Category: Civil Society

Activating Philanthropy – Part Two: How to Call Your Congresswoman

Editor’s Note: This article is Part Two in our four-part Activating Philanthropy series. In this series, we explore ways to bring your philanthropic ideals into your everyday life, activating the lessons we’ve learned along the way. For the rest of the series, check out Part One: Philanthropy in Daily Routines, Part Three: Talking to Family Members (Who Don’t Want to Talk to You), and Part Four: How to Start a Giving Circle. 

Yup, sometimes it really is as simple as looking up a phone number! (Graphic Credit: ProgressOhio)

Welcome back to Activating Philanthropy with Philanthropy Women! This week, we’re exploring a common theme in the giving world that isn’t often clearly explained. During election seasons and high-stakes activism cycles, there are typically calls to “call your Congresswoman,” “write your representatives,” or otherwise engage with the American democratic system as a concerned citizen.

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New Report Reveals Truth about Ivanka Trump Not Helping Women

The Governmental Accountability Office audit of the program shows that it failed to fulfill its promises.

Ivanka Trump
Ivanka Trump (Photo Credit: TheGuardian.com)

The Women’s Entrepreneurship and Economic Empowerment Act of 2018 (WEEE), put into action under the Trump administration, is often credited to Ivanka Trump and regarded as being widely successful. A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals otherwise. 

This act tasked the US Agency for International development (USAID) with utilizing a $265 million grant to assist micro, small and medium sized businesses around the world. Half of this grant was intended to go to women-owned companies. The other half was to be allocated to the “very poor”, with it being expected that there would be overlap between the two. 

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Activating Philanthropy – Part One: Philanthropy in Daily Routines

Editor’s Note: This article is Part One in our four-part Activating Philanthropy series. In this series, we explore ways to bring your philanthropic ideals into your everyday life, activating the lessons we’ve learned along the way. For the rest of the series, check out the upcoming installments: Part Two: What It Means to “Call Your Congresswoman”, Part Three: Talking to Family Members (Who Don’t Want to Talk to You), and Part Four: How to Start a Giving Circle. 

activating philanthropy
Adding philanthropy into your daily routine can start with no cost to you. (Image Credit: Katt Yukawa)

Welcome to Philanthropy Women’s “Activating Philanthropy” series! This four-part series will explore ways to bring your philanthropic ideals into your everyday life, activating the lessons we’ve learned along the way. We invite you to take action in your own way, utilizing the guidelines in these articles, and sharing your experiences with your community!

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Innovative Alliance for Girls Report Defines Gender-Inclusive Solutions

The Alliance for Girls has just released a new, innovative report that defines solutions to creating gender-inclusive communities.

Radical Visions of Safety for Girls, By Girls aims to define how communities can create spaces that teach and nurture gender-inclusivity. (Image credit: Alliance for Girls)
Radical Visions of Safety for Girls, By Girls aims to define how communities can create spaces that teach and nurture gender-inclusivity. (Image credit: Alliance for Girls)

Alliance for Girls, the largest alliance of girl-serving organizations, released its Radical Visions of Safety for Girls by Girls report. This groundbreaking report puts forward solutions for community safety based on the input and lived experiences of girls, gender expansive youth and their champions. 

“COVID and the racial justice uprisings of 2020 exposed more people to how the top-down, punishment-based old ways of thinking about safety, and the entrenched systems that were supposed to keep us safe, have always failed Black and brown girls,” said Emma Mayerson, founder and executive director of Alliance for Girls. “This report features the leading edge of violence prevention informed by the practical vision of Black girls and girls of color, gender expansive youth, and the adults who champion them. These solutions will lead to our collective safety and freedom.”

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Nicole Boucher on the Unique Power of Women’s Lived Experiences

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Nicole Boucher, vice president of Way to Win and senior advisor to its 501(c)3 effort, Way to Rise.

Nicole Boucher, courtesy of Nicole Boucher

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

What you most often see in philanthropy are people with high education degrees, family philanthropy full of people who grew up with privilege and wealth, generations of parents who attended college, etc. My own background doesn’t reflect that. Early in my career, there was a time when I hid who I was to belong. I would nod along in meetings as if I knew what they were talking about, and then rush home and Google and study up late into the evening to catch up. I now see that the power of my lived experience is one of great value in solving our nation’s most pressing problems, and the insights and strategies that I bring to philanthropy can go to bat with any Harvard Kennedy School graduate!

