Kiersten Marek, Author at Philanthropy Women

Surging Philanthropy for Women and Girls? Not So Much

The Women’s Philanthropy Institute has put out its second iteration of the Women & Girls Index, and the news is not bad, but it’s not super good either. Charitable giving to women’s and girls’ organizations in the U.S. increased from $6.3 billion in 2016 to $7.1 billion in 2017, but the overall percentage of giving remained the same — 1.6%.

women's giving — This graphic from WPI’s new report shows the level of giving for women and girls relative to other sectors of philanthropy. (Image Credit: WPI)

Sometimes I feel like that number — 1.6% — is going to haunt us all to our graves. It is such a glaring indicator of what is wrong with the world we live in. Ultimately, giving for women and girls remains token. Its actual number, $7.1 billion, is only a little more than half compared to the next smallest area of giving — environment and animals at $12 billion.

Sizable Gifts: Solutions Project Gets $43 Million from Bezos Earth Fund

Along with the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, another important feminist climate fund also received support from Bezos Earth Fund: The Solutions Project. The Solutions Project, like the Hive Fund, will be receiving $43 million in unrestricted funding over three years.

Among the Solutions Project’s board of directors are many familiar faces in the social justice arena, including Leah Hendrix-Hunt and Sharon Alpert. There are also stars of stage and screen including Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle.

Gloria Walton, President and CEO, The Solutions Project (Image Credit: The Solutions Project)

The Solutions Project’s President and CEO, Gloria Walton, is already being described as a “superstar” of the ecofeminist scene, with clear vision and strategies already in place to fund us toward a more sustainable climate and a culture centered on gender and racial equality.

Karen Morales on The Love of Marketing to Fight Disease

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Karen Morales, Founder of Marketing Magnet and Board Member of Cure Rare Disease.

1. What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

I never knew I would be a marketing agency owner. I never dreamed I would be self-employed. In my early days, I wanted to be a pediatric oncologist to bring hope to sick kids. In later years, I wanted to fight oppression as an ACLU lawyer.

*Karen Morales, Founder of Marketing Magnet and Board Member of Cure Rare Disease*, discusses her path to success.

Neither dream materialized, as the path to get there – medical school and law school, seemed like too high a hill to climb.

Hunt and Justice Leaders Discuss US History of Racism, Sexism

On Thursday, November 19^th, 2020, at 6:30 pm, The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture held a one-hour event with guest speakers Dr. Helen LaKelly Hunt, Matrice Ellis-Kirk, and Jerry Hawkins. The discussion was centered on Hunt’s book, And the Spirit Moved Them: The Lost Radical History of America’s First Feminists.

women's history — Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD. (Image Credit: Dallas Institute Webinar)

Larry Allums, Executive Director of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, welcomed viewers and discussed the auspiciousness of the event, given that this year is the Centennial anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. He described Helen LaKelly Hunt as an important “discoverer and chronicler of the connection between abolitionist and women’s rights movements in American history.” He acknowledged Hunt as a “dear friend” to the Dallas Institute and recognized her contributions as part of an early group of women donors funding gender equality, noting that Hunt co-founded the Texas Women’s Foundation, the New York Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Funding Network, and Women Moving Millions.

How 2020 Women Donors Funded Biden-Harris for Election Victory

2020 women donors may go down in history as having been the first class of women donors to drive massive political change in one election. According to data from the Center for Responsive Politics, Joe Biden’s campaign for President saw a massive surge in funding, particularly from women, when he chose Kamala Harris as his running mate in August.

(Image Credit: Gayatri Malhotra, Unsplash)

According to a report in CNN, the Biden-Harris ticket received over $33.4 million in itemized contributions from women in August, more than doubling the total amount of contributions from female donors the previous month of $13.7 million. In comparison, Trump’s campaign raised only $8.7 million from women in August.

With Biden-Harris Leading, What Now for Funding Women and Girls?

I don’t know about you, but to me it feels like a great weight has been lifted off of us as a nation, and as a world even. Many, many people in the world are rejoicing at the news of the upcoming Biden-Harris presidency, and all the possibility this new leadership holds. For those of us focused on funding women and girls, this change in leadership will likely be extremely valuable to our work, and could be instrumental in getting us closer to equality much faster.

Across the U.S., people of all ages are celebrating the new Vice President Kamala Harris’s leadership breakthrough for women and girls of color. (Image: Design Bundles)

What can women donors do to make sure that gender equality movements are optimized for acceleration at this moment in history? Here are three basic strategies:

Laura Deaton: Transparent and Curious Leadership for a Better World

Editor’s Note: This edition of our Feminist Giving IRL series features Laura Deaton, Executive Director of Multiplier, a nonprofit working to accelerate impact for initiatives focused on health, sustainability, resilience, and equality.

What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

I landed my first leadership role in the nonprofit sector in my early 30s and still had much to learn. I wish I had known from the start about the immense role that transparency and curiosity would play in helping me lead effectively. The power of those traits helped me design and better chart a course for impact.

Laura Deaton, Executive Director, Multiplier

First and foremost, transparent communication—executed well and with compassion—is a fundamental leadership skill that is integral to earning respect and trust. Curiosity and inquiry open doors and dialogues about truly discovering the best path forward by learning more about people, perspectives and processes before advocating for change.

Anybody Got a Spare $6.3 Billion to Fund Women and Girls?

I was doing some thinking on the funding-of-women quandary. What the Women’s Philanthropy Institute helpfully taught us was that as of 2016, funding specifically for women and girls in the U.S. is at 6.3 billion a year, comprising 1.6% of total philanthropy funding.

That’s not enough, as we explain here.

funding women — Photo by Monica Melton on Unsplash

It’s unclear whether this giving has increased under Trump’s tenure. It’s also unclear whether this type of giving will face new barriers in the COVID economy. Therefore, one has to wonder what we should be doing to try to bridge the gap between the conversation about funding women and girls, and the actual doing of it.

New World Possibilities with Gender Lens Giving Strategies

On Thursday in New Zealand and Wednesday in the US, a virtual conversation took place between some of the boldest strategic experts in the feminist giving space. The conversation included Sarah Haacke Byrd, Executive Director of Women Moving Millions, Tuti B. Scott, feminist expert on gender lens grantmaking and gender lens investing, Melanie Brown, Senior Program Officer for US Policy and Advocacy at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Lucy Lee, Senior Associate for Volition Capital and Lotus Circle Bay Area convener.

As more virtual strategizing takes place to amplify feminist giving strategies, these leaders offer a valuable perspective. Sue McCabe, Chief Executive of Philanthropy New Zealand opened the call with some shocking stats about how COVID is impacting New Zealand’s economy, even though they have had some of the best health outcomes from the virus. McCabe said that 90% of newly unemployed people, due to the COVID restrictions in New Zealand, are women. She stressed the importance of giving more, and giving more strategically, in the time of COVID.

Feminist Donors: The Way to the Future

It’s always great to see your name up in lights, particularly at such a highly esteemed publication as Women’s eNews. Alyssa Fisher, the 2020 fellow in the Sy Syms Journalistic Excellence Program at Women’s eNews called me up and let me have a great riffing session on what it’s like to be at the helm of our small but mighty publication, Philanthropy Women, and what I see feminist donors doing for the world that no one else is doing.

From the article:

The idea to launch a website dedicated to women in philanthropy first came to Kiersten Marek in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was anticipated to win the presidential election and become the United State’s first woman president. When she launched it the following year, it felt even more pertinent.

Author: Kiersten Marek