In The News

Asia Foundation to Honor Eileen Fisher and Women In Need

The Asia Foundation’s 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will honor Eileen Fisher and Women In Need for their work for women in Asia and the Pacific.

The 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 18th at 6pm EST / 3pm PST (Image credit: Asia Foundation)

The 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will honor Eileen Fisher for her pioneering leadership in women’s economic empowerment and sustainability, and Women In Need (WIN), a non-profit partner working to end gender-based violence in Sri Lanka. The celebration will take place virtually on Wednesday, April 28th and features appearances by ABC “Nightline’s” Juju Chang and “Law and Order: SVU” actor Mariska Hargitay.

Darren Walker: It’s Time to Support Black Women and Girls As They Lead

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation.

Black women worldwide have shown unbelievable resilience in the face of deep-seated racism and gender-bias, especially in the wake of the pandemic. (Image credit: The Root/Shutterstock)

Despite some (if uneven) progress with vaccinations, we still face a pandemic of pandemics: A deadly virus that exposes and aggravates deep-seated racism and gender-bias throughout our societies and institutions. Indeed, all of the data affirm, women—particularly women of color—bear the brunt of these interconnected crises.

The facts are devastating: Women of color have been left without jobs at higher rates during Covid-19. Around the world, rising unemployment coupled with lockdowns and school closures have forced millions into poverty and the threat of violence at home. In Tunisia, for instance, reported incidents of domestic violence increased five-fold during the early days of the pandemic.

Mastercard Invests Millions in Venture Capital with Fearless Fund

Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built to support women of color, has received a huge investment from Mastercard.

Mastercard has made a muti-million dollar investment to Fearless Fund to help black-owned businesses (Image credit: Fearless Fund)

Black women are building and growing businesses faster than any other segment and yet receive less than one percent of venture capital funding. In addition, only three percent of the people actually leading investments at VC firms are Black according to the National Venture Capital Association. To help further access to funding for Black women, Mastercard today announced a multi-million dollar investment in Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built by women of color for women of color.

As US and NATO Withdraw, WAW Fears Plummet in Women’s Justice

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) fearfully responds to the US and NATO withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in September.

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) works to support disenfranchised women in Afghanistan. (Image credit: WAW)

Women for Afghan Women (WAW) , the largest Afghan women’s rights organization in the world, remains deeply concerned about the fate of women and girls in Afghanistan after a full withdrawal of United States (US) and NATO armed forces from Afghanistan in September of 2021.

WAW urges the US government and its NATO allies to employ the full weight of their diplomatic, economic, and political power during the months leading up to the withdrawal to ensure the establishment of an inclusive and comprehensive political settlement, which will fully protect the Afghan constitution and the rights of all Afghan citizens enshrined therein.

Kathleen Loehr Hosts New Seminar to Build Female Giving Leadership

Kathleen Loehr, President of Kathleen Loehr & Associates, LLC, has launched a nine month program to support female leaders in philanthropy.

Kathleen Loehr, President of Kathleen Loehr & Associates, LLC and the host of the Women’s Philanthropy Senior Leader Seminar (Image credit: Kathleen Loehr & Associates LLC)

(From Kathleen Loehr, April, 2021) Given the increased power of women we are seeing in the headlines and in our communities, it is time to double down on the importance of women’s philanthropy and find ways to accelerate it. In January, I committed to focusing solely on growing women’s philanthropy. The Women’s Philanthropy Senior Leader Seminar is one outcome of that commitment. Please join me on the next phase of this journey.

Another First: Alessandra Galloni is New Editor-in-Chief of Reuters

Editor’s Note: The following message is from Michael Friedenberg, President, Reuters News and Media, Thomson Reuters.

I wanted to share the exciting news that Alessandra Galloni will be Reuters next editor-in-chief.

FILE PHOTO: Global News Editor of Reuters Alessandra Galloni at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June, 2016. (Image credit: REUTERS/Grigory Dukor/File Photo)

Alessandra, previously global managing editor at Reuters, will take over from Steve Adler, who retires at the end of the moth after an incredible ten years as editor-in-chief.

Alessandra will oversee all editorial functions for Reuters world-class newsroom and its 2500 journalists in 200 locations around the world. She will also become the first female editor-in-chief in Reuters 170-year history.

How Will the Rockefeller Fdn Make Vaccines More Accessible to POC?

The Rockefeller Foundation has launched the Equity-First Vaccination Initiative to improve vaccination rates in communities of color.

The Rockefeller Foundation's Equity-First Vaccination Initiative will collaborate with organizations across the U.S. to improve vaccination rates in communities of color. (Image credit: Rockefeller Foundation) — The Rockefeller Foundation’s Equity-First Vaccination Initiative will collaborate with organizations across the U.S. to improve vaccination rates in communities of color. (Image credit: Rockefeller Foundation)

The Rockefeller Foundation announces the launch of a historic $20 million Equity-First Vaccination Initiative to improve the vaccination rate among communities of color, which have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Representing less than one-third of the 74 million people who are now fully vaccinated in the United States, communities of color are twice as likely to die from Covid-19 and three times as likely to be hospitalized as white Americans. To close this gap, the Foundation will initially collaborate with five organizations to deploy equity-first, hyper-local public health interventions in five U.S. cities: Baltimore, Md.; Chicago, Ill.; Houston, Texas; Newark, N.J.; Oakland, Calif. During the second phase of the Initiative, the Foundation will collaborate with several national organizations to take lessons learned from the five cities and ensure that at least 70 million people of color are vaccinated by July 2021.

How WFMN is Building on Not For Sale Campaign with Fund for Safety

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota gave grants to eight organizations to expand on its “Not For Sale” campaign, creating the Fund for Safety.

Women's Foundation of Minnesota has awarded eight organizations with grants to fight gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: WFMN) — Women’s Foundation of Minnesota has awarded eight organizations with grants to fight gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: WFMN)

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFMN) has awarded eight grants totaling $205,000 to nonprofit organizations and the City of Minneapolis through its Fund for Safety. WFMN’s Fund for Safety resources innovation to end gender-based violence, a continuum that includes sex trafficking, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. The Fund for Safety continues and expands upon the investments made through the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s MN Girls Are Not For Sale campaign.

How is Bank of America Responding to the Rise in Anti-Asian Hate?

In response to the rise in anti-Asian hate in the U.S., Bank of America has increased its commitment to racial equality to $1.25 billion.

Bank of America announced a $1B commitment over four years in June 2020, but has decided to increase the donation in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate. (Image credit: Bank of America)

Bank of America today announced that it has increased its $1 billion, four-year commitment to advance racial equality and economic opportunity to $1.25 billion over five years. This effort further accelerates work already underway to address racial equality and opportunity through direct actions, investments and work to catalyze similar efforts across the private sector.

$11M to Grantees: How CFF Will Take Down Gender-Based Violence

The Collective Future Fund has chosen 25 organizations to start its first multi-year grantmaking effort, pledging a total of $11 million.

*In this grantmaking effort, the Collective Future Fund has chosen organizations dedicated to ending gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: CFF)*

On March 31st, 2021, the Collective Future Fund (CFF) awarded grants to 25 organizations in its first multi-year grantmaking effort, totaling $11 million over the next three years. The grant recipients are working at the forefront of movements to end gender-based violence in all its forms, and are all led by BIPOC women, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary and im/migrant survivors of color.

Author: Gender Equality Funding News