** DECEMBER 18, 2020
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Elizabeth Headshot

Dear Colleagues,

This week philanthropist MacKenzie Scott made headlines ([link removed]) for donating over $4.2 billion in the last four months to more than 300 organizations — including historically Black colleges, emergency relief funds, food banks, and two of WFN’s founding partners: Ms. Foundation for Women and Global Fund for Women.

We are thrilled that Scott recognized the leadership of President and CEO of Ms. Foundation and new WFN board member, Teresa Younger, and President and CEO of Global Fund, Latanya Mapp Frett. Women and girls around the world will be better off with these new resources in the hands of these visionary and impactful organizations. Congratulations to Younger and Mapp Frett and their teams, and to Scott for setting an example for the world's leading philanthropists.

But we urge Scott and her team not to stop there. Women’s funds and gender equity funders are social change innovators who work locally, but who also work together for 10x impact on the world’s most challenging issues. However, despite decades of proven leadership and demonstrable results, the sector remains chronically underfunded.

Just last week, the Women's Philanthropy Institute released, "The Women & Girls Index (WGI) 2020: Measuring Giving to Women’s and Girls’ Causes ([link removed]) ," a report finding that only 1.6 percent of overall charitable giving goes to women and girls-focused groups — even though these groups represent 3.4 percent of all charitable organizations in the U.S. Further, the amount of total giving for women and girls, $7.1 billion, is barely half of the amount given to the next smallest area of giving, at $12 billion for animals and the environment.

What is glaringly obvious, especially amid 2020’s pandemic, economic and looming potential housing crises ([link removed]) that have disproportionately affected women and particularly women of color ([link removed]) , as Women’s Philanthropy Institute Director Jeannie Sager points out ([link removed]) , is that women’s and girls’ causes — particularly those addressing the intersection of race, gender and other areas of inequality — will need more resources. And having the empirical data to back this up provides an opportunity as well, in part by providing insights that can kick-start the kinds of discussion and action necessary to fill the significant funding gaps and generate greater
philanthropic support for these critical organizations.

We celebrate Scott’s generosity and recognition of two of our powerful sister organizations. We hope it is just the beginning of an overdue sector-wide investment. Until then, WFN will continue to make the case for donors of all levels to prioritize women’s funds and foundations in every region and community. We got us.

Yours for equity and justice,
Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO
Meet the WFN Board! ([link removed])
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WFN Executive Director Elizabeth Barajas-Román is featured in Forbes: "Now’s Our Chance: After A Tumultuous 2020, Women Leaders Share 8 Ways To Rebuild A Better World." Check out the article here ([link removed]) !

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Women's Funding Network partnered with Funders Concerned About AIDS (FCAA) to host "FCAA Connect: Funding for Trans Communities." The session explored how grantmaking institutions do or do not support transgender women and men, both as marginalized communities but also as stakeholders within the feminist movement. To view a recording of the webinar, click here ([link removed]) .
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The WNY Women's Foundation drove policy decisions and funding for their region to maximize opportunities for women, empowered women in the workforce through their "ALL IN WNY" initiative, and invested in families through their "MOMs: From Education to Employment program" and their new Women's Economic Mobility Hub. Read their 2020 community impact report ([link removed]) .

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Women's Foundation of Greater St. Louis released its fourth annual 2020 Women in the Workplace Employment Scorecard ([link removed]) , a survey that asks employers questions about their policies and outcomes around gender equity in four key areas: leadership, compensation, flexible work policies, and retention and recruitment. This year's survey features a section exploring workplace policies, practices, and resources in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Best practices in support of women and working families during the pandemic will be highlighted in a community report released early next year.

The Women's Foundation of Arkansas launched their Women Owned COVID-19 Relief Grant Fund in the spring to respond to the direct need of women-owned small businesses in their state who were ineligible or lacked the resources to obtain federal and state aid. Within two months, they were able to assist 16 businesses with grants totaling almost $80,000.

For over 22 years, Washington Area Women’s Foundation has invested in women’s economic security. From their position, they know firsthand the unique challenges facing women and girls and are equipped to invest in solutions. Thus, created the Stand Together Fund in April, and identified two issue areas where there has been a dearth of funding. Yet the need only grows each day—the safety of women experiencing violence, and the stability of frontline care workers. In 2020, they made a commitment to fund women of color-led organizations and over 80% of our Stand Together funding has benefitted women and person of color led and serving organizations in 2020.

