G4GC’s Dr. Monique Couvson Named to TIME’s 2025 List of ‘The Closers’
Philanthropy Women is thrilled to announce that Dr Monique Couvson has been recognized and honored by TIME Magazine. She has been placed on the magazine’s list of “The Closers”. This prestigious award recognizes 25 Black leaders who are driving powerful change by working to close gaps in racial equity.
Dr. Couvson is the president and CEO of Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC), the primary national philanthropic intermediary organization with an explicit focus on girls and gender-expansive youth of Color in the U.S. and territories. In the short span of four years, she has helped convene 100 funders, moved more than $26 million to 400 organizations, and developed four signature funds such as The Black Girl Freedom Fund, The New Songs Rising Initiative for indigenous girls, the Holding a Sister Initiative for trans girls of color, and the Love Is Healing Fund. In addition, she co-founded the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign.
Each year the Closers honorees form a prominent cohort of innovators, activists, and visionaries dedicated to addressing systemic inequities and championing justice and progress. Dr. Couvson joins this influential group for her unwavering commitment to changing the conditions that negatively impact Black girls.
Some of the others named for 2025 include actor Niecy Nash-Betts, CNN’s Sara Sidner, Senator Raphael Warnock, and Olympian Gabby Thomas.
Dr Couvson’s work has taken many forms. She is the author of six books, including “Charisma’s Turn” (The New Press, 2023), a graphic novel about girls and their gifts. In June of 2024 Philanthropy Women published an op-ed piece from Dr Couvson as part of our recognition of Juneteenth. In the article, she discusses how we stand on the brink of an unprecedented generational transfer of wealth. This provides some hope for improvement as less than 2% of philanthropic dollars are directed towards women and the harsh problems they face.
That, Dr Couvson says, “is a miniscule amount when we consider the $471 billion in charitable giving. That amount is even more abysmal for women of color —and almost nonexistent for girls of color. In the U.S., less than .5% of philanthropic giving goes to women and girls of color, and around the globe a mere 0.1%-0.35% of foundation giving goes to Black women, girls and trans people.”
A new book, “Girls, Unlimited: How to Invest in our Daughters with More than Money,” is forthcoming from the New Press. Her three decades of experience in education, civil rights, and criminal justice and in-depth research have illuminated the intersections of race, gender, education and justice to explore how Black communities, and other communities of color, are uniquely affected by social policies.
She is also a noted public speaker. “My favorite thing is when people come to see me at a book talk or at a lecture and their pages of Pushout are scratched up [with] ears on the page, and they mark it up, and they’re working with it, and they have questions in the margins,” Couvson says.
“I’m incredibly honored to be named to TIME’s ‘The Closers’ list alongside so many extraordinary leaders,” said Dr. Couvson. “This recognition is a testament to the collective work being done to create a more equitable, just world, and I remain committed to pushing boundaries and driving meaningful change for our young people.”
To read the full article on The Closers in TIME, release from TIME, please follow the link below:
https://time.com/collection/closers-2025
To read TIME’s bio sketch of Dr Couvson, please see this link:
To read the full press release on Dr Couvson from TIME, please follow the link below:
https://mailchi.mp/grantmakersforgirlsofcolor/moniquecouvson-time?e=5aa6e56150
(this links to mailchimp on your site?)
This is the full op-ed piece from Dr. Couvson, as cited. Published
in Philanthropy Women 06/19/2024:
