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Dear Colleagues,
We have much to look forward to in 2021: From worldwide distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the inauguration of a new president and the first Black, Asian American and woman vice president. A little closer to home, Women’s Funding Network also has good news for the New Year.
This week, we are pleased to announce the appointment of four new members to our board of directors: Junemarie Justus, Adriana Loson-Ceballos, Ada Williams Prince and Teresa Younger. As many of you who’ve worked with these exceptional women’s philanthropy leaders already know, this is a talented and experienced group of women, hailing from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. Let me share a bit about each of these inspirational women with you.
Junemarie Justus is a social justice advocate with three decades of international technology trade experience and two decades of strategic social impact partnerships to advance human rights. Justus is currently a board member for Women’s Economic Ventures, United Nations delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women, a council member of the Human Rights Watch — Santa Barbara Committee and former co-chair of Women’s Rights Champions at the Global Fund for Women. As an activist she has advocated in support of the Equal Rights Amendment and drafted the U.S. Women's Caucus policy response to the U.S. administration's USAID 2020 Gender Policy.
Adriana Loson-Ceballos is a philanthropist, fundraiser, academic and citizen scholar. With 12 years as a fundraiser for nonprofits, she is an advocate for changing philanthropy. At Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), she leads all resource mobilization efforts, building the connections and infrastructure to move toward community-based and community-centric fundraising practices.Adriana has raised funds for community health, human rights, civil rights and decolonizing museum collections. She regularly speaks on catalyzing giving in communities of color and how to use forms of collective philanthropy models to build civic power. She currently serves on the board of directors of the United Philanthropy Forum, and is a representative of EPIP within the CHANGE Philanthropy and WINGS philanthropy networks.
Ada Williams Prince leads several bodies of emerging programmatic work at Pivotal Ventures and was previously program officer at the Marguerite Casey Foundation in Seattle. Prior to this she served as director of special projects for OneAmerica, where she directed their women's rights policy program, focusing on immigrant women and girls. Ada has also worked with the Women's Refugee Commission in New York and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Survivors in Brussels, Belgium, as well as worked for Concern Worldwide, Plan International UK and Save the Children in London. She currently serves on the board of iLeap and Women’s Funding Alliance and is a partner at Social Venture Partners.
Teresa Younger is an activist, advocate, organizational strategist and a proven leader in the philanthropic and policy sectors. She is the president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. Prior to joining the Ms. Foundation for Women, Teresa served as the executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut — the first African American and the first woman to hold that position. Within the philanthropic sector she works on initiatives to shape and change the narrative of women and girls, including Grantmakers for Girls of Color, Funders for Reproductive Equity, Philanthropy New York and Black Funders for Social Justice.
As you can see, each new board member shares the same commitment and passion for our intersectional, feminist movement for equity and justice that continues to be the hallmark of our members and network. Please join me in welcoming Junemarie, Adriana, Ada and Teresa to their new roles. We look forward to working more closely with them when they take their seats, in 2021.
Thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of women, girls and equality.
Yours for equity and justice,
Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO
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The Women's Foundation of Colorado launched the first Women & Girls of Color Fund Advisory Council to advise on grantmaking. The council will serve as a space for women, girls, and nonbinary people of color to connect, learn together, and make granting decisions.
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99,000 women and families helped by the Women’s Fund of Colorado in 2020, through two rounds of rapid response grantmaking. WFCO engaged state policy education efforts to pass four pieces of legislation to address the pandemic, relating to childcare, food insecurity, housing and heating assistance. Read more about their big year here!
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When COVID hit, the Texas Women’s Foundation acted quickly to understand the need and build the community of support and in April, they established the Resilience Fund to provide immediate, mid- and long-term support to women, girls and families most affected by the COVID-19 economic and community health crisis. With $1.4 million raised and granted, the Resilience Fund is impacting lives of many, especially women of color, who have been the hardest hit this year.
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The Women's Fund of Miami-Dade built on their reputation as a leading advocate for survivors of domestic violence in 2020 with a new COVID-19 public awareness campaign, worked with the city of Miami on the city’s resilience efforts and continued their anti-sex trafficking campaign highlighted around the Super Bowl each year. Read their 2020 wrap-up,
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The Maine Women's Fund engaged throughout 2020 in examining their internal commitment and practice to build DEI internally and in their grantmaking and investments, in one of their biggest grantmaking years to date! Read more about their process and record year in this wrap-up of their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work in 2020, as well as a end-of-year letter from Executive Director Kimberly Crichton.
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Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis worked quickly when the pandemic hit to assess the needs in TN, deploy over $400,000 in grantmaking dollars, created a regional response with regional funders, and was selected by the state to distribute $150M in CARES act funding. This report is work the read - "Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic."
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This year, Fondo Semillas is celebrating their 30th anniversary. Check out the campaign here!
This year, Fondo Semillas had a leadership transition in which Laura García left a strong organization. Gaby Toledo and Tania Turner took the lead in March just before the pandemic contingency began. While challenging, they were able to respond effectively to the emergency, supporting more than 20 groups with the rapid response fund. Now they have installed a permanent program called Resilient Communities, which will be focused on supporting strategies of prevention and mitigation of emergencies and crises, as well as implementation of alternative local solutions to the actual economic system, such as Buen Vivir framework.
