name was Sarah Breedlove, but she was known far and wide as Madam C. J. Walker, the founder of a hair care empire and a noted philanthropist. Walker used her fortune to champion the YMCA, the Tuskegee Institute, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and other important civic and educational organizations.

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Machismo Kills. How One Colombian City is Putting Women First

Joaquín Sarmiento/FNPI

If you’ve ever had the notion that your big strong male partner is going to protect you and provide for you, you are not alone. This cultural norm runs particularly deep in Latin cultures, where the term machismo is positively identified by traditional men who see it as their duty to protect and provide for their families. But the negative implications of machismo — violence, rigid gender roles, and the expectation that men should maintain financial control of the family — can have devastating impacts for women and children.

This article about The City of Women, a place on the outskirts of the Colombian city Turbaco, is a fascinating window into how women can come together to protect and care for other, more marginalized women in their communities.

The article, written by Marie Doezema, is published by CityLab, a collaborative project with The Atlantic. CityLab also runs a yearly conference, with the 2016 conference having a wide range of sponsors including Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Aspen Institute, GM, JPMorgan Chase, and Knight Foundation as Underwriters, McKinsey & Co. as Knowledge Partners, AARP and BASF as Supporting Partners, and The Miami Foundation, and Pfizer as Contributing Partners. The 2017 conference will be held in Paris, France, from October 22-24, 2017.

The City of Women is a refuge built by women for women and families. It consists of 98 houses that serve as sanctuary for women in need of shelter. Completed in 2006, The City of Women is responding to the increased violence in Colombia over the past decade as fighting has continued between government, paramilitary, and insurgent forces.

The City of Women grew out of the vision of Patricia Guerrero, a human rights lawyer from Bogota, who founded the Liga de Mujeres Desplazadas, or League of Displaced Women, in 1999. Initial funding for the City of Women, which began construction in 2003, came from the Colombian government, the US Congress, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Organizers of the City of Women continue to seek funders to create more housing.

From the article:

One of the first things you notice upon entering the City of Women is how many men there are. In this sense, it could be any other neighborhood; men of all ages sit on porches and on motorcycles, walk the sidewalks and visit the smattering of shops selling cold drinks, snacks, and phone credit. Men are not barred from the City of Women as they, too, are victims of displacement and violence. The difference here, though, is that in a sharp detour from patriarchal traditions, it’s the women who own the houses and the Liga, made up entirely of women, who make community decisions.

Though there have been workshops and anti-machismo training for men living in the community, true change, particularly among older generations, remains a challenge. Machismo has been reduced “very little,” says Guerrero, adding that she holds out hope for the younger generation. “The fact that women own the houses intensifies the violence,” she says. “But the young ones who grew up in the city have seen a different model. They have been raised with a process, but the adults are still machismo; there is still violence and discrimination against women.”

Read the full article here.

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NATO: Exhibit A of Why We Need More Gender Equality in the World

President Trump, in Belgium on the fourth leg of his overseas trip, met with NATO and European Union leaders. Analysts said expectations were low.

I will let The New York Times fill you on what happened at this meeting with NATO and European Union leaders, but this picture tells a large part of the story about what global leadership looks like today — it is heavily male-dominated. Hopefully as more philanthropy takes on gender equality, we will see the percentages of women in politics increase.

From the article:

After the meeting, Mr. Trump headed to the Belgian residence of the United States ambassador, where he had a working lunch with Mr. Macron. Mr. Trump, who had appeared to favor Ms. Le Pen, Mr. Macron’s opponent, showered the French president with praise for his election win.

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How Philanthropy Can Both Strengthen Families And Fuel Gender Equality

I had an amazing discussion today with Helen LaKelly Hunt about how funders are aligning across the political spectrum to help strengthen families, and within this approach there is huge potential for gender equality agendas to be realized.

gender equality
Can philanthropy align around supporting families, and in doing so, bolster gender equality?

In the context of Helen’s work as both a relationship expert and a philanthropy expert, she sees clearly how philanthropy can do more to build relationship skills, and in doing so make progress for gender equality.  As she puts it, “teaching relational skills transforms the family and bring gender equality to the family.”

Right after talking to Helen, I happened upon this article from the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) entitled “Families Can Drive Gender Equality, but Only if We Help Them Evolve.” AWID has been around for over 30 years and describes itself as “an international, feminist, membership organisation committed to achieving gender equality, sustainable development and women’s human rights.”

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Aligning Health with Human Rights for Women and Girls

Some of the wealthiest women in the world deploying vast fortunes with gender lens grantmaking: This is the future of philanthropy. Maverick Collective is one of the places where this strategy is already taking place.

maverick collective
Maverick Collective, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and H.R.H. Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway , is poised to deploy millions more in philanthropy with a gender lens.

But gender norms of the past still haunt many women philanthropists. “Women told us that they would be at a cocktail party, and people would come talk to their husbands, but not them,” said Kate Roberts, Senior Vice President for Corporate Partnerships with Population Services International (PSI). A global nonprofit “focused on the encouragement of healthy behavior and affordability of health products,” PSI is the host organization for The Maverick Collective.

