Dear John,

“What keeps me going is my love for my community. I wouldn’t be working so hard if I didn’t love them,” said Cecilia Chung, a civil rights leader and LGBTQ+ activist from Hong Kong. 

As a South Asian woman, my love for my community runs deep, and Asian-American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month is an especially meaningful time for me. AANHPI communities have historically demonstrated the power of collective giving and support, and I’m proud to stand on the shoulders of the incredible AANHPI leaders who came before me. 

Identity is everything in this work. Different cultural perspectives and lived experiences allow us to be more creative and innovative in all that we do. I’m so grateful that at the Ms. Foundation I’m able to show up as all of myself, all the time, and to make the circle bigger for as many other people as I can.

In solidarity,

Ms. Foundation in the News

President & CEO Teresa C. Younger spoke to several media outlets, such as the Associated Press, about the news of Melinda French Gates committing additional funding to advance women’s power globally, including funding support to Ms. Foundation. "If philanthropy took lessons from the way that women are moving money, we would see more money in the field having greater impact,” Younger said.

Ruth McFarlane’s promotion to Deputy CEO was announced in Candid. Ruth first joined the Ms. Foundation in 2019 as Vice President of Advancement. Under her leadership, the Foundation has experienced tremendous growth in fundraising revenue, including the launch of the largest capital campaign in the organization’s history, Creating the Future We Deserve, to mark our 50th anniversary. Read the full press release here.

Blog Spotlight: Trans Women of Color Healing Project

To close out Sexual Assault Awareness Month, we lifted up the work of grantee partner Trans Women of Color Healing Project. Their Healing Through Sexual Assault program addresses the unique challenges faced by Black transgender women, both survivors and those at risk of sexual assault, by bridging rural care barriers and linking them to trans-specific services. 

Learn more about the organization in their grantee spotlight!

We’re Hiring! Program Officer, Grantmaking and Capacity Building

The Program Officer is part of the Ms. Foundation’s Grantmaking and Capacity Building Team, working to carry out a unified programmatic strategy centering women, girls, and nonbinary people of color to advance the mission of Ms. Foundation. In this role, they will manage grantmaking for several portfolios including Ms. South and others; identify strategic opportunities and priorities in the field; determine potential grantees and partner organizations; manage grantmaking RFP processes; and collaborate with grantees, funders, colleagues and other partners to advance programmatic goals and outcomes. Learn more and apply now.