Women's Health Archives

How Canada is Pushing for Better Mental Health Care for Women

Editor’s Note: This edition of our Feminist Giving IRL (in real life) series features Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, Clinician Scientist and Physician-in-Chief at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), Canada’s largest mental health hospital and a global research leader. She is the clinical lead of CAMH womenmind, a new effort from CAMH to close the gender gap in mental health. She is also a Professor and Vice Chair Clinical and Innovation in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.

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

Philanthropy Women Responds to COVID by Going FREE

Right now, what we need more than ever is feminist leadership to get us through the COVID crisis. As a result, Philanthropy Women is glad to be able to offer free registration for the next three months.

That’s why we’re excited to share some BIG NEWS here at Philanthropy Women. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, a generous donor has provided extra support so that we can make registration for Premium Access to Philanthropy Women FREE for the next three months. (Editor’s Note: This special offer is now over.)

At Philanthropy Women, we will be working extra hard to be a resource for the feminist giving community on best practices to get us through the COVID crisis. We will work to generate ideas and share news that will help us make system-wide changes that will address this crisis and prevent future crises of this proportion in the future.

COVID-19: The Gendered Impacts and How to Respond

Well folks, we’re off the charts, quite literally. Vulnerable people are dying at an alarming rate. Markets are dropping and jumping and dropping again as more people test positive for COVID-19. Health care workers are risking their lives by going to work, and many of us are spending more time social distancing than humanity may have ever tried before. It’s all quite surreal. And we’re not even talking about the gendered impacts yet.

Some leaders in philanthropy are responding to the health crisis with concern and plans to help.

gendered impacts — The Kaiser Family Foundation is providing a database of funders for COVID-19. (Image Credit: Kaiser Family Foundation)

The Kaiser Family Foundation has put together a Donor Funding for COVID-19 Response list, and there you can find organizations funding the research and the medical response to the unprecedented outbreak. Most of the funding listed here is going to China, and all of this funding is brand new, starting in January 2020.

Starbucks Fdn Awards 2020 Origin Grants for Global Women and Girls

Since International Women’s Day 2018, The Starbucks Foundation has been working toward a goal to empower 250,000 women and girls in origin communities by 2025. This effort has already made a difference in the lives of more than 66,000 women through programs around women’s leadership, access to finance, and healthy homes in coffee- and tea-growing communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Over the past year, The Starbucks Foundation has awarded additional Origin Grants to help continue to break down barriers to education, promote clean water and sanitation (WASH), and create economic opportunities for women and girls. This brings the total number of foundation grantees working in coffee and tea-growing communities to 18, with grants totaling more than $5 million.

$6.5 Million to Study and Treat Women’s Mental Health in Canada

One of the benefits of my ongoing work as a mental health practitioner is that I never lose sight of the problems caused by the ongoing oppression of women. For this reason, I was particularly excited to learn about a new initiative coming out of Canada called womenmind. Launched by The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada, womenmind is being supported by two gifts totaling $6.5 million, and aims to “put a defined focus on closing the gender gap in mental health.”

(Pictured above, left to right) **Sandi Treliving**, Philanthropist & Member, CAMH Foundation Board of Directors, **Deborah Gillis**, President and CEO, CAMH Foundation and **Dr. Catherine Zahn**, President and CEO, CAMH. (photo credit: CAMH)

With $5-million in funding from Sandi and Jim Treliving and family and another $1.5-million donation from Hudson’s Bay Foundation, CAMH is creating womenmind for the purpose of “fuel[ing] philanthropy focused on accelerating discovery related to improving the mental health of girls and women and supporting female-identifying researchers to become leaders in the sciences.”

Blow to Gender Equality as UN Curtails CSW Due to Coronavirus

NEW YORK, March 2 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Curtailing a major United Nations meeting on gender equality over coronavirus fears could be a blow to progress in women’s rights and needs to be rescheduled to include diverse voices, participants and observers said on Monday.

CSW was scaled by to a one-day meeting due to the global outbreak of coronavirus. (Image credit: UN Commission on the Status of Women)

The annual two-week U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) promoting equality and women’s empowerment was scaled back on Monday to just one-day next week due the global outbreak.

In its abbreviated version, the CSW will hold a procedural meeting on March 9 – the day after International Women’s Day – to adopt a draft political declaration marking 25 years since the historic women’s rights declaration signed in Beijing.

Slaight Family Fdn Launches $15 Million for Global Women and Girls

OTTAWA, 3 March 2020 – The Slaight Family Foundation will launch a $15 M Global Initiative for Women and Girls which will be donated to 15 international organizations around the world to mark International Women’s Day. The Initiative will improve the lives of women and girls in developing countries around the world. CARE Canada will partner with The Slaight Family Foundation in Somalia.

The Slaight Family Foundation will support CARE Canada’s work in Somalia to innovate and improve menstrual hygiene management for school-age girls, many of whom have experienced female genital mutilation. The donation will help to develop and test new solutions with established women and girls’ groups, train women to produce hygiene products locally, improve school sanitation facilities, and increase community awareness.

CONVICTED! Weinstein Trial Shows Success of Funding #MeToo

UPDATE: Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape in landmark case for the #MeToo era. Weinstein was convicted of third degree rape of Jessica Mann. The jury in New York also convicted Weinstein, 67, of third-degree rape of Jessica Mann, a former aspiring actress. He was also convicted of criminal sexual act in the first degree against Mimi Haley, a former “Project Runway” production assistant. Read more here.

(Original article published February 13, 2020) Harvey Weinstein is now on trial, and all the world is watching to see how far the women survivors can get in their pursuit of justice. Women in philanthropy, in particular, are paying close attention to the Weinstein trial, many of them commenting regularly on social media about it, and offering support and thanks for the bravery of the women testifying. There also appears to be a surge in funding for initiatives that get women’s voices on the record about sexual assault and harassment, particularly in the film industry. All of these events are evidence of #MeToo’s indelible imprint on civil society.

Power to Decide: Ginny Ehrlich on Repro Rights and Access

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Ginny Ehrlich, CEO of the nonprofit Power to Decide, “the campaign to prevent unplanned pregnancy.”

Ginny Ehrlich, courtesy: Ginny Ehrlich

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

When I started my career, I really wish I had truly understood the breadth of possibilities available to me. Early on, I had a limited view of what I could achieve professionally. But I have been extremely fortunate to have exceeded even my wildest professional dreams. So, what I have learned is that with grit and vision, anything is possible.

What is your current greatest professional challenge?

Chang Takes the Reins as New CEO of BS of California Fdn

Chang brings dynamic leadership experience in federal, state, and community health

SAN FRANCISCO (Feb. 12, 2020) – Blue Shield of California Foundation announced today the appointment of Debbie I. Chang as president and chief executive officer, overseeing its programs of more than $30 million in annual grantmaking to meet the diverse health needs of all Californians and to address the root causes of poor health and violence.

Chang takes the reins. — Blue Shield of California Foundation Names Debbie I. Chang as President and CEO. (photo credit: Blue Shield of California Foundation)

Chang, currently senior vice president and chief policy and prevention officer at Nemours Children’s Health System, which is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, with operations in five states and Washington, DC, has an extensive history of developing innovative national programs, leading ambitious health partnerships, and advocating policies to promote the health of children and families.

Category: Women’s Health