The Obama Foundation announced the launch of The Global Girls Alliance, which will seek to increase education for girls worldwide. (Photo courtesy of Obama Foundation website.)
Today, in recognition of International Day of the Girl, the Obama Foundation has announced the launch of a new initiative that will empower adolescent girls around the world through education.
The initiative aims to support more than 1,500 grassroots organizations around the world that reduce barriers to education for girls such as early marriage, limited access, and lack of financial resources.
Michelle Obama appeared on the Today Show to make the announcement, emphasizing that “The stats show that when you educate a girl, you educate a family, a community, a country.”
Jessica Houssian, Jacki Zehner, and Kathy LeMay, September 2018 Annual Women Moving Millions Summit in Seattle, sponsored by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Wow, what a read. I had to keep stopping at points to walk around the block and get my core energetics realigned. Jacki Zehner literally pours her heart out in this stunning blog post where she shares about her experiences rising to the C-Suite at Goldman Sachs, as well as her intense love for gender equality philanthropy, which has been expressed in over a decade of devotion to growing one of the most important organizations in gender equality philanthropy, Women Moving Millions.
The Ms. Foundation’s 2018-2022 Strategic Plan targets low-income women, many of whom are women of color. (Photo Credit: Ms. Foundation Strategic Plan, Building Power: Advancing Democracy)
The nation’s oldest public women’s foundation recently announced that it will steer in a new direction over the next five years — toward growing its commitment to low-income women and women of color by more than $25 million.
In addition, the Ms. Foundation will form its first-ever political fund, which will support the legislative agenda for women and girls both nationally and locally.
With Teresa C. Younger at the helm, the Ms. Foundation for Womenis joining other big funders in the feminist philanthropy space, including the NoVo Foundation and Prosperity Together (the national coalition of women’s funds focused on low-income women and women of color) in making economic, social and cultural equality for women and girls of color a central feature of its strategic plan. “Women of color are a political force to be reckoned with,” said Younger, in a press release announcing the new strategic plan. “In 2018, we delivered unprecedented electoral wins in Alabama, Georgia, and New York — yet we are sorely underrepresented in philanthropic investment, with only 2% of that spending going to women and girls of color.”
The Women’s Funding Network Summit began with Feminist leader and journalist Marianne Schnall discussing her eight-year-old daughter’s striking question after the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Why have we not had a woman president?
Women’s Funding Network recently hosted a summit in New York, bringing together thought leadership to grow the movement for women’s equality.
The question wouldn’t go away for Schnall, and soon she found herself bringing it up to thought leaders and scholars, trying to figure out what it would take to put a woman in the highest governmental office in America.
One thing Schnall realized in this process was the need for stronger coalition-building across progressive movements. “This isn’t a women’s issue. It’s a human issue. It’s an issue of having a reflective democracy, and that’s why we need to have men be part of these conversations,” said Schnall.
Left to Right: Marai Larasi (Imkaan); Nasra Ayub (Integrate UK); Emma Watson; Devi Leiper O’Malley (FRIDA–The Young Feminist Fund)
“I think supporting girls and women’s organizations is the greatest hope we have for worldwide transformative change – and my philanthropic choices are grounded in that belief,” said celebrity and activist Emma Watson, at a convening on July 10 in London, sponsored by NoVo Foundation, Oak Foundation, Unbound Philanthropy and Ariadne. The focus of the conference was on ending sexual violence.
Watson also noted that research across seventy countries concludes that women’s movements are the key factor in enacting policy change. “This makes it all the more shocking that a survey of European foundations found that less than 5 percent of funds were targeted towards girls and women.”
Feminism is taking a beating in the summer of 2018, but the fight is far from over.
When the world gets crazy, events in feminist philanthropy become more important than ever.
It’s summer: the time of year when I start feeling like a slouch, like I’m not getting enough done, and may never get enough done again. But then I remind myself of a wise Chinese Proverb: Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.
Relaxation is an essential part of being human. Relaxing doesn’t mean you’re not as rugged as everyone else. It doesn’t make you weak and ineffectual. Relaxation makes you who you are, and who you are becoming.
So I am welcoming this period of reduced work and enjoying the gorgeous weather this summer in New England. And at the same time, I am keeping my eyes and ears open to the world of feminist philanthropy, where fascinating, and frightening, events continue to transpire.
