Philanthropy Women

ESA Fdn Levels Up for Gender and Racial Diversity in Esports

The gaming world Renaissance continues this week with an exciting new announcement from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation. In its 2020-2021 scholarship season, the ESA Foundation is introducing the first-ever college eSports program for women and minorities.

**The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Foundation** announced a new scholarship as part of its 2020-2021 offerings: a scholarship for female and minority gamers who plan to play on their college’s eSports team while pursuing a four-year degree.

Yes, it’s true—kids can now pay for college with their video game skills!

We’ve written before about the growing commitment to diversity and inclusion in games. The ESA Foundation is a longstanding leader in this commitment, recognizing the growing demand for tech-savvy employees in the games industry, as well as the necessity to draw these creators from a variety of backgrounds.

It’s All About STEM Women: Arianne Hunter and the Privilege of Dreams

“Women can be successful in science.” This is the core message from Arianne Hunter, a chemist in Atlanta. “Our brains can retain, analyze and distribute knowledge just like our male counterparts [so] our ideas and dialogue should be met with the same respect,” she says.

Arianne Hunter discusses ways to increase opportunities for women and girls in STEM. (credit: Arianne Hunter)

Hunter is a first-generation college student who was a member of the Division I Women’s Basketball Team at Dartmouth College, the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oklahoma, and the founder of “We Do Science Too!” — a nonprofit serving girls who have less access to STEM experiences. She is a published and awarded scientist and is currently pursuing postdoctoral training in Forensic Chemistry at the Defense Forensic Science Center.

Gender Equality Index Tracks More Companies, Expands Metrics

GEI data reveals female-led companies have more women in other top roles, and that companies are increasingly focusing on attracting – and retaining – female customers

New York, January 21, 2020 – Today Bloomberg announced that 325 companies headquartered across 42 countries and regions are included in the 2020 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), up from the 230 companies across 36 countries and regions in last year’s index. The GEI tracks the financial performance of public companies committed to supporting gender equality through policy development, representation, and transparency.

Get Inspired as a Donor and Activist by Unladylike2020

A question I ask myself and others: how do you get inspired to keep doing this work? How do you get charged up to talk about the value of feminist strategies for giving when oftentimes, philanthropy gives feminism the radio silence treatment? One way is through art.

A powerful new infusion of art is coming out this year. It’s called Unladylike2020, and it’s a film series celebrating women trailblazers. I was fortunate enough to see a preview of the first film in the series here in Providence last year, and got a glimpse of how the series combines original artwork, animation, rare archival footage, and interviews with family members, historians, and experts who discuss how these women shaped our world. PBS’s American Masters series will be participating in the initiative with three projects:

Progress for Gender Equality in the European Union: How’s it Going?

Editor’s Note: This article about gender equality in the European Union was produced by the European Institute for Gender Equality.

It is almost a quarter of a century since the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted by 189 governments following a landmark UN conference in 1995. New research from EIGE shows that no EU country has yet fully implemented this blueprint for women’s empowerment, with issues such as ageing societies, migration and climate change bringing new challenges.

“The ageing population of the EU brings new challenges for gender equality as women continue to be the main providers of care. While unpaid care work is indispensable to the wellbeing of individuals and wider society, its contribution to economic growth is largely invisible,” says Virginija Langbakk, EIGE’s director.

This is a Marathon: Dr. Tessie San Martin on Leading for Girls

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Dr. Tessie San Martin, President & CEO, Plan International USA. Dr. San Martin’s career spans public and private sectors, international development, and academia. Here, she shares some insights on gender equality.

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

At the risk of sounding smug, I can honestly say that I really have no regrets. That isn’t because I feel as if I always took the right path or made the right decision at the right time, but because I feel strongly that everything I have done has prepared me, in some way, for what I am doing now and contributed in some way – big or small – to what I have achieved with my career.

Abortion as Love: Network of Funds Announces New Campaign

National Network of Abortion Funds and Forward Together Unveil Art Campaign Illustrating Multigenerational Support for Abortion as an Act of Love

On Roe anniversary, new artwork envisions the power of compassionate abortion support because everyone loves someone who had an abortion

As this week marks the 47th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the National Network of Abortion Funds and Forward Together are launching an art campaign that envisions multigeneration love and support during abortion. Forty-seven years after Roe, and in light of attacks attempting to block abortion access at the state and federal level, it’s apparent that Roe was never a promise to abortion access. The recent wave of attacks on abortion have left community members confused about where and if they can access abortion services. Many people are left facing increased attacks, intimidation at clinics, and stigma from their communities for accessing the care that they need—all pushing abortion access even further out of reach.

Empowerment is Now Online: the Hello World Connection

Imagine that you had lived your life up to this point never experiencing the internet. No smart phones, no online recipes, no Google searches or social media.

How much would your life change if, one day, you were connected to the online world?

hello world — *Katrin McMillan works with local children on the construction of their Hello Hub. (**Photo Credit:** Project Hello World)*

The potential uses of internet access are abundant: education, job training, medical resources, advancements in farming and agriculture, communication with people across the world, all available at the touch of a button. For many communities, however, that online world is something out of science fiction. Women, children, and entire societies fly under the radar of education and international support simply because they live without access to the world’s information superhighway.

New: Mexico and France Show Up for Feminism with UN Leadership

(January 15, 2020 UN WOMEN) Today, UN Women, together with feminists across the world, and the Governments of Mexico and France, announced the Action Coalition themes for the Generation Equality Forum to be held in Mexico City and Paris this year.

The Action Coalitions are global, innovative partnerships with governments, civil society, international organizations, and the private sector, to catalyze collective action, drive increased public and private investment, and deliver game-changing results for women and girls everywhere.

UN Women staff during Generation Equality Private Sector discussions in Kenya.© UN Women/Kennedy Okoth

The Generation Equality Forum, a civil society-led global gathering convened by UN Women and co-hosted by the Governments of Mexico and France, taking place in Mexico City from 7 to 8 May, and in Paris from 7 to 10 July 2020, will launch the following six catalytic Action Coalitions:

With Research and Equity Project, WSF Raises Stakes

WSF releases new national research report – Chasing Equity: The Triumphs, Challenges and Opportunities in Sports for Girls and Women – a comprehensive, current landscape analysis;

And launches The Equity Project, a new national campaign to galvanize leaders across sectors to help drive paradigm-shifting change that transcends sports

NEW YORK, Jan. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — With the start of a new decade, 2020, and the golden anniversary of Title IX on the near horizon, 2022, the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) is staking a bold stand to gain true, lasting equity for girls and women in sports and beyond. Today the Foundation released its new national research report – Chasing Equity: The Triumphs, Challenges and Opportunities in Sports for Girls and Women – a comprehensive analysis of the current landscape and all its challenges, barriers, progress and opportunities, accompanied by a robust aggregate of calls to action to drive change.