Asia Foundation to Honor Eileen Fisher and Women In Need

The Asia Foundation’s 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will honor Eileen Fisher and Women In Need for their work for women in Asia and the Pacific.

The 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 18th at 6pm EST / 3pm PST (Image credit: Asia Foundation)
The 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will be held virtually on Wednesday, April 18th at 6pm EST / 3pm PST (Image credit: Asia Foundation)

The 2021 Lotus Leadership Awards will honor Eileen Fisher for her pioneering leadership in women’s economic empowerment and sustainability, and Women In Need (WIN), a non-profit partner working to end gender-based violence in Sri Lanka. The celebration will take place virtually on Wednesday, April 28th and features appearances by ABC “Nightline’s” Juju Chang and “Law and Order: SVU” actor Mariska Hargitay.

Read More

Mastercard Invests Millions in Venture Capital with Fearless Fund

Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built to support women of color, has received a huge investment from Mastercard.

Mastercard has made a muti-million dollar investment to Fearless Fund to help black-owned businesses (Image credit: Fearless Fund)
Mastercard has made a muti-million dollar investment to Fearless Fund to help black-owned businesses (Image credit: Fearless Fund)

Black women are building and growing businesses faster than any other segment and yet receive less than one percent of venture capital funding. In addition, only three percent of the people actually leading investments at VC firms are Black according to the National Venture Capital Association. To help further access to funding for Black women, Mastercard today announced a multi-million dollar investment in Fearless Fund, a venture capital fund built by women of color for women of color.

Read More

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. 

activating philanthropy
Adding philanthropy into your daily routine can start with no cost to you. (Image Credit: Katt Yukawa)

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!

Read More

How WFMN is Building on Not For Sale Campaign with Fund for Safety

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota gave grants to eight organizations to expand on its “Not For Sale” campaign, creating the Fund for Safety.

Women's Foundation of Minnesota has awarded eight organizations with grants to fight gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: WFMN)
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota has awarded eight organizations with grants to fight gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: WFMN)

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFMN) has awarded eight grants totaling $205,000 to nonprofit organizations and the City of Minneapolis through its Fund for Safety. WFMN’s Fund for Safety resources innovation to end gender-based violence, a continuum that includes sex trafficking, domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment. The Fund for Safety continues and expands upon the investments made through the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota’s MN Girls Are Not For Sale campaign.

Read More

Ford Foundation Backs New Black Feminist Fund with Seed Money

The Black Feminist Fund just received a generous commitment of $15M from the Ford Foundation to jumpstart this new effort.

The Ford Foundation's large investment will help support Black women worldwide in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Image credit: Ford Foundation)
The Ford Foundation’s large investment will help support Black women worldwide in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Image credit: Ford Foundation)

On March 25th, the Ford Foundation announced its commitment of $15 million in seed funding to help launch the Black Feminist Fund, a new philanthropic fund developed and led by a core group of Black feminists who sit at the nexus of feminist organizing, advocacy, and philanthropy globally. Ford’s initial investment will be vital to help jumpstart the fund’s work to create a network of support around key issues that impact Black women around the globe.

Read More

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:

equal pay
Women’s Funding Network CEO Elizabeth Barajas-Román speaks for women’s funds and their allies, demanding more action to address pay equity. (Image credit: Natalie Hua on Unsplash)

“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.

Read More

Tracy Gary on Activating Donors for Gender Justice

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Tracy Gary, Philanthropic and Legacy Advisor at Unleashing Generosity.

Tracy Gary
Tracy Gary is a philanthropist, nonprofit entrepreneur, and legacy mentor who has worked tirelessly to help others experience the joy of giving charitable dollars to causes they care about. (Image Credit: Tracy Gary)

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

My sense of abundance and true resourcefulness has come from giving and service to the nonprofit sector. We can’t do it well without mentors.

From the time I was first exposed to my parents’ giving and their encouragement about my donating, even as a teenager it was clear to me that determining what to give to and how possibly to choose amidst issues, populations and changes needed, would take careful community listening and some wise elder guidance or partnerships.

Read More

Girls Leadership Celebrates 12 Years with “Power of Voice” Benefit

On Wednesday, March 10th, girls, funders, parents, activists, and leaders all over the country gathered for Girls Leadership’s 12th anniversary celebration. The “Power of Voice” Benefit featured honorees and speakers Billie Jean King, Marley Dias, Meena Harris, Samhita Mukhopadhyay, and Suni Harford.

The all-ages event opened with Alicia Menendez, television host and past intern with Girls Leadership, offering thanks and celebration to the event’s sponsors. Menendez also introduced the theme of the evening, “power of voice,” which honors women’s suffrage and collaborative efforts for social and gender justice.

Following an introductory video from the Co-CEOs, Takai Taylor and Simone Marean, J-Rey Soul (who you might know from the Black Eyed Peas and The Voice: Philippines) performed an original song in honor of Girls Leadership.

Read More

How Texas Women’s Foundation Made $160K in Grants for Storm Recovery

Texas Women’s Foundation, a philanthropic leader advocating for women’s progress and stability in the southern state, has dispersed nearly $2 million in grants from their Resilience Fund since the onset of COVID-19. The disastrous aftermath of the winter storms in February left the most vulnerable of the Texan population, low-income women and their families, in dire need of assistance. The Resilience Fund didn’t hesitate.

Funds from The Resilience Fund of the Texas Women’s Foundation helped to address the massive damage of winter storms in the region in February. (Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash)

The Resilience Fund is one of many established by the Texas Women’s Foundation, which uses evidence-based approaches to tackle the inequities that women, and specifically women of color, face in their state. The fund’s grants are a consistent and needs-based answer to the devastation these winter storms brought with them, including dozens of unnecessary deaths and nearly $20 billion in damages.

Read More

Equality Can’t Wait Challenge Announces Finalists for $40M Award

The Equality Can’t Wait Challenge has announced the finalists working to expand the power and influence of women in the U.S.

Ten finalists have been selected to move on to the final round of the Equality Can't Wait Challenge (Image credit: Equality Can't Wait)
Ten finalists have been selected to move on to the final round of the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge (Image credit: Equality Can’t Wait)

On March 8th, the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, which will award $40 million to help expand women’s power and influence in the United States by 2030, announced 10 projects that will move on to the final stage of the competition.

The Challenge, hosted by Pivotal Ventures, Melinda Gates’ investment and incubation company—with additional support from MacKenzie Scott and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and managed by Lever for Change—was launched in June 2020 to accelerate the pace of progress toward gender equality in America.

Read More