Women Leaders Archives

Own Your Power: Elizabeth Yntema on Gender Equality in Dance

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Elizabeth Yntema, president and founder of the Dance Data Project (DDP), which promotes “equity in all aspects of classical ballet by providing a metrics-based analysis through our database while showcasing women-led companies, festivals, competitions, venues, special programs and initiatives.”

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

I wish I had had a female mentor, and she had reassured me that success isn’t defined by a linear path. I have been a corporate attorney, a lobbyist, worked as the Director of Governmental Affairs of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, was employed part-time as a consultant, opened an art gallery and, with three small children, focused on volunteering for a time. Now, I use every single one of my experiences and skills acquired over the decades.

How A New California Law is Getting More Women on Boards

(Source: CalMatters.org) For 46 publicly held companies in California with all-male boards, the clock is ticking.

The corporations, including pharmaceutical, financial and software companies that tend to be on the smaller, younger side, have only until revelers ring in 2020 to name a woman to their boards of directors or face a $100,000 penalty.

women on boards — Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Unsplash

A bill signed into law by former Gov. Jerry Brown in September 2018 required public companies with headquarters in California to name at least one female director by the end of 2019. The law further mandates that companies with five-member boards have at least two female directors by the end of 2021; corporations with six or more directors need at least three women. The penalties for failing to comply rise accordingly.

Announcing the 2020 Philanthropy Women Leadership Awards

We have come full circle on one of the most astonishing years for women’s philanthropy in human history. And yet, as we all know, there is still so far to go. As part of that process of moving forward for gender equality, it gives me great pleasure to announce the 2020 Philanthropy Women Leadership Awards.

This year we decided to do something different and opened up 6 of the 10 awards to community voting. We had 689 respondents to our voting survey, and the results confirmed the growing interest in and competitive landscape of women’s giving and social movement-building for gender equality.

With the final four awards this year, we decided to open up some new categories, not necessarily based on Philanthropy Women’s coverage, in order to recognize groundbreaking women journalists and filmmakers contributing to gender equality movements. Oftentimes, this kind of media work is very philanthropic in nature, as women journalists and filmmakers often give of their own time and resources for years and years (sometimes decades!) in order to educate the public on critical issues.

WFN to Lead Gates-Funded Anti-Poverty Work Via Women’s Funds

A giant breakthrough has happened for women’s funds and feminist approaches to social change. The Women’s Funding Network, the world’s largest network of foundations investing in women and girls, has announced receiving $1.69 million in grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This funding will be used to establish “a cohort of ten women’s foundations whose collaborative efforts will be harnessed to increase women’s economic mobility in their communities,” according to a press release announcing the new funding.

This funding could not have come at a more auspicious time. Women’s funds and gender lens grantmaking are a tiny but fast-expanding segment of philanthropy, and this historically large grant will put the peddle to the metal for accelerating feminist approaches to social change.

Pat Mitchell: How To Wield Power through Women’s Media

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Pat Mitchell, trailblazing media executive, Emmy award-winning and Oscar-nominated producer, Board Chair of Women’s Media Center and Sundance Institute, and Editorial Director of TEDWomen.

1. Your new book Becoming A Dangerous Woman chronicles your personal journey to becoming a media trailblazer. What was it like to go back and look at your life through the lens of your multifaceted role in advocating for women?

In this edition of our Feminist Giving IRL series, Pat Mitchell discusses overcoming imposter syndrome and becoming more engaged in fostering women’s media. (Photo Credit: Lynn Savarese)

I began the book four years ago when the Rockefeller Foundation president offered me a writing residency at Bellagio, encouraging me to extend my global mentoring and women’s leadership work by sharing my own stories from life and work. That residency was a great head start, but when I returned home, I found it hard to put aside the highly engaged ‘life’ I was committed to (and enjoying!) to write about my life, especially to look reflectively backward, as I’ve always been someone determined to keep moving forward.

Michele Moore Joins Ford Foundation Executive Team

NEW YORK — The Ford Foundation has announced the appointment of Michele Moore as vice president of Global Communications. Moore will join the foundation’s executive leadership team in New York, overseeing all aspects of strategic communications across the foundation’s 11 offices in the United States and abroad. She begins her new role in January 2020, succeeding Alfred D. Ironside who helped lead the foundation’s communications efforts over a 14-year tenure.

michelle Moore — *Michelle Moore will become Vice President of Global Communications at the Ford Foundation. (Image Credit: PR Week)*

Moore comes to the foundation from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she served as chief communications officer through a time of rapid expansion at the organization. The ACLU’s press coverage, social media following, and membership grew dramatically under Moore’s communications stewardship, which led to her recognition on PR Week magazine’s 2017 and 2018 Power Lists as one of the top communications professionals in the US. With more than 25 years’ experience, spanning the nonprofit, government, Fortune 500, and academic sectors, Moore brings vast expertise in delivering effective communications strategies in high-stakes media environments.

Giving Tuesday 2019 Reports Nearly $2 Billion in U.S. Donations

Another Giving Tuesday is one for the books! According to the organization that created the international day of generosity, this year’s online and offline donations crushed a monumental milestone: almost $2 billion in donations in the United States alone, with $511 million in online donations.

“Generosity is a core trait and value that brings people of all races, faiths, and political views together,” said Asha Curran, Co-founder and CEO of GivingTuesday. “GivingTuesday creates a shared space where we can see the radical implications of a more generous world.”

Could Feminist Funding have Saved the Kamala Harris Campaign?

On December 3, 2019, California Senator Kamala Harris announced her decision to drop out of the 2020 presidential race.

“I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Harris wrote in a Medium article, which was also sent out to supporters through email and social media. “My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue.”

The Harris campaign’s inability to fund itself raises important questions about the future of political campaigns in the United States. Could the Harris campaign have been saved by a last-minute large-dollar donation?

Afghan Women in Media and Politics Risk Lives for Equal Rights

Editor’s Note: While some feminist giving happens through funding, other women change agents risk their lives to do this important work. Below is an article featuring Sediqa Sherzai, who continues to the fight for women in Afghanistan.

KABUL, Dec 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – In the decade since launching a radio station in northern Afghanistan, Sediqa Sherzai has braved mines and rocket attacks as the Taliban seeks to silence her. But she has kept going.

*A woman journalist working at Radio Rashani in Northern Afghanistan (Image Credit: United State of Peace video Afghan Women Defend Their Rights Against the Taliban)*

Fawzia Koofi, the country’s first female deputy of the lower house of parliament, has survived assassination and kidnap attempts. Last year, she was banned from running for re-election – so she set up her own party.

Feminist Giving News: Undercovered and Undervalued

We’ve started a new feature here at Philanthropy Women called Feminist Giving in the News. This service combs through the news online to find all the stories that are relevant to the evolving world of feminist funding and women-led approaches to social change, both in the for-profit and nonprofit realms.

Marginalized and Forgotten: Feminist Giving News

There are many press releases being produced every day in feminist giving news. We really can’t even keep up with them here, which speaks to how needed this service is for the world.

Category: Women Leaders