Black Women Philanthropists Honored by New WPI Initiative

The Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) has launched a new initiative to honor black women and their contributions to philanthropy.

Sharlene Kemler, CEO of the Loveland Foundation, is among the 10 women on WPI's Black Women Give Back List for her contributions to the mental health of black women. (Image credit: IUPhilanthropy)
Sharlene Kemler, CEO of the Loveland Foundation, is among the 10 women on WPI’s Black Women Give Back List for her contributions to the mental health of black women. (Image credit: IUPhilanthropy)

On August 31st, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI), part of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, announced the honorees of the Black Women Give Back List, a new initiative to spotlight the important work and contributions of Black women philanthropists. Created in partnership with The Women Invested to Save the Earth (WISE) Fund, the backbone organization for Black Philanthropy Month, the list spotlights 10 outstanding Black women philanthropists from diverse backgrounds who use their time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties to make the world a better place.

An extension of WPI’s Who Is A Philanthropist? initiative, the Black Women Give Back List challenges perceptions about who is a philanthropist and builds on existing research that demonstrates the unique perspectives that women across race and ethnicity bring to philanthropy. 

The 10 women featured in the 2021 Black Women Give Back List include: 

To read more about the contributions and approaches of the 10 philanthropists, you can view The Root profile piece. The honorees were also featured in a video highlighting the initiative
After an open nomination period, the Black Women Give Back List received over 150 submissions. The selection committee represented different partners and perspectives, including: 

After a successful start to the 10th Anniversary Black Philanthropy Month Summit with 1,100+ registrants across 40 countries, the celebration closed with WISE’s capstone event, Reunity™: The Black Women’s Funders Summit, which showcased the Black Women Give Back List and video. The Black Women Give Back List will be an annual initiative taking place every August during Black Philanthropy Month.  

Related:

(Liveblog) Leveraging the Unique Power of Women’s Collective Giving

Feminist Giving is Better: WPI Research Reveals Why

New WPI Study: What Influences Us to Do Gender Equality Giving?

Author: Gender Equality Funding News

Philanthropy Women aggregates the most important gender equality funding news.

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