Gender Lens Investing Archives

(Liveblog) Realigning Powerful Systems by Valuing Health and Equity

On Tuesday, January 26th, the Philanthropy Women team gathered with representatives from The Jane Club, Women in Global Health (WGH), PSI, and Maverick Collective for a discussion on the ways radical philanthropy, operating alongside women-led movements, can lead to systemic change, particularly in health care services and employment, for women and girls around the world.

The Jane Club hosted a live discussion on women’s access to healthcare, as well as what feminist funders can do to advance gender equity in funding and global health. (Image Credit: Jane Club)

Editor-in-Chief Kiersten Marek moderated a discussion between Rena Greifinger of PSI/Maverick Collective and Sarah Hillware of WGH. Hosted by The Jane Club, a network of female-identifying persons and nonbinary and male allies, the event focused on ways to create more equitable healthcare systems by transforming the philanthropic system toward justice.

Equality Is Good For Business and Business Is Good For Equality

Editor’s Note: The following essay on this pivotal moment in the fight to pass the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment) is by Suzanne Lerner, co-founder and president of Michael Stars, and vice-chair of the Fund for Women’s Equality.

The Fund for Women’s Equality, of which Suzanne Lerner is vice-chair, is moving swiftly to ensure the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment. In this essay, Lerner describes the strategy we must all support. (Image credit: Krista Niles of www.KristaJoyNiles.com)

Something extraordinary happened involving the ERA at the end of last week—day two of the new administration.

U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) announced that the first bipartisan legislation they will introduce for the 117th Congress is their joint resolution to remove the deadline to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)

Najada Kumbuli: Aligning Assets with Values at Visa Foundation

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Najada Kumbuli, the new Head of Investments for the Visa Foundation.

Najada Kumbuli, courtesy of Najada Kumbuli

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

I was fortunate to start my career in the field I was passionate about – impact investing. At the time, impact investing, or investing to generate a measurable, beneficial social and/or environmental impact alongside a financial return, was nascent, which provided both an opportunity to shape the trajectory of the industry and a challenge, as there were few companies leading the way, yet tremendous need to accelerate and scale their work.

Announcing New Grants from WomensNet

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, WomensNet has announced that it will be expanding its grantmaking to support more women-owned businesses in 2021.

WomensNet pledges to do more grantmaking in 2021 to support female entrepreneurs. (Image credit: WomensNet)

(From WomensNet, January 21, 2021) Over the past few weeks, we’ve taken some time to reflect on the challenges women business owners faced in 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a tough time for small business owners generally. And even tougher for women-owned start-ups across the country. We heard a lot of heart-breaking stories of businesses teetering because of Covid.

We’ve also felt the entrepreneurial spirit of women from every corner of America (as well as our Canadian neighbors). And so we’re starting 2021 with renewed hope and purpose in helping women like you.

Four Ways Ellevate Squads Showed Me the Future is Female

Editor’s Note: The following personal essay is a reflection on one individual’s participation in the EllevateHER Forward Fellowship program. This is not a program endorsement or a sales post. Philanthropy Women was not compensated for this article.

Image Credit: Ellevate

This fall, I had the good fortune to be selected as an EllevateHER Forward Fellow, one of a group of women selected to participate in Ellevate‘s Fall 2020 cohort for women’s leadership and career growth programming. As part of the Fellowship, I participated in the Ellevate Squads program, which redefines traditional “networking” groups by pairing women all over the country with a consistent “Squad” for twelve weeks.

Grameen America Starts New Loan Fund for Low-Income Women

Microfinance nonprofit organization Grameen America recently announced a new loan fund to provide approximately $200 million of cumulative loans to low-income minority women business owners. These loans are especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put extreme pressure on small business owners as they seek to pull themselves and their families out of poverty.

GRAMEEN AMERICA LAUNCHES IMPACT INVESTING FUND TO SUPPORT MINORITY WOMEN IMPACTED BY THE PANDEMIC

Funds Will Provide Nearly $200 Million of Cumulative Loans to Women Entrepreneurs over Five Years

New York, NY, December 10, 2020 — National microfinance nonprofit organization Grameen America today announced the launch of its $17.5 million Social Business Fund II (“SBF II” or “the Fund”), a social impact investment opportunity that will provide nearly $200 million of cumulative loan capital low-income minority business owners over its five year life.

Uncoupled Bezos and Scott Join to Give $13 Million for Maternal Health

Boston, Nov. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Centering Healthcare Institute (CHI) announced today that it has received $13 million in philanthropic funding to support scaling access to the Centering model throughout the United States.

New multi-year grants from the Bezos Family Foundation and MacKenzie Scott, along with reinvestments from Valhalla Charitable Foundation, Imaginable Futures and Overdeck Family Foundation, will provide the organization to continue its multi-year growth strategy and make necessary technology pivots to design and offer the Centering model of group care in virtual formats. This increased accessibility will allow for the expansion of the model to reach the most vulnerable populations and continue to provide relationship-based care that improves health outcomes.

Giustra Foundation Powers Women Entrepreneurs with New Fund

VANCOUVER, British Columbia– (10/29/20) Today, the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), in partnership with The Giustra Foundation, announced the creation of a bursary fund, easing access to game-changing mentorship and education for women entrepreneurs across the country who need it most.

The new fund, which will launch with $150,000 over three years through a major donation from The Giustra Foundation, will provide much-needed tuition bursaries for women entrepreneurs to take FWE’s programs. With the goal of ensuring that impactful programming reaches those women entrepreneurs who need it most, the bursary will support women who – due to financial difficulties or belonging to a marginalized group – would otherwise not be able to access FWE’s programs.

New Campaign: Supporting Sandberg a Mistake, Bad for Women

BREAKING: UltraViolet Says it Was a Mistake to Support Sheryl Sandberg for Facebook’s Board in 2012, Ahead of Election, Says Her Tenure Has Been “Bad for Women and Democracy”

Women’s Group Launches New TV Ad Campaign Featuring Women Speaking Directly to Sandberg About Abuse on Facebook and Demanding She “Lean In” to Fix It

Sheryl Sandberg at the World Economic Forum in 2011 (Image Credit: Wikimedia)

UltraViolet Says Facebook is Powering Violence That Harms Women

SAN FRANCISCO (10/30/2020) — In a strong reversal, UltraViolet, a leading national women’s group that in 2012 lobbied aggressively for Sheryl Sandberg’s elevation to Facebook’s Board of Directors, is now saying that decision was a mistake and that Sandberg’s tenure at Facebook has been bad for women.

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.

Category: Gender Lens Investing