FRIDA Leaders Celebrate 10 Years and Look to Future Goals

This past fall, feminist organization FRIDA celebrated its 10th anniversary with an event on Facebook LIVE. Calling out 2020 as “a year of highs and lows,” the organization sought to end the year on a high note with this unique online event.

Panelists celebrate at FRIDA’s 10th-anniversary event. (Image Credit: FRIDA)

According to the organization’s mission statement, FRIDA — The Young Feminist Fund provides young feminist organizers with the resources they need to amplify their voices and bring attention to the social justice issues they care about. Beginning with one staff member and a growing community, FRIDA has become a thriving organization in its own right in the 10 years of its operation. FRIDA has awarded $7.5 million in direct grants through more than 250 initiatives in 115 countries in the Global South.

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eGirl Power Awards Awake Security CEO’s Gender Equality Activism

eGirl Power has chosen to honor Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security, at the PIFA Awards Masquerade Virtual Gala for his activism in making STEM jobs more accessible to young girls.

Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security
Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security, will be honored by eGirl Power at the PIFA Awards Masquerade Virtual Gala. (Image credit: Fortune)

eGirl Power is hosting the “PIFA Awards Masquerade Virtual Gala” in February 2021 to honor Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security and launch their 501c3 nonprofit organization’s newest programs that align and work towards advancing the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These programs include: Leadership & Mentorship, Cybersecurity & STEM, and Mi9 Agenda 2030, The Rise of Ms. Direction. All of eGirl Power’s program goals aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education opportunities for all, and to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

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Grantmakers for Girls of Color Makes Valuable Gifts to 100+ Orgs

Grantmakers for Girls of Color Awards Nearly $3 million to More than 100 Organizations Serving Girls and Gender Expansive Youth of Color 

Love is Healing COVID-19 response fund addresses gender and racial equity in philanthropy 

grantmakers for girls of color
Grantmakers for Girls of Color has made new grants across the country for gender and racial equity. (Image credit: Grantmakers for Girls of Color)

New York, NY – Grantmakers For Girls of Color announced has awarded $2.8 million to more than 100 organizations in 28 states and D.C. as part of its Love is Healing COVID-19 response fund. Launched in May 2020, the fund represents the organization’s first grantmaking milestone and aims to address the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, particularly Black/African American, Latinx, Indigenous, and Asian girls and gender expansive youth of color.

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Olivia Wells: Quality Support for Women Survivors in Conflict Zones

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Olivia Wells, Director of Programs and Communications for Nadia’s Initiative, a nonprofit founded by Nadia Murad that supports “community-driven and survivor-centric sustainable development programs.” 

Olivia Wells, courtesy of Olivia Wells

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

Bureaucracy; you learn about it in school, and you begin to see it when you enter the workforce but you don’t realize how many bureaucratic impediments there are to humanitarian work until you’re in the thick of it. You naively think that at the end of the day, we all want the same thing – to help those most vulnerable – so we should streamline processes to get those in need the help they deserve as soon as possible. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. The humanitarian sector is still saturated with top-down approaches to development. Many government and private funders insist on funding large organizations like the various UN entities, rather than investing in local NGOs. Local NGOs have a direct line to the communities they serve and are often able to implement projects more efficiently and for less money. These are the organizations we should be investing in.

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Sports 4 Life Delivers Big Benefits for Girls of Color

Sports 4 Life is a national initiative co-founded by the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) and espnW. It was established in 2014 and seeks to increase participation of girls of color in youth sports. It has so far impacted over 60,000 girls of color, and its recently released report shows gains in girls’ leadership, self-esteem, confidence and perseverance resulting from their participation in the program.

(Photo Credit: Sports 4 Life)


2020 has been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for racial justice. Improving the physical and mental health—and leadership capacities—of girls of color is one way to help them navigate COVID and beyond. The WSF and espnW (“a voice for the woman who loves sports”), Sports 4 Life partnership is funding local sports programs, filling in the gaps to access and opportunity that often confront girls of color.

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Becoming Champions for Women and Girls, Zonta Changes Its Name

Zonta International Foundation, a global charitable organization working to empower women and girls, has announced a change of name to the Zonta Foundation for Women. The purpose of this repositioning is to elevate visibility and better align the foundation’s name with its globally recognized mission and commitment to women and girls worldwide.

Zonta Foundation for Women
Zonta Foundation for Women

Over the last century, Zonta has contributed more than US$45.9 million to empower women and girls and expand their access to education, health care, economic opportunities, and safe living conditions. The 2020-2022 grant cycle will provide US$5,280,000 for programs that address the root causes of gender discrimination and have the potential to bring about positive and sustainable societal changes.

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Black Leaders Call for $1 Billion Decade-Long Investment in Black Girls

On September 15, the 57th anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama church bombing that killed four Black girls, a group of prominent Black women launched the Black Girl Freedom Fund. The group’s open letter and social media campaign mark the beginning of a one-billion-dollar effort championing Black girls and their families.

Image Credit: Black Girl Freedom Fund

The open letter from the Black Girl Freedom Fund notes that while Black Lives Matter attracts strong philanthropic support, “Black girls and young women still remain adultified, victimized by violence, and erased from the very same social justice movement for which they continue to risk their lives.”

The letter demands that Black girls receive the attention and support they deserve:

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(Liveblog) Ready to Lead Webinar: Black and Latinx Girls Speak Out

On Thursday, September 10th, representatives from Girls Leadership joined a panel of youth leaders to discuss the findings of the new report Ready to Lead. The webinar facilitators included report author Dr. Charlotte Jacobs and report foreword author Dr. Monique W. Morris, Morgan Stanley’s Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion Susan Reid, and Girls Leadership’s Chief Program Officer, Kendra Karr.

This interactive event included accounts from the young leaders’ lived experiences of the findings from the Ready to Lead report, which centers on the readiness of girls in Black and Latinx communities to step forward as leaders. The event drew out some fascinating and emotionally charged conversations, along with frequent encouragement from audience members in the comments.

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Girls Leadership, Vodafone Team Up for Black and Latinx Girls

Part of the impact of a landmark election year is the inevitable urge to look toward the future. Where are we headed in terms of women’s leadership? Are we doing enough to support girls of color and their families? Are we supporting representation in leadership roles, mentorships, and educational leadership?

Image Credit: Ready to Lead (Girls Leadership/Vodafone Americas Foundation)

When it comes to building leadership skills in girls of color, we still have a long way to go. Organizations like LiveGirl and Girls Who Code aim to support girls of color with leadership skills, educational programs, and skills-based training programs, but the research surrounding the efficacy of these programs is unfortunately lacking. We don’t have a clear enough picture of girls’ confidence: particularly, the likelihood of Black and Latinx girls to self-identify as leaders, and see themselves represented in leadership positions within their schools and communities.

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Alliance for Girls Investigates COVID’s Impact on Diverse CA Girls

Alliance for Girls (AFG), a California-based network of girls-serving organizations, wants state and local leaders to pay more attention to the needs of girls—particularly Black girls and girls of color—in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo Credit: Alliance for Girls
Alliance for Girls’ Movement for Equity Conference, October 2019

To investigate this issue further, Alliance for Girls has launched “When Girls Thrive,” an initiative researching and advocating for an expanded understanding of how girls are being impacted by COVID. It includes an online survey, and addresses the lack of data on the needs and experiences of girls and gender-expansive youth up to 24 years of age. This group is particularly vulnerable during this time of increased health risks, extended isolation, and significant disruption and barriers to education and work. Such challenges are even more extreme for Black youth and youth of color.

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