Kiersten Marek, LICSW, is the founder of Philanthropy Women. She practices clinical social work and writes about how women donors and their allies are advancing social change.
Attendees at the Solidarity Giving Project annual party. (Photo credit: Zachary Shulman)
Editor’s Note: Fascinating things are going on in the realm of giving circles and community giving projects. We are pleased to share this piece by Cheyenna Layne Weber, one of the founders of Solidarity Economy Giving Project in New York City, which aims to bring together donors in new ways.
From Cheyenna Layne Weber:
There are more than 2,000 solidarity economy organizations in New York City, most of them founded and maintained by women. These democratic, member-led groups take different legal forms, but hold certain values in common—social and racial justice, ecological sustainability, mutualism, and cooperation. They include low-income credit unions; cooperatives providing food, affordable housing, and childcare; cooperatives of farmers and workers; community gardens and land trusts; and community-supported agriculture. Together, these form a solidarity economy based on meeting material needs rather than making profits. (Explore these models in this short video.)
Jean Case, CEO of the Case Foundation, and author of Be Fearless: Five Principles for a Lifetime of Breakthrough and Purpose.
Recently I interviewed Jean Case for Inside Philanthropy and learned about how her early years as a survivor of hardship helped her prepare for a lifetime of success in business and philanthropy. We also discussed how to maintain a fearless attitude in both business and philanthropy, so that you don’t become afraid of all the risks, hassles and pitfalls that drive a lot of people to drop out of pursuing plans in both spheres.
Toward the end of the interview, I asked Case about her perception of women in philanthropy and how their influence is shifting the landscape:
The Cognizant U.S. Foundation has announced $4.1 million in grant funding for the National Center for Women & Information Technology. (PRNewsfoto/Cognizant)
Whenever corporate funders part with millions for gender equality initiatives, this is good news for feminist philanthropy. Recently, Cognizant U.S. Foundation announced that it has made a $4.1 million grant to the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT). The grant will fund both digital skills education programs and an awareness campaign aimed at increasing interest in tech careers for women of all ages.
Cognizant U.S. Foundation is a nonprofit focused on supporting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and skills initiatives for U.S. workers and students. NCWIT is a non-profit community comprised of more than 1,100 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations across the U.S. With this new award, NCWIT will establish coding skills camps for women and girls, and provide training for school counselors in communities underserved communities. With an initial focus on the Southern United States, NCWIT will launch programs in areas where it can provide corporate internships.
A powerful coalition of investors is taking action to steer the tech industry toward better practices that protect human rights in the digital age.
The companies listed above have all been issued the Investor Statement on Corporate Accountability for Digital Rights from the Investor Alliance for Human Rights. This Alliance wants Google, Facebook, and other tech companies to know that they will withdraw their investments if these companies do not take action to address human and digital rights abuses.
This coalition contains some familiar names in the socially responsible investing field such as Pax World Funds and Cornerstone Capital Group, but the largest number of signatories are Sisters of various religious orders: Sisters of Saint Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, and this is only a few of the religious funds signing on to this statement.
A new learning institute for women of color will be made out of Madam C.J. Walker’s estate in Irving, New York. (Photo credit: David Bohl/Historic New England/Courtesy of the National Trust for Historic Preservation)
A new learning institute for women of color will be created out of the former estate of Madam C.J. Walker, as the New Voices Foundation announced last week that it will purchase the site and repurpose it for women of color entrepreneurship.
Madam C. J. Walker was the founder of a hair care empire and a noted philanthropists of the early twentieth century, and is considered the first African-American woman to become a self-made millionaire. A daughter of a slave who once worked as a laundress for less than a dollar a day, Madam C. J. Walker became a civil society champion for organizations like the YMCA, the Tuskegee Institute, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Ariadne Labs, a “joint health system innovation center of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health” is launching a new collaboration in 2019 to help more women access guidance in the birth and parenting process. (Image courtesy of Ariadne Labs Facebook page.)
A health care foundation, a nonprofit initiative, and a for-profit health information company are collaborating to get tools, data, and a clinically-validated health information into the hands of pregnant women across the country. Launching in the first half of 2019, Ovia Health will be collaborating with the Delivery Decisions Initiative at Ariadne Labs and the California Health Care Foundation in order to help more women and families navigate pregnancy, birth, and parenting.
