Philanthropy Women

ERA Coalition Delivers Star-Studded Gala in Pivotal Year for Law

The Living Equality Gala, an event organized by the ERA Coalition, started with Broadway singer Rebecca Naomi Jones singing a rousing rendition of “Ain’t it Good.”

“It is in fact really good,” said Caroline Clarke, who, along with Debra Messing, co-hosted the event. “We are all gathered here tonight to celebrate that for the first time in 99 years, our congress has unflinchingly declared that women’s equality is a priority in the United States of America.”

Honorees and hosts as well as audience members sang “Happy Birthday” to Dolores Huerta as part of the Living Equality Gala festivities. (Image Credit: ERA Coalition)

Both Messing and Clarke discussed the pivotal year we are in for the landmark Equal Rights Amendment, with 2021 being seen as the year that the Amendment will finally be added to the U.S. Constitution.

Why Sheroes Gala is Celebrating Women’s Media Leader Julie Burton

The Multicultural Media and Correspondents Association hosted the Sheroes in media gala to recognize the women leading the fight for diversity in journalism.

In honor of Women’s History Month, MMCA hosted a gala to recognize women leaders who fight for media diversity. This fundraiser went towards each of the organizations led by these women.

Julie Burton, president and CEO of Women’s Media Center (Image Credit: MMCA)

MMCA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to utilizing means, such as this gala, to address the issue of diversity in media reporting. The organization has acknowledged that the lack of diversity in media has major ramifications for the state of economy, society and politics.

How Is Asia Gender Network Pushing for More Pan-Asian Advocacy?

AVPN’s Asia Gender Network becomes the first pan-Asian network dedicated to the funding advancement of women and girls.

According to recent reports from the World Economic Forum, the world at large is still decades away from achieving total gender equality. In Asia, which holds 60% of the world’s population, that number stretches to 70 years — and in East Asia, more than 160. Pair that with the backslides from the pandemic and the resulting “She-cession,” more than 2 billion Asian women are facing a road to gender equality even more difficult than in years past.

Members of the Asia Gender Network celebrate the founding of their organization with AVPN. (Image Credit: AVPN/Asia Gender Network)

To combat this crisis, the Asia Gender Network has become the first pan-Asian network committed to mobilizing financial, human, and intellectual capital toward gender equality.

$11M to Grantees: How CFF Will Take Down Gender-Based Violence

The Collective Future Fund has chosen 25 organizations to start its first multi-year grantmaking effort, pledging a total of $11 million.

*In this grantmaking effort, the Collective Future Fund has chosen organizations dedicated to ending gender-based violence in all its various forms. (Image credit: CFF)*

On March 31st, 2021, the Collective Future Fund (CFF) awarded grants to 25 organizations in its first multi-year grantmaking effort, totaling $11 million over the next three years. The grant recipients are working at the forefront of movements to end gender-based violence in all its forms, and are all led by BIPOC women, queer, transgender, gender non-conforming, non-binary and im/migrant survivors of color.

New Report Shines a Light on Anti-LGBTQ+ Culture in Christian Colleges

REAP and College Pulse have released a report identifying the anti-LGBTQ+ culture that is so common on the campuses of Christian colleges.

The Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) and College Pulse have joined forces to identify how anti-LGBTQ+ culture is affecting students at Christian colleges. (Image credit: REAP)

Sexual and gender minority students enrolled at many Christian colleges and universities experience more harm, more isolation, and less inclusion on their campus, leaving them with starkly different mental health outcomes and college experiences than their straight peers, according to a report released today by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project (REAP) and College Pulse.

How Robert Wood Johnson Fdn is Funding Growth for Girls Who Invest

Girls Who Invest, being backed by grants from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will bring 175 new students to its Summer Intensive Program.

Girls Who Invest works to include more women in the world of asset management and finances. (Image credit: GWI)

Girls Who Invest (GWI), a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing the number of women in portfolio management and executive leadership in the asset management industry, welcomes a cohort of 175 scholars to its 2021 Summer Intensive Program.

