WEEKLY NEWS // APRIL 11, 2024

// A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT & CEO

Connecting the Dots: Fighting Fear with Data Partnership

Dear Colleagues,

After the U.S. Supreme Court gutted race-conscious admissions last summer and American Alliance for Equal Rights filed a lawsuit against the Fearless Fund, some worried that demographic data had become a potential liability.

And yet despite this environment of fear mongering and repressive legalism, we are excited to announce the formation of a new partnership with Candid. Our shared goal is to reveal the impact of race and gender on the funding landscape through an open-access online tool.

Amazingly, a publicly available tool like this does not currently exist. That matters because local and state policy is informed by race or gender indexes drawn from sources like Candid. When users cannot run comparative analysis on executive leadership trends by race and gender within meaningful contexts such as location, organization size, and operating budget—unequal concentrations of power are made invisible.

What’s next? Grounded in a participatory approach we will ask you—our local members who understand the compounding barriers that come with representing multiple identities—to help design what we build. Thank you in advance for joining us.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO

News from WFN

2024 WFN MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

Our network thrives on the strength and diversity of our members. Please join us in appreciating Francene Chadwick, Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, and Women Moving Millions who renewed WFN membership for 2024.

Check out our Member Directory to see the organizations and individuals in our alliance advancing gender justice in the philanthropic sector. If you have questions about membership renewal, joining WFN as a new member, or would like to learn more about WFN membership, please contact us.

In partnership with ChildFocus Partners, WFN is offering a bimonthly advocacy and policy newsletter. Sign up here to receive the newsletter.

News from WFN Members

MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS

Please join us in appreciation and celebrating Katia Jones who has stepped into the role as Chief Executive Officer at Women's Foundation for the State of Arizona (WFSA). Katia joined WFSA in June 2021 as a pivotal member of their Development team and swiftly ascended, showcasing her unwavering dedication to WFSA’s mission. Her recent promotion to CEO is a testament to her outstanding contributions and community-centered leadership. Read more here.

This article from Nurturing Wāhine Fund on gender parity in political representation was recently published in their state newspaper, Honolulu Civil Beat. It offers insights and data that could benefit other women's groups with a similar focus. Read it here.

For twenty-five years the WNY Women’s Foundation (WNYWF) has been transforming systems, culture and policy to create opportunities for each woman to thrive. To commemorate this silver milestone, the WNYWF released the third installment of their Pathways to Progress: Accelerating the Possibilities series. This data-driven analysis focuses on child care, poverty, leadership, education, occupational segregation, and pay equity. It builds off of the WNYWF’s 2010 and 2017 Pathways to Progress: The Status of Women in WNY reports and compares the state of affairs for women 25 years ago, to the current climate, with a forecasted trajectory over the next 20-25 years.

MEMBER EVENTS

Join New Hampshire Women's Foundation as they celebrate trailblazing women at their seventh annual GALA. The evening features dinner, dancing and honoring this year’s AmplifiHER awardee, Susan Werner Thoresen.

May 3, 2024 | 6:00 - 10:00 p.m. EDT | Register here

Please join the Women’s Foundation of Montana (WFM) to celebrate 25 years of grantmaking for gender equity. A brief program will include remarks by Rep. Mary Caferro, former director of one of WFM's first grantees, WEEL, and a presentation of the 2023 Status of Montana Women Report, produced by the Montana Budget and Policy Center.

May 7, 2024 | 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. CDT | Register here

The New York Women's Foundation's signature event will be held on May 8 and pay tribute to extraordinary women who are advancing innovative and bold solutions to create an equitable and just future for women and families in New York City and beyond. This year's honorees include Fondation CHANEL, Andrea Arroyo, Cynthia Nixon, New York Liberty, S. Mona Sinha, and Toshi Reagon.

May 8, 2024 | 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. EDT | Register here

Opportunities and Resources

Join this webinar to dig into the findings of the most extensive study on how storytelling can build trust in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, undertaken by the Council of Foundations and the Center for Public Interest Communications in 2023.

April 19, 2024 | 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT | Register here

Panorama Global released a new insights report, Making the Case to Invest in Collaborative Funds, from collaborative funds that received a MacKenzie Scott grant. Today, there are more than 400 philanthropic collaboratives based in the U.S. and increasing in popularity worldwide. These funds pool donor resources, provide deep subject matter expertise, channel resources to organizations that accelerate social change, and leverage the power of the collective to address complex systemic social issues. Read the report here.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shared a toolkit ahead of May being Mental Health Awareness Month. The toolkit includes social media content to spread awareness, support, and resources, best practices for engaging in health discussions about mental health, and promotional materials for mental health awareness. Learn more here.

What We're Reading

To boost birthrates, we must give women the freedom of choice — The Guardian

The NCAA women’s basketball final outrated the men’s for the first time ever — CNN

Stickers, soap and legal help: the rise of Mexico City’s ‘feminist markets’ — The Guardian

What We're Watching

Domonique Morgan, TS Madison, and Atlanta entrepreneur Gocha Hawkins on the set of WE tv (AMC Networks) series "Bold and Bougie" exploring the essence of philanthropy with influential black women in the South.

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