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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.

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.

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.

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.

Halle Berry Gets Behind New $275M Bill for Menopause Research

A campaign led by prominent female lawmakers and boosted by the star power of actor Halle Berry has succeeded in gaining Congressional support for a major initiative for womens’ health. On April 30, 2024, legislative leaders unveiled a $275 million bill to boost federal research, physician training and public awareness about menopause.

Halle Barre and a bevy of legislators gathered to unveile the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act. (Image credit: Screenshot from Youtube video)

In a rare bipartisan effort, the Senate bill, the Advancing Menopause Care and Mid-Life Women’s Health Act, is led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and has support from Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and other lawmakers.

Janiece Evans-Page: Daring to Double Down on Racial Equity

With racial justice programs and DEI initiatives under threat, philanthropic organizations face an important decision – double down in the fight for justice or back down. Janiece Evans-Page, the CEO of Tides, is taking the harder road. She won’t back down, and she won’t let others shut her down. As the leader of an organization managing as much as $1.25 billion in assets at any given time, Evans-Page is carrying out a critical mission that other funders might want to emulate: upholding the American values of racial and gender equality.

Janiece Evans-Page, the CEO of Tides. (Image credit: Tides)

We were fortunate enough that Janiece Evans-Page was willing to share her time and her thoughts on the attacks on organizations like the Fearless Fund. Janiece shares her insights here on how philanthropy can prioritize racial and gender justice, and use core values as the building blocks to a healthier democracy.

Federal Government Agency Latest Target of Assault on Diversity

In the past few weeks, the conservative crusade against affirmative action has widened its scope to include various levels of government.

Jill Biden recently announced funding for the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research. More information on this new funding is below. (Image credit: AP)

The first is aimed directly at the federal government. A federal judge in Texas has ruled that the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) is guilty of discrimination. The agency was created during the Nixon administration fifty years ago to improve access to capital for minority-owned businesses. The judge, who was appointed by Trump, has ruled that such support is an illegal violation of the rights of all Americans.

Category: Activism