Disney is Starting a New Way to Fund Women in Film. It’s called Dream Big Princess, and the initiative will fund 21 women and girls across 13 countries to produce short digital films about women who inspire them. Each like or share of the projects that has the hashtag #DreamBigPrincess will result in a $1 donation from Disney to the United Nations Foundation’s “Girl Up.” While I am not a big fan of the title for this initiative (can we stop calling women “princesses” once and for all?) my twelve year old daughter advised me not to make a big deal about that problem, as this is an important new step for a big corporation that we must acknowledge and praise.
A new fund will give $100 million to women of color entrepreneurs. Richelieu Dennis, CEO of ESSENCE, announced the new initiative, entitled New Voices Fund, at the 2018 ESSENCE Festival in New Orleans. The fund has already invested in, or committed to, over $30 million in funding to black women entrepreneurs since its founding in 2017. This money marks a new advancement in funding for women of color who want to pursue entrepreneurial careers. Women of color entrepreneurs are a sector of our economy that is rapidly growing and in need of more financial investment.
New Policy Briefing: Fight Corruption: Finance Gender Equity: This policy brief provides an essential outline of the impact of corruption in continuing the oppression of women. While government corruption might not sound like an important life-threatening problem for women, it most certainly is a big contributing factor to gender inequality. Corruption makes life more difficult, if not impossible, for the poorest people in communities. This briefing calls us to increase government transparency, particularly in procuring new business, so that women and girls have a decent shot at advancing in society. The report also explains governments can “close the loop on a key weapon used in corruption” by exposing and addressing violence against women.
Commonwealth Commits to Gender Equality by 2030: Whenever a large network of governmental bodies ups their commitment to gender equality, the whole world should stand still and applaud. This past spring, the Commonwealth, a network of 53 countries with a total population of to 2.4 billion people, committed to achieving gender equality goals by 2030. A total of 305 million pounds (approx. $397 million in U.S. dollars) was committed to support this agenda at the meeting. What will this mean for real women and girls in the world? Hopefully 12 years of education for every girl and an overall improvement to the lives of 17 million people.
Women Thrive Alliance Closes its Doors: The announcement came in late June that Women Thrive Alliance, which has been cultivating gender equality movements globally for twenty years, is closing its doors. Their work will continue through World Pulse, so all is not lost, but I wonder if this is an indicator of the downsizing that is happening in civil society globally. A paper published by Berkeley Law and the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Rights also suggests that women human rights defenders are facing a tougher climate on the ground in many places in the world. I am also trying to understand what happened to the United States’ funding of the development sector’s gender equality and women’s empowerment issues. Data from the OECD suggests that funding from the United States for aid in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment went from $26.211 Billion in year 2014-2015 all the way down to $20.814 Billion in year 2015-2016. If I am reading this data correctly, that would mean that the US’s contribution to this funding dropped by $5.3 Billion dollars from 2015 to 2016. I have emailed the Washington office of the OECD for verification and explanation of this data, and am awaiting their response.
The Crisis of the Century for Progressive Women Funders:Trump’s appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and what it bodes for Reproductive Justice. There is no doubt that this event has shaken and stirred the progressive women’s funding community like no other — in fact, we could argue it’s one of the most important events in feminist philanthropy this year. This linked article gives a good sense of how the battle lines are being drawn. It will be up to women funders to help the grassroots protect this fundamental medical right.
Trump’s Apparent Alliance with Putin and What it Means for Feminist Philanthropy — This article in The Guardianspells it out pretty clearly in this sentence: “From Europe to Asia, Trump is destroying alliances with democracies, while making friends with authoritarian leaders.” This can only mean bad things for feminist philanthropists, who can only thrive in an environment where human rights are respected and women’s autonomy and authority can continue to grow. Authoritarian regimes are not good for women’s empowerment.
But there are Still Good Things Going On in Feminist Philanthropy.Gender Just Climate Solutions grantmaking is open. These alliances between gender justice and climate justice are one of the most important strategic moves in the space.
Grantmaking is Open for Sexual Violence Prevention through the Sexual Violence Research Initiativehere. And important for women journalists looking for funding is also the Buffett funding for women journalists, which closes August 5.