Now that we have gotten our feet wet with writing about a variety of funders in gender equality, it’s time for Philanthropy Women to build out some specific funding guides in the field. We are starting with a guide to international funders. Feminism has been a growing global movement for over 20 years, and now, more countries internationally are establishing funds and foundations of their own that address gender issues.
Philanthropy Women’s first funding guide is a condensed compilation of international funders for women and girls.
While some foundations fund both in the U.S. and internationally (and will thus appear on both lists) we hope the breakdown between these two funding sectors is uniquely helpful to grantseekers. Along with a guide to U.S. funders for women and girls, we will also be building out guides for corporate philanthropy for women and girls, STEM funders for women and girls, family foundations making grants for gender equality, feminist giving circles and networks, and feminist fellowships. We hope by breaking feminist philanthropy down into these different lists, we will save time and energy for grantseekers, so they can use more of their resources to focus on getting their applications in and getting more grants.
Guests on tomorrow evening’s Virtual Happy Hour with Gloria Feldt include Reshma Gopaldas, Mira Lowe, and Amy Emmerich.
Tomorrow evening’s Take the Lead Virtual Happy Hour will feature an exciting group of women talking about one of my favorite topics: journalism. Tomorrow’s event is called The Real Story: Women in Journalism Finding Fair Solutions.
The web call will discuss ways to promote change that will make for more equal representation and pay of women journalists. Given that Philanthropy Women is a journalism endeavor, I am planning to be on that call to see what I can learn for my work, and to discuss philanthropy’s current and future impact on these issues.
Here is more information about what is happening tomorrow night at 6:30 ET:
The Real Story: Women in Journalism Find Fair Solutions
As we round the bend on our second year here at Philanthropy Women, it’s time to celebrate a new batch of recipients for our leadership awards. The people and organizations chosen for these awards have all demonstrated exceptional leadership in the field of gender equality philanthropy this past year, and represent the growing diversity and strength of this work.
These awards draw on the database of Philanthropy Women’s coverage, and are therefore inherently biased toward the people and movement activity we have written about so far. As our database grows each year, we cover more ground, and have a wider field to cull from for the awards.
Enjoy!
The People
Breakthrough Award for Thought and Strategy Leadership
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Tarana Burke, Founder and Leader of the Me Too movement and Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation, at The Foundation’s 2018 Celebrating Women Breakfast on May 10. (Photo Credit: Hannah Schillinger)
This year’s award for thought and strategy leadership in feminist philanthropy goes to two amazing trailblazers who are collaborating to bring new funding to sexual assault prevention: Ana Oliveira and Tarana Burke.
By founding the new Me Too Fund, Oliveira and Burke are accelerating a social movement that is turning civil society on its head and bringing needed attention to women and girls. Their bold pursuit of this work has added new dimensions to the movement to end violence against women, and has helped to shift the culture’s focus toward helping survivors and making perpetrators of assault accountable for their actions. For these reasons, we award Ana Oliveira and Tarana Burke the Breakthrough Award for Thought and Strategy Leadership in feminist philanthropy.
She Persisted Award for Feminist Philanthropy Research and Development
Kathleen E. Loehr, author of Gender Matters, is Philanthropy Women’s recipient of the She Persisted Award for Feminist Philanthropy Research and Development.
It takes tremendous patience and stamina to keep going in the world of feminist philanthropy, despite that the topic is so compelling. That’s why we are awarding Kathleen E. Loehr the She Persisted Award for Feminist Philanthropy Research and Development.
Kathleen has been researching and writing about feminist philanthropy for over a decade, and her writing on the topic elucidates key aspects of the work. Her new book, Gender Matters: Growing Women’s Philanthropy, is particularly good at answering the important question of how fundraisers and those committed to women’s giving can take specific actions that will increase women’s philanthropy.
