Nonprofit Women Leaders Archives

Briefing Biden for Bold Action on Reproductive Rights

Reproductive rights under Biden: what will it look like?

Since the Biden/Harris team clinched the US Presidency, feminist advocates and policy makers have begun to discuss the massive reclaiming of women’s rights that must occur to recover from the last four years of Trump-era regressions. To dig deeper into this mandate, leaders from several high profile organizations gathered recently online to make explicit what must happen to begin the recovery of rights for women and girls around the world.

Leaders gathered recently online to examine the necessary steps for the Biden administration to take to restore reproductive, sexual and health rights for women around the world. (Image credit: December 10, 2020 webinar)

Author and Attorney Jill Filipovic moderated the discussion, which featured Serra Sippel, President of the Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE), Anu Kumar, President and CEO of Ipas, and Akila Radhakrishnan, President of the Global Justice Center.

Women’s Funding Network Adds New Gender Justice Leaders to Board

Women’s Funding Network welcomes national advocates and gender justice leaders Junemarie Justus, Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Ada Williams Prince and Teresa Younger to WFN board of directors

SAN FRANCISCO — Women’s Funding Network announced the appointments of four new additions to its board of directors: Junemarie Justus, Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Ada Williams Prince and Teresa Younger. The newly appointed members hail from diverse personal and professional backgrounds and are all national leaders in gender equity and justice advocacy. They will take their seats in 2021.

“We are thrilled to welcome another slate of exceptional women’s philanthropy leaders to our board of directors,” said Elizabeth Barajas-Román, president & CEO of Women’s Funding Network. “They are representative of our members and network, with a shared passion and dedication to our collective mission of leveraging the power of philanthropy to mobilize an intersectional, feminist movement for equity and justice.”

Sizable Gifts: Solutions Project Gets $43 Million from Bezos Earth Fund

Along with the Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice, another important feminist climate fund also received support from Bezos Earth Fund: The Solutions Project. The Solutions Project, like the Hive Fund, will be receiving $43 million in unrestricted funding over three years.

Among the Solutions Project’s board of directors are many familiar faces in the social justice arena, including Leah Hendrix-Hunt and Sharon Alpert. There are also stars of stage and screen including Mark Ruffalo and Don Cheadle.

Gloria Walton, President and CEO, The Solutions Project (Image Credit: The Solutions Project)

The Solutions Project’s President and CEO, Gloria Walton, is already being described as a “superstar” of the ecofeminist scene, with clear vision and strategies already in place to fund us toward a more sustainable climate and a culture centered on gender and racial equality.

Focus on Climate and Justice: 2020 Catalyst Award Winners

WASHINGTON, DC— Rachel’s Network announced the awardees and finalists of its second annual Catalyst Award. The award provides women leaders of color support and recognition for their commitment to a healthy planet, along with a $10,000 prize, networking opportunities, and national recognition for their work.

catalyst awards 2020 — 2020 Catalyst Award Winners.

The nine 2020 awardees are:

Amy Cordalis, Yurok Tribe, McKinleyville, California
Amy is the first enrolled Yurok citizen to serve as her tribe’s general counsel and is a traditional salmon fisher and culture bearer. She has spent her entire life protecting and restoring the Klamath River. Find Amy on Instagram.

Alannah Hurley, United Tribes of Bristol Bay, Dillingham, Alaska
Alannah (Yup’ik) is the executive director of the United Tribes of Bristol Bay (UTBB), a consortium of 15 federally recognized tribal governments in the Bristol Bay Watershed. UTBB works to protect their traditional way of life and opposes large-scale mines like Pebble. Alannah has worked extensively in community development and environmental justice and is dedicated to helping make self-determination a reality for Alaska’s indigenous people.

Janet Dewart Bell Elected New Chair of Women’s Media Center Board

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The board of the Women’s Media Center has unanimously elected Janet Dewart Bell as its new chair. Founding co-chair and WMC co-chair emerita Pat Mitchell nominated Bell to be the organization’s new chair; WMC co-founder Gloria Steinem seconded the nomination.