The Data On Women Continues to Grow. WomanStats.org, which bills itself as “the most comprehensive compilation of information on the status of women worldwide,” is now open for business. You can create an account for free and mine the data on women to your heart’s content. Excuse me while I get lost in using this tool to study the research on women, starting with comparing murder rates of women in the United States, China, and the Czech Republic.
Keep an eye out for other events in feminist philanthropy happening near you!
The Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation makes grants to organizations in both Washington D.C. and Israel.
A new round of grants from the Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation demonstrates how the foundation is employing its strategy of reaching girls and women both in the Washington D.C. area and in Israel.
The Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation was created in 2004 to improve the lives of Jewish women and girls, both in Washington D.C. and in Israel. Co-founders Robin Hettlemen Weinberg and Liza Levy realized that in order to make an impact, they needed to combine their efforts and coordinate more with other philanthropists to accomplish their goals. Their mission, to change and better the lives of women and girls, both locally in Washington D.C. and in Israel, is being carried out in diverse ways through their grantmaking.
Since inception, Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation has given away over $1 million in grants to more than 42 organizations, particularly focusing on women and girls in Israel, impoverished immigrant women in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and Jewish women and girls in the D.C. area. The foundation has been awarding grants since 2006.
From the press release, here are the 2018 grants from Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation:
AMPLIFYING WOMEN’S VOICES THROUGH LEADERSHIP AND ADVOCACY
NoVo Foundation has granted $34 million to organizations across the globe working on social problems, including reducing violence against women.
The NoVo Foundation is one of the largest private foundations to advocate for gender equality and has specifically focused much of its funding on reducing violence against girls and women globally. In their most recent initiative, the Radical Hope Fund, the foundation donated $34 million in grants to 19 different organizations around the world.
The Radical Hope Fund began as a response to the 2016 election. Seeing the increase in attacks on women and girls as well as LGBTQ populations, immigrants, people of color, and refugees, the foundation felt compelled to take action in a new, bolder way. Thus, the Radical Hope Fund was born, initially pledging to donate $20 million to selected grantees, but eventually deciding to deepen that commitment to $34 million.
As Executive Director Pamela Shifman explains, “It’s an experiment — one that seeks to support new collaborations that are imaginative and focused on building the movements we need, not simply what we think is possible right now. Radical Hope aims for transformation rather than solely incremental change.”
Since inception in 2006, the NoVo Foundation has emphasized the way in which systemic change needs to evolve out of the communities affected by the problem. The NoVo Foundation reviewed over 1,000 applications to find the 19 best candidates for this new funding, particularly looking for organizations that are community-based and that bring transformational strategies to the table.
To help the public learn more about this new approach to grantmaking, NoVo also launched the Radical Hope Blog Series. This will allow partners of NoVo’s Radical Hope grantmaking to document their work, share what they have learned, and grow their audiences and support teams.
The 19 grantees NoVo selected all have strong agendas, and many have already accomplished significant work for women. One of these is the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF), a grant-making foundation that works to support women and women’s organizations in Africa, moving closer to gender equality in the process. The mission of AWDF is guided by five main values: Respect: A basic respect for human rights of all African women; Diversity: An allegiance to non-discrimination and inclusiveness; Feminist Leadership: A dedication to upholding feminist principles and ethics; Professionalism, Accountability and Stewardship: A commitment to be transparent and prudent in administering funds; and Solidarity and Partnerships: A determination to link with other organizations to effect change.
AWDF’s initiative, the Flourish Project, for which they received $985,090, will strengthen feminist movements across Africa. Over the next three years, the Flourish Project plans to accomplish several goals. These goals include inspiring the next generation to be strong proponents of feminism. The initiative also plans to collaborate with AIR, an African professional network addressing trauma and mental health, to implement a pilot model that will allow stressed African feminist leaders to take leave to reflect and heal. The Flourish Project will also work on making connections between feminist activists and organizations working locally and nationally with the African Feminist Forum.
Another grantee is Masimanyane Women’s Rights International, a social justice organization working on gender equality and rights for women on local, regional, and international levels. This organization has worked for over 20 years to make allies in the movement for gender equality across the globe. Much of their work is focused on decreasing crimes against women and girls, providing support to survivors of violence, and helping women affected by HIV and AIDS.
