Philanthropy Women

Leaders Discuss Using WPI Research to Fund Women and Girls

For those of us studying funding for women and girls and/or doing the actual funding, it’s often helpful to get together and talk about the data. It’s also elucidating when feminist giving leaders reveal how they use research to make funding for women and girls more plentiful and impactful.

These and other important topics about feminist giving were the subject of discussion in a recent webinar hosted by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI).

Jeannie Sager, Director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, moderated a recent webinar with feminist giving leaders, discussing the Women and Girls Index. (Image Credit: WPI)

Jeannie Sager, Director of WPI, welcomed guests and thanked people for making time to discuss the state of giving for women and girls causes as laid out by the Women and Girls Index (WGI), which is now in 2.0 or second edition. WGI provides key insights and measurements on giving to women and girls’ causes. Sager noted that The WGI is the “only comprehensive index that measures charitable giving to women and girls in the U.S.”

COVID-19 Widens the Gender Poverty Gap in Devastating Projections

Millions of women worldwide will be pushed into extreme poverty because of the COVID-19 crisis, damaging years of progress made.

Data released by UN Women and the UNDP projects that women will be disproportionately affected by extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 crisis. (Image credit: UN Women)

The COVID-19 crisis will dramatically increase the poverty rate for women and widen the gap between men and women who live in poverty, according to new data released by UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The projections, commissioned by UN Women and UNDP, and carried out by the Pardee Centre for International Futures at the University of Denver, show that while the pandemic will impact global poverty generally, women will be disproportionately affected, especially women of reproductive age. By 2021, for every 100 men aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty (living on USD 1.90 a day or less), there will be 118 women, a gap that is expected to increase to 121 women per 100 men by 2030.

FRIDA Leaders Celebrate 10 Years and Look to Future Goals

This past fall, feminist organization FRIDA celebrated its 10th anniversary with an event on Facebook LIVE. Calling out 2020 as “a year of highs and lows,” the organization sought to end the year on a high note with this unique online event.

Panelists celebrate at FRIDA’s 10th-anniversary event. (Image Credit: FRIDA)

According to the organization’s mission statement, FRIDA — The Young Feminist Fund provides young feminist organizers with the resources they need to amplify their voices and bring attention to the social justice issues they care about. Beginning with one staff member and a growing community, FRIDA has become a thriving organization in its own right in the 10 years of its operation. FRIDA has awarded $7.5 million in direct grants through more than 250 initiatives in 115 countries in the Global South.

Firuzeh Mahmoudi: Women More Equipped Than Ever to Lead

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Firuzeh Mahmoudi, founder and executive director, United for Iran, a Bay area nonprofit that works to promote civil liberties and civil society in Iran.

Firuzeh Mahmoudi, courtesy of *Firuzeh Mahmoudi*

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

One thing I’ve learned, that continues to ring true year after year, is that progress rarely occurs along a straight line. So many of us who have been inspired to enter the activist community started out with the hope that we’d experience and affect real change in our chosen issue areas quickly. However, as I recently discussed in a piece written on the 11 year anniversary of Iran’s Green Movement, the work toward progress often starts when the buzz stops, when the media loses interest and moves to the next catchy soundbite. Those of us who’ve remained in the movement and are still active today know that if we want to be truly effective, the work has to become part of our daily lives.

eGirl Power Awards Awake Security CEO’s Gender Equality Activism

eGirl Power has chosen to honor Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security, at the PIFA Awards Masquerade Virtual Gala for his activism in making STEM jobs more accessible to young girls.

eGirl Power is hosting the “PIFA Awards Masquerade Virtual Gala” in February 2021 to honor Rahul Kashyap, CEO of Awake Security and launch their 501c3 nonprofit organization’s newest programs that align and work towards advancing the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These programs include: Leadership & Mentorship, Cybersecurity & STEM, and Mi9 Agenda 2030, The Rise of Ms. Direction. All of eGirl Power’s program goals aim to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education opportunities for all, and to achieve gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls.

As Countries Fund New Ways to End Period Poverty, the US Stands Still

Women-led governmental progress toward ending period poverty is happening, finally. Yet, the US federal legislation still lags so far behind these human rights efforts, regardless of the valiant progress by countless charities, non-profits, and individuals.

On November 24, 2020, Scotland became the first country in the world to make period products free by law. The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Bill was brought forth by Monica Lennon, a fierce advocate for ending health disparities in her home country, and was unanimously approved. To summarize, the bill ensures anyone who needs menstruation products can get them for no cost, all educational institutions must have free period products in their restroom facilities, and, to top it off, the Scottish government now holds the power to enforce other public institutions to follow suit.

Driving Opportunity for Women and Girls in the COVID World

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Brenda Darden Wilkerson, CEO of AnitaB.org, a leading organization and grantmaker for women in technology.

2020 has had no shortage of challenges. The many losses of COVID-19 compounded with the painful yet necessary ripple effects of the rising social justice movement have called into question how we personally and professionally work.

Brenda Darden Wilkerson, CEO of AnitaB.org, shares her expertise on how to employ and empower more women in the COVID world. (Image credit: AnitaB.org)

While the events of 2020 have impacted everyone, women – and especially women of color – face the greatest burden. With over 11 million jobs disappearing from February to May of this year, and with lifestyle impact of gender pay parity so profound, the “she-cession” is upon us.

New Editor in Chief Announced for Nonprofit Quarterly

Nonprofit Quarterly has named Cynthia Suarez as the new co-president and editor in chief, assuming the new role on January 1st, 2021.

The Nonprofit Quarterly’s board of directors is very pleased to announce it has selected its new editor in chief and co-president in Cynthia (“Cyndi”) Suarez, who assumed the role as of January 1^st, joining co-president and publisher Joel Toner. Suarez was selected after a national search and comes with four years of strong, tested leadership in a senior editor role at NPQ.

Cynthia Suarez is the new Editor in Chief of Nonprofit Quarterly. (Image Credit: Nonprofit Quarterly)

Suarez’s work focuses on how social change occurs. She has decades of experience working in, and consulting to, nonprofit organizations, social movements, and philanthropy. She has a passion for liberatory practices and specializes in network and platform strategies. She is the author of the celebrated book The Power Manual: How to Master Complex Power Dynamics(2018), as well as numerous articles at NPQ looking at the state of racial and social justice in the sector and beyond. Before coming to NPQ, Suarez was, among other things, executive director at Northeast Action, the first regional political strategy center in the United States. Past consulting clients include the Movement for Black Lives and United We Dream.

Four Ways Ellevate Squads Showed Me the Future is Female

Editor’s Note: The following personal essay is a reflection on one individual’s participation in the EllevateHER Forward Fellowship program. This is not a program endorsement or a sales post. Philanthropy Women was not compensated for this article.

Image Credit: Ellevate

This fall, I had the good fortune to be selected as an EllevateHER Forward Fellow, one of a group of women selected to participate in Ellevate‘s Fall 2020 cohort for women’s leadership and career growth programming. As part of the Fellowship, I participated in the Ellevate Squads program, which redefines traditional “networking” groups by pairing women all over the country with a consistent “Squad” for twelve weeks.