Janet Dewart Bell is the new Chair of the Women’s Media Center Board. (Image Credit: WMC)

In nominating Bell, Mitchell stated, “It has been a privilege to work with Janet as vice chair of the WMC board. I respect and admire tremendously her groundbreaking background and experiences in media and the work she is currently leading to address the challenges of racial justice. Media has such a big role to play in the outcomes of this long-overdue reckoning on racial equity and justice. It is my honor to nominate Janet Dewart Bell as the next chair of the board of the Women’s Media Center.”

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.”

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.

Empowerment for Nurses: New Infusion from Rita & Alex Hillman

NEW YORK, Nov. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation (RAHF) is announcing grants totaling $1,275,000 to support innovative, nurse-driven healthcare programs serving vulnerable populations, including four awards for interventions focused on mitigating health disparities exacerbated by COVID-19.

The Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation is granting $1.275 million more to support nurses, a profession dominated by women. (Image Credit: Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation)

“2020 has laid bare the deep inequities that plague our nation’s healthcare system,” said Ahrin Mishan, Executive Director of the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation. “We remain steadfast in our commitment to promoting bold, new initiatives that seek to build a healthier, more just future for all.”

Dance Equity: Extra Tough Times for Women Dancers in COVID

Northfield, IL | November 19, 2020 Dance Data Project® (DDP) today announces the social media campaign, Connecting the Dots – #YesThisIsAnArtsStory, designed to draw attention to the catastrophic effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on women in dance and the performing arts in general. The campaign will begin on Monday, Nov. 23 and run for three weeks, ending on Friday, Dec. 11.

*Dancers Terez Dean Orr and Ben Warner perform Poetry of Being by Nicole Haskins. (Photo by Keith Sutter, courtesy of Smuin Contemporary Ballet)*

“While NPR, and business publications such as the Wall Street Journal and Forbes have documented the asymmetric impact of the pandemic on women economically, we haven’t seen similar work by arts reporters, looking at the industry as a whole,” said DDP President and Founder Liza Yntema. “Our campaign is designed to ‘connect the dots’ between layoffs and furloughs at the lower tier of performing arts not for profits where women typically work, the already existing gender pay gap, and the crushing pressure women feel due to child and elder care duties resulting in what is being termed the ‘Shecession’.”

Hive Fund Gets Huge Gift from Bezos Climate Pledge

The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice is among a group of equity-focused climate re-granting organizations that received grants from the Jeff Bezos Earth Fund, a $10 billion effort to fight climate change. We are thankful for this investment in our grantmaking program. These grants signal the beginnings of a shift as many philanthropists start to recognize the critical role that frontline groups and leaders of color play in addressing the climate crisis.

The Hive Fund for Climate and Gender Justice is one of the first recipients of funding from the Bezos Earth Fund. (Image Credit: Bezos Earth Fund)

The grant from the Bezos Earth Fund, totaling $43 million over three years, will help The Hive Fund expand grantmaking to organizations led by Black, Brown, and Indigenous women and other frontline leaders. The work these groups do is essential to addressing the intersecting climate, gender, and racial justice crises in the U.S. Hive Fund grantee partners are engaging a record number of people in democracy; elevating climate, racial, and gender justice issues to the top of policymakers’ agendas; and bringing creativity, culture, joy, and power to growing social movements.

Women’s Fund of Rhode Island Wins Diversity, Inclusion Honors

PROVIDENCE, RI — November 9, 2020— Women’s Fund of Rhode Island (WFRI) is honored to be awarded PBN’s 2020 Diversity & Inclusion honoree in the category of Nonprofit. This award recognizes companies and leaders who have made significant strides implementing diversity and inclusion within their organization or which influence others in the community to do the same.

Women’s Fund of Rhode Island, a leader in the movement to improve policies that impact women and girls in Rhode Island, is committed to women’s equity. WFRI believes it is a must to push for broader change through legislation and policy that tackle the systems of oppression that cause/contribute to racial, economic, leadership and health inequities. The organization produces original research on the status of women and girls and uses that information as the basis for their advocacy efforts.

Category: Nonprofit Women Leaders