Women Leaders Archives

Phaidra Knight Elected President of Women’s Sports Foundation

New York, N.Y. (September 30, 2020): The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) announced today its president-elect and two new members joining the Board of Trustees. World Rugby Hall of Famer Phaidra Knight was voted in as president-elect, and is joined by newly-elected Board members Brett Goodman and LaChina Robinson. Knight has been serving as a WSF Trustee since 2018, and now Goodman and Robinson join the elite group of cross-sector experts that help guide the Women’s Sports Foundation’s operations as well as its mission, to unlock the possibilities in every girl and woman through the power of sport.

Phaidra Knight was voted in as president-elect of the Women’s Sports Foundation, and is joined by newly-elected board members Brett Goodman and LaChina Robinson. (Image credit: WSF)

“We are thrilled for Phaidra and excited to welcome Brett and LaChina – amazing professionals who are fellow game-changers in our fight for gender equity in sports,” said WSF CEO, Deborah Antoine. “Each brings a wonderfully diverse range of knowledge and experiences to WSF, and we look forward to working together, and advancing our mission, to unlock the potential of girls and women in sport and in life.”

WMM Summit: Vicki Saunders on Women’s Radical Generosity

During the Women Moving Millions virtual summit on Friday, September 11, SheEO Founder Vicki Saunders spoke with Resilience Educator and Entrepreneur Komal Minhas about the ways women’s radical generosity is changing the world.

Komal Minhas and Vicki Saunders discussed radical generosity and the importance of identity during the WMM Virtual Summit. (**Image Credit:** Women Moving Millions)

The session focused on the importance of “transforming the investment model”: In other words, updating the ways we invest in businesses and campaigns in order to support more women entrepreneurs. Instead of trying to squeeze female entrepreneurs into a traditional investment model that doesn’t fit, SheEO and Saunders support female entrepreneurship by creating an entirely new field of play that focuses on financing, supporting, and celebrating women business owners.

Ensuring “Post-Traumatic Growth” for Women in The COVID Economy

Editor’s Note: The following dialogue is between Dr. Diandra J. Prescod, associate professor and program coordinator of counselor education at the University of Connecticut, and Erin Milroy, president of Kuder, Inc., an award-winning career guidance solutions provider. Their exchange offers perspectives on how to prepare and support American workers, particularly women, as we deal with COVID and its economic and social impacts.

With millions displaced due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, America’s workforce, and American families from all walks of life, have been hit hard.

*Dr. Diandra J. Prescod, associate professor and program coordinator of counselor education at the University of Connecticut*. (Image Credit: Diandra J. Prescod)

Many women and men have been laid off or furloughed by their employers and have been forced to seek employment elsewhere, re-entering what is one of the most difficult climates since the Great Depression. Other households continue to struggle to find daily work-life balance, a dilemma made worse for those who, amidst social distancing measures to avoid infection, have been faced with unprecedented challenges, such as homeschooling their children during their workdays.

To Value Girls Properly, Plug the Leaky Pipeline in STEM

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Julie Perry, VP of Marketing, at Boardable.

When I was a girl, I used to watch characters like Murphy Brown and Angela Bower from “Who’s The Boss?” on television. I remember seeing these incredible women workplace role models and how tough and tenacious they were. They got the job done, often in fields primarily dominated by men.

Girls in STEM — Julie Perry, Vice President of Marketing at Boardable.com, discusses strategies to improve female participation in STEM. (Image Credit: Boardable)

But while they made for great businesswomen role models, I did not have those same role models in fields related to science, technology, engineering or math. I was fortunate to have a father who encouraged me to do anything I dreamed of, but many young girls today don’t have the same privilege. Even as television yielded to the internet, giving us new ways to connect, girls still struggle to find support and understand the value they bring to the world, especially in STEM.

