Philanthropy Women

Sasha Rabsey on Radical Generosity, Transformative Giving

Sasha Rabsey has heard the same story more than once. Most recently, she heard it at a conference, where a young woman presented on her work with trauma organizations. Her funding came from a series of high-level civil and private sector awards–enough to start ten different programs supporting women recovering from trauma in Latin America–but as the awards began to dry up, she found herself floundering for funding.

“I’ll take anything you can give me,” the young woman said, echoing scores of people Rabsey has worked with over the years. “If I don’t start winning more awards, we’re going to have to close more than half of our locations.”

The Entrenched Pandemic of Gender-Based Violence

We have a problem.

We have known about gender injustice for centuries, yet only over the past one hundred years have we been more publicly working to end this vast inequality. The rights women have claimed, from voting rights to reproductive rights, have been hard fought and hard won. Undergirding all of those public battles, there has been the ongoing battle for a woman’s right to safety at home. Gender-based violence has plagued people for as long as we have written history, yet even during our current health pandemic, this social problem continues to be defined as a private issue.

pandemic of gender-based violence — Indrani Goradia shares her expertise on gender based violence during COVID. (Image credit: Sharon McCutcheon, Unsplash)

One reason for this is that governments and those who create policy insist on spreading false narratives, such as the one recently sent out by the Malaysian government: Don’t nag your husbands during quarantine and social distancing. This form of misinformation does nothing to help women be safe. It allows violence against women to be blamed on women. Home is the most dangerous place for a woman, and violence against women is about power and control.

COVID: Our Last Dress Rehearsal on Climate Change

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Tory Dietel Hopps, Managing Partner of Dietel & Partners, where she assists grantees with strategies, resource development and capacity building.

As the past weeks have unfolded, I have found myself thinking about the choices I will make regarding what I will not go back to after COVID-19. I believe that we are essentially having a dress rehearsal for what must be our new normal. This pandemic has made it abundantly clear that as a human race, we are truly globally interconnected.

climate change — (Image Credit: Martin Sanchez at Unsplash)

This has been the message of climate activists for decades, but the esoteric nature of those conversations clearly were not getting us to move quickly enough. It took a real life and death situation to make us realize we can change our behavior on a dime if we need and want to. We have an opportunity to come out of this pandemic with a new normal where we don’t go back to how we functioned before. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to squander.

Uncertainty Is the Mother of Invention

Uncertainty Is the Mother of Invention – S. Mona Sinha

How do we respond in uncertain times? A colleague shared these lines from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring: ‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo. ‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘And so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’

I have found the simple principles that underlie what we do at Women Moving Millions – Learn, Listen, Connect, and Collaborate – to be valuable tools to guide us towards gender equality and to keep us grounded. In these times of uncertainty, this framework works for me as I try to make sense of my own emotions and how best I can share my skills in this world. Ironically, a month ago, I wrote an article titled, ‘Discovering the Highest and Best Use of my Worth’, and today, it seems more relevant than ever before.

Women’s Collective Giving: Expanding Power

Beth Ellen Holimon’s mission throughout most of her career has been helping women. For the past five years, she has led Dining for Women, dedicated to eradicating poverty in the developing world for girls and women and achieving gender equity, using a unique model for women’s collective giving. DFW educates approximately 8500 member donors on the underlying issues contributing to women’s inequality. Under Holimon’s leadership as President and CEO, the global giving circle has grown to 500 chapters throughout the U.S.

Each month, DFW selects a charity to receive funding though a rigorous vetting process. The organization’s grant making is guided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Holimon emphatically asks: “What woman around the world doesn’t want their children to have the very best education, be provided with safe birth options, address climate change, safeguard themselves and their children from domestic violence and acknowledge issues of aging?”

NDWA Announces $4 Mil Care Fund for Domestic Workers

In March 2020, the National Domestic Workers Alliance announced the Coronavirus Care Fund, a campaign to raise $4 million in emergency relief funds for domestic workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 16, the NDWA announced its campaign to raise $4 million to support domestic workers impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. (**Image Credit:** NDWA)

Domestic workers, a large percentage of whom are women, immigrants, and people of color, are among the unsung heroes on the front lines of the pandemic. They take care of homes, families, and people who are at high risk of catching the virus, like the elderly and people with chronic illnesses. What’s more, many domestic workers find themselves faced with the COVID-19 crisis without any kind of support network, savings to fall back on, or union to protect their rights.

Ms. Foundation Announces Four New Board Members

Angela Glover Blackwell, Danielle Moodie-Mills, Lauren Embrey, and Wade Davis to Bring Expertise in Racial Equity, Public Policy, and Diversity and Inclusion to Distinguished Board

NEW YORK (March 26, 2020) – Today, the Ms. Foundation for Women announced Angela Glover Blackwell, Danielle Moodie-Mills, and Wade Davis as new members of its distinguished Board of Directors, and Lauren Embrey as a returning member of the Board. The four Board Members bring expertise in racial equity, public policy, diversity and inclusion, and more to the board of the nation’s oldest women’s foundation.

“I am thrilled to welcome Angela, Danielle, Lauren, and Wade to the Ms. Foundation board,” said Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. “We are incredibly lucky to have the experience and expertise of these four individuals – from working to further LGBTQ inclusion and investing in communities of color, to advancing racial and economic equity as heads of organizations or as journalists. Their input will be crucial as we continue to center our work on women and girls of color in order to establish full social, political, and economic equality for all women. We could not be more grateful to have them as partners in the fight for gender equality.”

How Gender Lens Funding Can Improve COVID Response

How Gender Lens Funding Can Improve COVID Response

The Women’s Funding Network began more than 30 years ago with the belief that by democratizing philanthropy through local funds created by, and for, women, we could dismantle gender inequity region-by-region across the globe. Thirty years later we see that vision in action through the steadfast efforts of our members during this unprecedented crisis.

As women’s foundations, gender equity funders, and philanthropists, our members have played a critical role in giving a voice, decision-making power, and resources to women and their families. Women’s funds and foundations’ efforts have ensured that a gender lens remains a central focus and priority in our communities amidst this uncertain moment in history. Without their support, women disappear from the conversation, and from the economic equation entirely when it comes to equitable and appropriate allocation of funds and resources.

COVID Reflections by Emily Nielsen Jones: In the Womb, Together

All of creation is groaning and in pain, like a woman about to give birth.
~ adapted from Romans 8:22

Here where I live outside of Boston, most of us are about one month into our self-isolation during COVID. As the exponential curve of this global pandemic slowly, eerily touches every corner of our planet and every facet of our lives, a collective rug is being pulled out from underneath our settled ways, systems, taken-for-granted institutions, beliefs, and moment-to-moment expectations which shape how we each make our way through a day.

I am honored to add my voice to this special COVID-19 series hosted by Philanthropy Women, together musing on what implications this global pandemic has for feminist philanthropy and all who are working for justice, human betterment and a more sustainable way of living together on this planet. As every one of these writers describes, though we wish we could banish this virus from our planet, collective change has been unfolding right before our eyes.

In a Pandemic, Gender Equality More Important Than Ever

Announced in June 2019 with a historic contribution of $300 million CAD from Global Affairs Canada, the Equality Fund is an innovative model delivering unprecedented resources to feminist movements. Our goal is ambitious: Mobilize $1 billion for gender equality in philanthropic and investment capital in Canada and around the world.

We are shifting power and resources to organizations and leaders on the frontlines. Why? Because this is the most effective way to fight inequality.