They were supported by a campaign promoted by Alondra de la Parra, called The Impossible Orchestra, in which she was able to join musicians to play virtually together the Danzon no.2 by Arturo Márquez. With this grant they were able to support, between others, the National Refugee Network which worked with women suffering domestic violence, giving them support, advisory and shelter when needed.
Take a moment to listen to the Impossible Orchestra, this music moves us!
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Kelly Nevins, Executive Director
In 2020, the Women's Fund of Rhode Island
- Helped to pass the RI Parentage Act, which ensures equality for LGBTQ+ parents so they can establish their parentage like other families and provides a clear standard for courts to resolve competing claims of parentage
- Gave $60,000 in grants to organizations working to create a more gender and racial equitable Rhode Island
- Released two research reports, including "The Uneven Path 2020: State Investments in Women's Economic Security" and "Census of Directors and Chief Executives at Rhode Island's Largest Nonprofit Organizations," both highlighting areas of gender & racial inequity in Rhode Island
- Graduated 16 diverse, grassroots advocates from our Women's Policy Institute, who are hard at work advocating for housing reform; access to affordable, quality childcare; and increased minimum wages for essential workers
- Received the RI Secretary of State Medallion for our work in getting out the vote and for advocating for a safe, accessible election through mail in ballots and early voting
- Our Executive Director was honored as the Social Service Sector Industry "Woman of the Year" by Providence Business News
- The organization was honored as the Nonprofit Diversity & Inclusion Champion by Providence Business News
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Meet WFN'S Newest Staff Members!
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Jessica Dimas, Program Assistant
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 Jessica Dimas comes to the Women’s Funding Network with a deep commitment to uplifting community voices and promoting inclusive practices to advance intersectional equity and social justice. Prior to joining the WFN, Jessica held a number of positions in her years working with Centro Legal de la Raza, first as a paralegal focused on deportation defense for children and families in Northern and Central California, and most recently, coordinating the Workers’ Rights Helpline and Immigrant Relief Fund projects through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a Fulbright Scholar, Jessica taught English and worked with a grassroots organization researching local environmental concerns in Chiapas, Mexico. Jessica earned her bachelor's degree in Community Health and American Studies from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.
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Karla Rivera, Operations Assistant
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 Karla Michelle Rivera joins the Women’s Funding Network team as the Operations Assistant, bringing with her a strong commitment to social justice, and a long background in supporting organizational strength and effectiveness.
Prior to WFN, Karla worked at the Solidago Foundation where she was responsible for supporting the Communications and Development Team in their fundraising and communications initiatives. Karla worked closely with the Director of Development and the Chief Executive Officer in her role as the Partnerships and Communications Assistant during a transformative time for the organization.Karla was later promoted to Office Manager where she continued her support of the organization to include operations support and management of office operations and staff.
Born in the small tropical island of Puerto Rico and raised in Massachusetts, Karla currently resides in Springfield, MA with her family. She is a non-traditional student who obtained an Associate’s in Business Administration and is pursuing her Bachelor’s in Business Studies at UMass – Amherst.
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OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
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The Women’s Philanthropy Institute has released the second annual Women & Girls Index (WGI) report, which found that giving to women’s and girls’ organizations grew from $6.3 billion in 2016 to $7.1 billion in 2017. Since total charitable giving grew as well, the share of funding for women’s and girls’ organizations remains relatively small: 1.6%.
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Apply for Emerge's Young Leaders Cabinet! Through virtual events and other fundraising initiatives, this Cabinet will bring together people in the first 15 years of their careers, passionate about creating change in our country.
Applications must be submitted by December 18, 2020.
For more information, click here!
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ACLU created a to-do list for the Biden Administration to make women's equity a top priority. Check it out here.
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Angelina Jolie spoke with Harper's Bazaar about the UN'S 16 Days of Activism campaign, an initiative against gender-based violence. Read the interview here.
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Melinda Gates calls on the Biden administration to appoint a caregiving czar. - Fortune
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Meet the team of women who will be under the Biden administration's COVID-19 task team. - NBC News
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Maria Gomez is the first transgender woman to play soccer in Argentina. - ESPN
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Valerie Jarrett will now be leading the Obama Foundation on an interim basis. - Chicago Sun Times
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The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation announced they will spend $50 million over the next five years to help generate a new way of thinking about capitalism and the economy. - Philanthropy
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Djurdja Trajković and Galina Maksimović from the Reconstruction Women’s Fund in Serbia have written a piece about philanthropic responses to COVID-19 and it effects for Alliance Magazine. Check it out here!
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Bill Gates says, "Women are ‘absolutely critical’ to ensuring everyone has access to finances." - CNBC
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One in three full-time workers have experienced a pay cut due to coronavirus pandemic this year. However, while men and women experienced pandemic pay cuts at nearly equal rates, men were more likely than women to say their pay has been restored. - CNBC
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WATCH: #MyImageMyChoice is a UK campaign highlighting survivors of image-based sexual abuse with the hope that their stories will motivate their government to push for new laws.
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Browse the New WFN Website!
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If you have a story to share, email Megan at
[email protected]
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