Masimanyane’s project receiving support from the Radical Hope Fund is called International Network to End Violence Against Women and Girls. Novo’s grant will allow this program to continue and grow as it works alongside other organizations to increase awareness and about the problem of violence against women and girls. INEVAWG identifies failing state accountability as a major contributor to violence against women and will work with government systems to help address this failure. The project will also continue advocacy to increase society’s understanding of violence against women and other crucial issues of women’s well-being.
These two organizations, as well as Novo’s other grantee partners for Radical Hope, have done impressive work for women globally. The grantee partners appear to have clear missions and are taking many creative paths leading toward accomplishing those missions. Many of the grantee organizations also have strong connections with other partners and a commitment to core feminist values like diversity and transparency.
Yes, it’s today. Yes, it’s now. Today is Rhode Island’s first statewide giving day, and an opportunity to support your favorite community causes. More than 90 organizations in Rhode Island are participating in this new philanthropy event.
Rhode Island is celebrating its first annual giving day. Who will you give to? Consider the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island
Here is a note from Kelly Nevins, Executive Director of Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, discussing why today is a great day to support WFRI.
Engaging Men as Allies; Women Fighting All Forms of Discrimination; Negotiation Skills Workshops; Gender Equity in the Workplace and in Sports; Public hearings on reproductive health/freedom, fair pay and increased minimum wages… these are the issues and activities that the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island (WFRI) has tackled in the first half of 2018, through the support of volunteers and donors like you.
Rachel’s Network distributes $60 million annually to address both climate change and gender equality. Its intersectional ecofeminist approach is uniquely powerful.
Funders for social progress appear to be increasingly recognizing the intersection of women’s rights and climate change. For example, the million dollar Roddenberry Prize, recently discussed on Philanthropy Women, seeks to support organizations with new solutions to both gender inequality and climate change. Additionally, substantial research, such as this recent issue of Gender and Development, highlights how environmental issues are closely related to gender equality problems. All of these organizations are recognizing how interesectional ecofeminist approaches in philanthropy can be highly strategic and impactful.
Here’s where Rachel’s Network comes in. One of the most significant funding networks in the intersectional ecofeminist space, Rachel’s Network has a mission of promoting women as the leading strategists in addressing environmental issues and climate change. Rachel’s Network is made up of female advocates for environmental justice and women’s empowerment, many of whom work in major environmental organizations across the globe. These women annually donate about $60 million to organizations and projects that are helping our planet and addressing gender inequality.
With a robust board of directors, staff members, environmental leadership liaisons, circle of advisors, and member population, this powerful funders’ network has significant reach. Their advisors include lifelong activists such as Dr. Jane Goodall and their environmental leadership liaisons include voices from the National Parks Conservation Association, U.S. Climate Action Network, Defenders of Wildlife, and Alliance for Justice. In the organization’s 2017 Annual Report, President Fern Shepard and Board Chair Kef Kasdin remark, “We often think of our namesake Rachel Carson, and the courage and tenacity she displayed during her own politically – and personally – challenging times. She inspires us to hold on to what’s true and right, and to fight every day for what matters – a healthy world for all.”
Over the past year, Rachel’s Network has been working on several projects, one being When Women Lead. Through this project, Rachel’s Network is taking an approach that recognizes the critical connections between female leadership and environmental justice. According to the League of Conservation Voters Environmental Scorecard, data shows that environmental advocacy is more often voted for by female federal legislators than male federal legislators. The 2017 Annual Report for Rachel’s Network, entitled Building Our Power, discusses how Rachel’s Network partnered with the League of Conservation Voters to host a women’s candidate training in Washington, DC, where hundreds of women learned how to run for office in their communities.
Rachel’s Network has also partnered with the Sierra Club to fight against walls and barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border. Other partnerships include work with the Greening Youth Foundation to improve access to jobs in conservation for minorities, and As You Sow, which works to reduce the use of antibiotics on farms. These projects are just a few examples of what Rachel’s Network has done for women through its philanthropy for environmental justice around the world.
Feminist philanthropy has a critical role to play in funding ecofeminism — continuing the work that began over 30 years ago when women leaders started to call attention to the parallels of environmental destruction and other forms of human domination and exploitation. As we approach critical mass for women in both government and business, chances are we will see more intersectional ecofeminist approaches. Funder collaboratives like Rachel’s Network are moving us forward, providing progressive leadership with a deep understanding of the connections between funding feminism and environmental justice issues.