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Gender Justice Uncovered: Promoting Sound Judicial Decisions for Women

As a social worker, I know too well how local justice systems do not always render judgements that best serve women and girls. I have had the experience of counseling domestic violence survivors still suffering major injuries from a recent assault, and these victims telling me that the offender is already back on the street, and they are afraid for their lives.

The Gender Justice Uncovered Awards help expose  inequities in the justice system for women and girls.

So for me, and the clients I serve, it is exciting to learn about the Gender Justice Uncovered Awards, a way to push for better decision-making in the courts worldwide by giving judges positive and negative reinforcement for their decisions involving women and girls.

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Check Out This Timely Support for Afghan Women from Big Foundations

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) recently received $750,000 in support from five big foundations: Carnegie, Ford, Hewlett, Packard, and MacArthur.

“There are men who mistreat and abuse girls and women who have no place to live,” says one 19-year-old female shelter resident in Afghanistan, who ran away from home when her father tried to trade her for a young bride for himself after her mother died.

It’s stories like these that suggest timing could not be better for donors to pay more attention to the needs of marginalized women in developing nations. Helpfully, some big foundations are entering the fray and deploying funds to help preserve human rights for women in Afghanistan. Five big foundations, Carnegie, Hewlett, Ford, Packard, and MacArthur all recently pledged a package of $750,000 to support Afghan women in the conservative country where women’s rights are limited.

Shelter resources are high demand for Afghan women. As this Associated Press article reports, an organization like Humanitarian Assistance for the Women and Children of Afghanistan, with a monthly operating budget of just $14,000, is struggling to stay open.

The five foundations will support Women for Afghan Women (WAW) with this new infusion of $750,000.  WAW reports that since 2001, it has “assisted 25,479 clients and trained over 304,550 people on women’s rights.”  A full 80% of the women in shelters in Afghanistan are being housed in WAW shelters, according to the nonprofit’s website.

How did this new funding for WAW come about? The five foundation consortium “stems from an introduction by a WAW supporter that led to a meeting between Vartan Gregorian, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and WAW’s Executive Director, Manizha Naderi,” according to a press release about the grant. As a result of this meeting, Dr. Gregorian served as a key facilitator of the donation.

The new funding and strategy will build WAW’s sustainability and “strengthen operations, expand programming, and diversify WAW’s funding portfolio.” WAW fills an important niche in supporting Afghan women by operating in both New York and Afghanistan, helping people at diverse points in their lives and bridging the divide between the two nations.

WAW’s Board Chair, Sunita Viswanath, called for more donors to come on board as she acknowledged the leadership of Hewlett, Packard, Ford, Carnegie, and MacArthur. “It is truly remarkable for foundation leaders to make such a generous commitment in WAW’s potential to save more lives and bring dignity to Afghan women, families, and communities,” said Viswanath. “We invite more donors to support WAW during these challenging times.”

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How Can Philanthropy Shape New Gender Norms for Women and Girls?

It’s always interesting to drill down on a specific population, such as young Latina women, and consider the implications both for that community and for other marginalized communities.

A new report, Gender Norms: A Key to Improving Outcomes Among Young Latinas does just that. The report, prepared in partnership with Hispanics in Philanthropy and Frontline Solutions, takes on the issue specifically of Latina women and how gender norms put them at risk for lower life outcomes.

The paper begins by telling the story of how philanthropy has begun to approach gender in different ways, but still does not integrate gender awareness as broadly as it could.

From the paper:

Few social justice foundations today would seek to create portfolios that were race and class blind, and fewer still fund grantees that offered race- or class- blind programs, particularly in communities of color. That’s because they know that addressing underlying structures of oppression like race and class race and class makes efforts more effective.

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Women Leading Change Event in Providence Features Jackie VanderBrug

Jackie VanderBrug will speak about gender lens investing in Rhode Island on June 7.

The world of gender lens investing has yet to be even marginally explored for all its potential, especially given that  only 1.1% of assets under management in the asset industry are controlled by women and minorities.

That’s why it’s exciting to learn that the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island is hosting an event on June 7, 2017 featuring Jackie VanderBrug, gender lens investing expert. I featured Jackie VanderBrug in my list of 9 leaders to know in gender lens investing. Here is my capsule on her:

Jackie VanderBrug, Senior Vice President and Investment Strategist, US Trust

VanderBrug is one of the earlier and most dedicated leaders in the new field of gender lens investing. She comes from Criterion, another pioneer in the field where she helped develop the Women Effect. VanderBrug’s awareness of the interrelated nature of social change began when she was a domestic policy analyst for the U.S. Congress. Along with Sarah Kaplan, VanderBrug recently authored an article entitled the Rise of Gender Capitalism, published in the Fall 2014 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, which discussed in detail how investing with a gender lens creates financial and social impacts, while also helping women.

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