Through GWI’s flagship ten-week program, each of these accomplished rising college juniors will complete a four-week rigorous program of study on the core tenets of investing. The program is taught by leading academics and industry professionals, including faculty from the Wharton School and UCLA Anderson School of Management. Scholars then complete six-week paid internships in frontline investing at one of GWI’s more than 100 partner firms. After completing the academic program (held virtually for the second year), scholars are equipped with the industry knowledge and financial, technical, and soft business skills required to excel in their internships and future asset management roles. The scholars participating in this year’s Summer Intensive Program will join more than 500 women who have successfully completed the program since 2016.

PepsiCo Boosts Women Biz Owners, Fights Hunger with New Grants

PepsiCo is popping the tab on a new funding program for women-led small businesses.

Through two of its charitable arms, Food for Good and WomanMade, PepsiCo recently announced the launch of its Food for Good Meal Solutions program, which offers women-led small businesses the resources and scaling strategies necessary to fight childhood hunger.

PepsiCo’s latest charitable initiative takes a multipronged approach: Fighting childhood hunger, supporting women-led small businesses, and providing pandemic relief all at once. (**Image Credit:** PepsiCo)

Supporting two of the food and beverage giant’s social campaigns — Food for Good, which combats childhood hunger, and WomanMade, which supports women-led small businesses in the US — this new campaign connects female entrepreneurs with the funding they need to produce reliable, effective products that will help end childhood hunger.

How Susan Blaustein Found Her Path to Empowering Women Globally

In the U.S and abroad, Dr. Susan M. Blaustein has helped women partner for gender equality through the nonprofit WomenStrong International.

Vital work being done domestically and internationally in the name of gender equality has come from a prolific nonprofit called WomenStrong International. Founded and directed by Susan Blaustein, the organization was an outgrowth of the Millennium Cities Initiative, a program Dr. Blaustein led for more than a decade at Columbia University’s Earth Institute.

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Description automatically generated with medium confidence — Susan Blaustein, Founder of WomenStrong (Image credit: WomenStrong)

Since its 2015 inception, WomenStrong International has grown steadily in size and scope and now has 18 partner organizations across 15 different countries. These partners include organizations as various and farflung as the Women’s Justice Initiative in Guatemala, Black Women’s Blueprint in the US, and Roots of Health in the Philippines.

Announcing RALIANCE Grant Recipients, $150K to End Sexual Violence

RALIANCE has released the names of the six organizations receiving $25,000 each to advance their work in preventing sexual harassment.

RALIANCE's mission is to end sexual harassment in one generation, and their 2021 grant totaling $150K will help achieve that goal. (Image credit: RALIANCE) — RALIANCE’s mission is to end sexual harassment in one generation, and their 2021 grant totaling $150K will help achieve that goal. (Image credit: RALIANCE)

RALIANCE, a national partnership dedicated to ending sexual violence in one generation, is excited to announce six new grants totaling $150,000 to fund efforts across the United States that prevent sexual harassment, misconduct and abuse. This year’s grant recipients are: Hollaback!, the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence, Mirror Memoirs, the New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, USA Gymnastics and the Ya Basta Center.

Fiona McKay: Financial Sector Must Evolve to Prioritize Social Returns

Fiona McKay’s website asks a simple but striking question: What would the world look like if more women controlled the money? It’s a question I often find myself pondering, too, as a social worker, a small businesswoman, a parent, and a gender equality activist.

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Description automatically generated with low confidence — Fiona McKay, author of the report, Trailblazing Women in Investment. (Image Credit: Fiona McKay)

McKay isn’t just pondering this profound question, though. She’s actively doing research on the way that gender norms shape our experiences, particularly in the financial sector. She is the author of Trailblazing Women in Investment, a new report that discusses gender lens investing and the barriers that women still face with controlling the money in finance.