Women Leaders Archives

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.

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!

ERA Coalition Delivers Star-Studded Gala in Pivotal Year for Law

The Living Equality Gala, an event organized by the ERA Coalition, started with Broadway singer Rebecca Naomi Jones singing a rousing rendition of “Ain’t it Good.”

“It is in fact really good,” said Caroline Clarke, who, along with Debra Messing, co-hosted the event. “We are all gathered here tonight to celebrate that for the first time in 99 years, our congress has unflinchingly declared that women’s equality is a priority in the United States of America.”

Honorees and hosts as well as audience members sang “Happy Birthday” to Dolores Huerta as part of the Living Equality Gala festivities. (Image Credit: ERA Coalition)

Both Messing and Clarke discussed the pivotal year we are in for the landmark Equal Rights Amendment, with 2021 being seen as the year that the Amendment will finally be added to the U.S. Constitution.

Why Sheroes Gala is Celebrating Women’s Media Leader Julie Burton

The Multicultural Media and Correspondents Association hosted the Sheroes in media gala to recognize the women leading the fight for diversity in journalism.

In honor of Women’s History Month, MMCA hosted a gala to recognize women leaders who fight for media diversity. This fundraiser went towards each of the organizations led by these women.

Julie Burton, president and CEO of Women’s Media Center (Image Credit: MMCA)

MMCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing means, such as this gala, to address the issue of diversity in media reporting. The organization has acknowledged that the lack of diversity in media has major ramifications for the state of economy, society and politics.

PepsiCo Boosts Women Biz Owners, Fights Hunger with New Grants

PepsiCo is popping the tab on a new funding program for women-led small businesses.

Through two of its charitable arms, Food for Good and WomanMade, PepsiCo recently announced the launch of its Food for Good Meal Solutions program, which offers women-led small businesses the resources and scaling strategies necessary to fight childhood hunger.

PepsiCo’s latest charitable initiative takes a multipronged approach: Fighting childhood hunger, supporting women-led small businesses, and providing pandemic relief all at once. (**Image Credit:** PepsiCo)

Supporting two of the food and beverage giant’s social campaigns — Food for Good, which combats childhood hunger, and WomanMade, which supports women-led small businesses in the US — this new campaign connects female entrepreneurs with the funding they need to produce reliable, effective products that will help end childhood hunger.

How Susan Blaustein Found Her Path to Empowering Women Globally

In the U.S and abroad, Dr. Susan M. Blaustein has helped women partner for gender equality through the nonprofit WomenStrong International.

Vital work being done domestically and internationally in the name of gender equality has come from a prolific nonprofit called WomenStrong International. Founded and directed by Susan Blaustein, the organization was an outgrowth of the Millennium Cities Initiative, a program Dr. Blaustein led for more than a decade at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

A person sitting at a table

Description automatically generated with medium confidence — Susan Blaustein, Founder of WomenStrong (Image credit: WomenStrong)

Since its 2015 inception, WomenStrong International has grown steadily in size and scope and now has 18 partner organizations across 15 different countries. These partners include organizations as various and farflung as the Women’s Justice Initiative in Guatemala, Black Women’s Blueprint in the US, and Roots of Health in the Philippines.

Feminist Giving IRL: Hear From the Top Tier Winners (Liveblog)

On Thursday, March 25th, the Philanthropy Women team welcomed attendees and honorees alike to the first Feminist Giving IRL Top Tier Awards Ceremony. Celebrating the exceptional leadership of the interviewees from the past year, this year’s FGIRL Top Tier winners are Elizabeth Yntema (Dance Data Project®), Dr. Tessie San Martin (Plan International USA), and Sara Monteabaro (MIT Solve).

The FGIRL series started two years ago, inspired by Gloria Steinem’s idea that “people should be linked, not ranked.”

Barajas-Román: For Equal Pay Day, Women’s Funds Urge More Action

Statement by Women’s Funding Network President and CEO Elizabeth Barajas-Román on the need for collective action to address equal pay for women

SAN FRANCISCO — Equal Pay Day is March 24, 2021, spotlighting how far into the next year women have to work to be paid the same amount that a man was paid the previous year. Women’s Funding Network President and CEO Elizabeth Barajas-Román issued the following statement:

“In the United States, women on average make only 82 cents for every dollar made by an average white man, but for women of color, the gap is even worse. For each dollar a white non-Hispanic man is paid on average, Black women earn 63 cents, Native women earn 60 cents, and Latina women earn only 55 cents. This means that in 2021, Latina women would have to work until October 21, 2021 — nearly an entire extra year of work — to finally catch up to the same amount of earnings that white men were paid in 2020 alone.

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!

Ray of Hope for Women-Led Small Businesses

The funding platform Kickfurther has awarded a considerable amount of funding to Spinster Sisters, a women-led small business.

Funding for women led small businesses has often had a gender gap that has proven to be detrimental to them. In recent years, large strides have been made to close this gap and more funding has been allocated for women run businesses.

Spinster Sisters founder Kelly Perkins (Image credit: Spinster Sisters)

Recently, a no-cost financing giveaway held by Kickfurther was awarded to a women owned business called Spinster Sisters. This win for one small business signals the progress being made for all women owned businesses.

Kickfurther aims to help small businesses through the pandemic

Kickfurther is a platform for inventory funding that is supported by investors behind Robinhood, Tesla, Twitter and other investors. The platform allows for small businesses to be supported by those who like their product while allowing these supporters to make a profit when the inventory is sold.

(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.

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.

Category: Women Leaders