Black Girls Dream Fund Launches with Support from WDN, Others

(Sept. 10, 2020) SOUTHERN BLACK GIRLS AND WOMEN’S CONSORTIUM LAUNCHES BLACK GIRLS DREAM FUND

The $100 million fundraising initiative will support making Black girls’ dreams a reality

Black Girls Dream Fund launches with support from Women Donors Network, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Lucy and Isadore B Adelman Foundation, Collective Future Fund, and the Momentum Fund. (Image Credit: Black Girls Dream Fund)

ATLANTA – Today, the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium (SBGWC) kicked off a 10-year fundraising initiative to raise $100 million to financially empower the goals of Southern Black girls and women in the United States through the Black Girls Dream Fund. The new Fund seeks to fundraise and shift current grantmaking efforts in the South, channeling greater resources toward organizations that are intentionally supporting and empowering Black girls and women.

Love Beauty and Planet Pledges $100k for Carbon Reduction

Women’s beauty brand Love Beauty and Planet recently announced a $100,000 grant cycle for The Love Beauty and Planet Project. This grant project offers funding ranging from $1,000 to $20,000 for projects that improve the wellbeing and health of the planet, specifically those that focus on reducing, avoiding, or sequestering carbon.

Ranging from $1,000 to $20,000, the Love Beauty and Planet grants focus on projects that improve recycling rates, reduce plastic waste, and/or sequester carbon emissions. What’s more, the company has expressed a preference for applications focusing on marginalized and underserved communities, which are often the most adversely affected–and the least able to recuperate–from carbon emissions that harm the environment.

Get in on The Power of Us: Women Moving Millions 2020 Summit

On September 10th and 11th, 2020, Women Moving Millions holds its annual summit. The 2020 theme–The Power of Us–has particular resonance in a year blighted by pandemic, recession, and political struggle, and speaks to the ways we can do so much more when we work together.

**Image Credit:** Women Moving Millions (Facebook)

The two-day virtual event offers sessions for WMM members only on September 10th, followed by an action-packed day open to invited non-members and prospects on September 11th. What’s more–the event is completely free!

Sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and PJT Partners, the 2020 summit will focus on community, connection, and collaboration as tools to working toward a more just and equitable world.

Lessons for Philanthropy from Black Women Leaders

I’ve lived and breathed women’s philanthropy for much of my career, from the cubicles of corporate philanthropy, to the living rooms of philanthropists, and the open-office workspaces of nonprofits both large and small. While constantly assured I was in the most “game-changing” and “innovative” conversations on giving, rarely can I recall speaking about the contributions of Black women in philanthropy.

When you ask most people to name philanthropic leaders, the list is usually populated by their family members plus a few American tycoons. Industrialists of the early 20th century such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller come to mind, as do the technology and finance titans of today. Reflecting the historic racial divisions in financial wealth in America, philanthropic history and communities largely reflect the charitable actions of white ultra- wealth.

Liveblog: Women in Media Changing the Game

On Thursday, August 27th, we gathered for this month’s Philanthropy Women webinar: Women in Media Changing the Game. With guests Lori Sokol, Ruth Ann Harnisch, and Johanna Derlega, we discussed the under-funding and under-representation of female journalists and women’s media outlets, as well as ways funders can work to fix this under-representation.

How To Increase Funding for Women in Media

Editor-in-Chief Kiersten Marek kicked off the call with a reminder to breathe, and introduced today’s theme: Women in Media Changing the Game.

“We know now more than ever how important women’s leadership is,” she said. “COVID has taught us that women leaders in countries around the world have had much better success with managing COVID. And that’s just one example of the women’s leadership differential—the ability to prioritize health and the well-being of others.”

Kinga Wisniewska on Collaboration over Competition

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Kinga Wisniewska, the Resource Mobilization Manager at FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund, a youth-led feminist fund working to support grassroots organizers in over 120 countries in the Global South.

Kinga Wisniewska is a feminist and a sexual and reproductive health and rights activist from Warsaw, Poland, now serving as the Resource Mobilization Manager at FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund. (**Image Credit:** FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund)

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

The fundraising field is quite secretive, as organizations fear that sharing their donor experiences would have repercussions on their relationships, or that they would have to compete for funds if they disclosed what opportunities they are working on. It’s so weighty to work in silos, feel isolated and overwhelmed with the “I have to do it all on my own” mentality. That makes fundraising burnout very real, with lasting effects on our well-being and health, and affects so many of us in philanthropy, especially those working in resource mobilization.

Category: Women Leaders