Famously Feminist Award for Celebrity Leadership on Gender Equality
David Schwimmer and Sigal Avin, who collaborated to create new media that highlights the many forms that sexual harassment can take. (Photo Credit: Build Series, #thatsharassment)
Men as collaborators was a big theme in feminist philanthropy this year. One man who did a particularly good job of helping the movement for women’s health and safety was David Schwimmer, who, in collaboration with Sigal Avin, created a series of public service messages called That’s Harassment, helping to flesh out the picture (pardon the pun!) on what sexual harassment looks like and feels like.
Because we know that media and stardom influence so many things today, and because we know from the research that men need clear examples of how to give to women and girls, we are giving this year’s Famously Feminist Award for Celebrity Leadership on Gender Equality to David Schwimmer and Sigal Avin.
The Organizations
One World Award for Feminist Leadership in International Philanthropy
This past year, Root Capital partnered with an Australian Program to provide loans for women in agriculture in South East Asia.
Leaders in international feminist philanthropy like Chief Executive of Women’s World Banking of Ghana, Charlotte Baidoo, called on microfinance institutions to do more when it comes to lending to women. One organization that broke new ground in doing this lending to women internationally was Root Capital.
Bridge Builders Award for Network and Collaborative Giving Leadership
Rachel’s Network distributes $60 million annually to address both climate change and gender equality.
The need for coordinating funding efforts is stronger than ever, and particularly the need to collaborate between environmental movements and women’s movements is of increasing importance as the impacts of global warming become more evident.
One organization that is serving as a lynchpin in bringing together gender equality and environmental work is Rachel’s Network. With its project work, research, and partnerships with groups like the Sierra Club to oppose the border wall with Mexico, Rachel’s Network has shown exemplary leadership in connecting the dots between feminism and environmentalism, and taking specific action to address problems. For these reasons, we award Rachel’s Network the Bridge Builders Award for Network and Collaborative Giving Leadership.
Rising Star Award for Emerging Leadership as an Organization
The Obama Foundation showed that it will be taking a considerable stake in addressing issues for women and girls when they launched the Global Girls Alliance.
When a retired president decides to actively take up the cause of promoting gender equality for girls worldwide, there is reason to celebrate. When he is married to a feminist visionary like Michelle Obama, there is even more reason to cheer.
This past year, the Obama Foundation launched into the world of funding for women and girls when they created the Global Girls Alliance, and began collaborating with as many as 1,500 nonprofits to bring education and well-being to girls around the world. The best news of all: this is just the beginning. Imagine how much progress and strength women’s movements will gain as the Obama Foundation ascends to their rightful place in the feminist philanthropy landscape. For this reason, we award The Obama Foundation the Rising Star Award for Emerging Leadership as an Organization.
Influencing the Corporate Agenda Award for Feminist Philanthropy
Girls Inc. announced the new #GirlsToo movement, which will work to prevent sexual abuse and harassment of girls.
Nonprofits can play a dramatic role in bringing together coalitions of corporate partners to underwrite a new movement. That was certainly the case this past year when Girls, Inc. launched the #GirlsToo movement. Girls, Inc. brought together a wide array of corporate partners and nonprofits to support this initiative and is providing a strong framework for how we can embed respectfulness in relationships. For this reason, we award Girls, Inc. the Philanthropy Women Influencing the Corporate Agenda Award for Feminist Philanthropy.
Outstanding Corporate Giving for Gender Equality
Girl Up is one of three organizations to receive $1.25 million in funding for the advancement of girls and women in tech from TE Connectivity.
Corporations have the potential to play a vital role in addressing gender equality. One corporation that did outstanding work in providing needed support for girls in tech education this past year was TE Connectivity. With a $1.25 million grant to Girl Up, which provides support for women and girls in tech, TE Connectivity provided an excellent model for other corporations to follow as they seek to deploy more of their profits into a more gender equal world. For this reason, we award TE Connectivity the Outstanding Corporate Giving for Gender Equality award. UPDATE: A reader has reached out to provide a counterpoint for this award, which was covered by the Boston Business Journal here. A PDF of the article is here: #MeToo’s darkest side_ Dialogue about workplace sexual harassment overlooks threat of physical assault or rape – Boston Business Journal
League of Their Own Award for Gender Equality Philanthropy
With its funding of large-scale initiatives in feminist philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is working to address gender equality with several different strategies.
No awards list for gender equality philanthropy would be complete without acknowledging the increasingly significant role that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is playing in this landscape.