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In 2020, the Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts:
* Have centered girls and young women of color in Springfield, Mass. through their Young Women’s Initiative ([link removed]) (YWI) as part of a National Philanthropic Collaborative of Young Women’s Initiatives ([link removed])
* Graduated a diverse group of nearly 40 women and young women in their two leadership programs: the Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) and the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact (LIPPI)
* Awarded Women of Color in Fundraising membership scholarships to 13 women of color fundraisers in their region
* Awarded grants to 5 Western Mass. nonprofits working on the prevention and intervention of sexual-based violence with a committee led by local survivors
+ #MeToo Movement Funding Awarded in Participatory Grantmaking Process ([link removed]) , July 1, 2020
+ Me Too Grantmaking Update ([link removed]) , December 1, 2020
* Awarded 4 mini-grants ([link removed]) to local nonprofits on the recommendations of theirYWI cohort
* Convened domestic violence service providers and women heads of nonprofits to navigate the pandemic
* Launched a monthly, virtual Power Women Hour series ([link removed]) featuring women of color entrepreneurs (most recent episode ([link removed]) )
* Launched their Amplify workshop series to provide technical assistance to nonprofits (most recent workshop ([link removed]) )
* Convened the other Mass. Women’s Funds for information sharing and strategic partnerships
* Celebrated the 25^th anniversary of the WFWM founders’ trip to the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing by the United Nations with a virtual discussion with global experts ([link removed]) on Peace, Power, and Prosperity for Women and Girls
* Exceeded their annual goal for new donors
* Over $400,000 has been committed to the Ripple Effect Campaign by 64 donors

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The Women's Foundation of Oregon distributed $750K from their Immediate Impact Fund ([link removed]) for COVID relief, wildfire response, and racial justice work.

SEND US YOUR 2020 UPDATES! (mailto:[email protected])


** WFN MEMBER NEWS
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The Women’s Fund Miami-Dade hosts a monthly forum called Impact Collaboratives to discuss issues and potential solutions regarding women and girls in Miami. The next Impact Collaborative is entitled Forced Labor, Sex Trafficking and Exploitation of Children: A Parallel Pandemic.

January 7, 2020
9:00am-10:30am
Register here ([link removed]) !



** OPPORTUNITIES AND RESOURCES
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The Marguerite Casey Foundation ([link removed]) recently launched a partnership with One World to connect some of the nation’s leading writers with organizers, influencers, and readers and engage them in national conversations about equity, truth, and power.

On January 14, One World will be hosting a virtual book club on Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham’s Black Futures ([link removed]) , led by publisher Chris Jackson. The One World Ideas x Action Book Club asks readers to reflect on how we can transform the spirit and ideals of these texts into actionable change in the real world.
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Korwin Consulting and Groundswell Fund have released a new report, "Strategy, Action, and Impact: Groundswell Fund’s Evaluation of the Reproductive Justice Movement in 2019 ([link removed]) ," which spotlights the organizing and advocacy impacts of a movement led by women and trans and gender non-conforming people of color.

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The Moth and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are offering three virtual storytelling workshops in February and March of 2021, to raise up the personal experience of people related to economic mobility.

Applications will be accepted through Friday, December 28, 2020 at 6pm EST.
For more information and to apply, click here ([link removed]) .

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The Women's Catalytic Fund's (WCF) Spring 2021 grant cycle is open for proposals. WCF offers one-time grants of up to $15,000 and prioritizes investing in female-identifying, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming leaders from the BIPOC community.

Proposals are due on Wednesday, February 17 at 5 pm (Pacific Time).

For more information, click here ([link removed]) !


** WEEKLY READ
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There's skepticism in Black and Latino communities about COVID-19 vaccines, but women of color can help swing the momentum. - USA Today ([link removed])

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Read an opinion piece ([link removed]) from Serena Williams about Silicon Valley and Black women entrepreneurs. "As a venture capitalist investing in early-stage startups, I see myself in the Black female founders who are often counted out right from the start."
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The field of artificial intelligence is far too male-dominated. Read here ([link removed]) to learn about 8 leading women in AI today.

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Biden's cabinet could be the first to include at least as many women as men. - FiveThirtyEight ([link removed])
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These five charts show the pandemic's devastating effect on working women. - CNN ([link removed])

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A recent Pew Research Center study ([link removed]) finds that women in 56 countries experienced social hostilities due to clothing that was deemed to violate religious or secular dress norms.
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Denmark has passed a new law that recognizes sex without consent is rape. - Amnesty International ([link removed])

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WATCH: Sarah Fuller just became the first woman ever to score in a major Power Five college football game.


** Browse the New WFN Website!
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