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(Liveblog) Women’s Giving Circles: The Future of Latin America

On Thursday, March 19th, team members from Empatthy and a robust panel of speakers gathered online to celebrate the growing women’s giving circle movement in Latin America. Featuring Jeannie Sager (Women’s Philanthropy Institute), Carmen Stevens and Sondra Shaw-Hardy (Women’s Giving Circles International), Sara Lomelin (Philanthropy Together), and Rosa Madera (Fundadora Empatthy), the event was half celebration, half lively discussion of the future of collaborative giving in the Latin American region.

giving circles

Juan Carlos Diaz Bilbao (BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders Network), the day’s moderator, introduced the event with thanks to the attendees, participants, and sponsors making the event possible.

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Lis Williams: “I Had It Within Me To Create Something New”

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Lis Williams, Founder of AWE Partners, LLC, a social impact advisory firm that educates female entrepreneurs and executives on how to bake mission into their life and business for more passion, purpose, and profit.

lis williams
Lis Williams is the Founder of AWE Partners, LLC, a social impact advisory firm dedicated to educating and empowering female entrepreneurs. (Image Credit: AWE Partners/Elisabeth Williams)

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

I wish I had known that there was a way to blend all of my passions and turn it into a career. 

I studied business in undergrad and then went on to pursue my MBA. I loved business, but I was also passionate about making a difference in the world. At the time I was in the corporate world, back in the late 80s and 90s, there wasn’t as much opportunity to merge profit and purpose. And there certainly wasn’t as much of a concern for people and the planet! I wish I had known that I had it within me to create something new – a new way forward.

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Tracy Gary on Activating Donors for Gender Justice

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Tracy Gary, Philanthropic and Legacy Advisor at Unleashing Generosity.

Tracy Gary
Tracy Gary is a philanthropist, nonprofit entrepreneur, and legacy mentor who has worked tirelessly to help others experience the joy of giving charitable dollars to causes they care about. (Image Credit: Tracy Gary)

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

My sense of abundance and true resourcefulness has come from giving and service to the nonprofit sector. We can’t do it well without mentors.

From the time I was first exposed to my parents’ giving and their encouragement about my donating, even as a teenager it was clear to me that determining what to give to and how possibly to choose amidst issues, populations and changes needed, would take careful community listening and some wise elder guidance or partnerships.

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FRIDA Commits to Flexibility with 93 New Participatory Grants

FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund is on a roll, and they’re not letting up anytime soon. Shortly after finishing their 10th anniversary celebrations, the FRIDA team announced the next round of grants to 93 organizations, bringing their total grantee cohort to 252 activist groups in 115 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean, the Asian continent, Caucasus, Central and Eastern Europe, and the African continent.

FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund recently announced the next 93 grantee partners in its latest cohort, representing the largest grant-making cohort in the organization’s 10-year history. (Image Credit: FRIDA)

This marks FRIDA’s largest grantee cohort since the organization’s founding, and the next step in FRIDA’s robust five-year plan.

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Dear America, Why is Canada Leading the Charge for LGBTQ+ Funding?

In February 2021, the Canadian federal government announced new outgoing funding for 76 LGBTQ+ organizations across the country. Totaling $15 million CAD ($11.85 million USD), these new grants offer a much-needed capital injection for LGBTQ+ organizations at a time when the queer community struggles to meet and offer support for each other. This funding represents an exciting and forward-focused campaign for Canada — but says plenty about the lack of federal LGBTQ+ funding opportunities in the United States.

A child shows support for Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) at a march in Alberta, Canada. (Image Credit: Denin Lawley)

Our neighbors to the north have frequently led the way in liberal and progressive policymaking, and this new round of federal funding is yet another way that the Canadian federal government is outpacing our own in terms of progressive thinking. The Biden Administration already has its work cut out for it “rolling back the rollbacks” from 45, but it cannot ignore the conspicuous funding gap between federal programs and the LGBTQ+ community.

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