From supporting convenings of women funders to adding $200 million to a global initiative for the world’s poorest women to growing infrastructure development for women’s giving circles, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation helped forge new paths for feminist philanthropy in many different directions. For this reason, we award the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation the Philanthropy Women League of Their Own Award for Gender Equality Philanthropy.
Lady Justice Award for Leadership of Women’s Funds
All women’s funds and foundations are the recipients of Philanthropy Women’s Lady Justice Award, due to their inspiring work to help more women get elected to office this past year. Great work, women!
This year, it was hard to imagine choosing one women’s fund leader over another, as there was so much going on, and every women’s fund’s recipe for success is so different. Hence, this year’s Lady Justice Award for Leadership of Women’s Funds goes to all the women’s fund leaders (you know who you are!) who pressed for political engagement this past year, and in doing so helped us elect record numbers of women to office. This was a historic year for women in many ways, and leadership and advocacy coming from women’s funds helped make it much moreso. By boldly responding to #MeToo events and the Kavanaugh hearings, and by coming together to talk about ways to get more women elected, women’s funds pressed for change at an important historical inflection point. For these reasons, we award all women’s fund and foundation leaders the Philanthropy Women Lady Justice Award for Leadership of Women’s Funds.
Third Wave Fund’s new Sex Worker Giving Circle has made its first $200,000 in grants to organizations across the U.S.
With $200,000 in new funding, sex worker organizations and advocates across the U.S. will have more resources to address safety, worker’s rights, and political power in the new year. Third Wave Fund, a 20-year-old foundation, recently announced its inaugural grantees from the first and only Sex Worker Giving Circle, a new collective created by the fund in 2018.
This new giving circle is unique in many ways. The Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC) is the first sex worker-led fund housed at a U.S. foundation. SWGC consisted of 10 Fellows who were trained and supported by Third Wave Fund in order to raise more than $100,000 of the grant funding, design the grant-making process, and decide which organizations would receive funding grants, which ranged from $6,818 to $21,818.
“Sex worker organizing is both more necessary and more under-funded than ever. The SWGC is a critical new funding source for sex worker movements,” said SWGC Fellow Janis Luna, referencing the “increasing discrimination and violence under SESTA/FOSTA” that many sex workers report they are facing. The SESTA/FOSTA laws passed in 2018, which seek to end online sex trafficking, were both celebrated and sharply criticized by different parts of the feminist community. Some feminists, such as Mary Mazzio, director of the film I Am Jane Doe, which shed light on the tragic sex trafficking of children in America, supported passage of the laws, while other groups like Survivors Against SESTA, argue that the laws are driving sex workers back into exploitative situations with pimps, and back onto the street where they face increased harassment and criminalization.
SWGC Fellow Janis Luna says that many sex workers today “are struggling to make ends meet” and need all the support philanthropy can provide. In general, philanthropy tends to avoid the subject of sex workers and their rights, leaving only a tiny sliver of funding, $1.1 million for the entire U.S., going to aid and support sex workers.
Rhode Island recently experienced a bit more interface with the sex worker community as one of the state’s longest-standing strip clubs, The Foxy Lady, was shut down by the city of Providence for promoting prostitution. Employees of the shut-down club came forward on Facebook with a GoFundMe page, and comments from community feminist leaders ranged from supporting the fundraiser to suggesting that now would be a good time to organize a worker’s union and reopen with a better workplace environment. Stories like Rhode Island’s suggest there is a great deal of work to be done to ensure that women’s health and safety are a priority in sex work.
SWGC grants will go toward projects to build power and well-being within sex worker communities. In New Orleans, Women With A Vision will be using part of its new grant to organize their second annual Black & Brown Sex Workers event called Second Line. Other grantees such as WeCareTN (Memphis) and The Outlaw Project (Phoenix) will use grant funds to support trans women of color sex workers as they advocate for increased safety, employment, and political power.
As we round the bend on our second year here at Philanthropy Women, it’s time to celebrate a new batch of recipients for our leadership awards. The people and organizations chosen for these awards have all demonstrated exceptional leadership in the field of gender equality philanthropy this past year, and represent the growing diversity and strength of this work.
