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Dear John,
In January we take stock of our priorities and get back to work after a period of celebration, ritual, and rest. I am grateful for this season -- chilly as it is -- because of the opportunity to recommit to what is most important.
This year the call to recommit comes amidst shameful violence and monumental transition across our democracy. We continue to weather a pandemic that has laid bare deep systemic inequities in the United States with devastating consequences for women, people of color, and people living in poverty. As always, the Ms. Foundation for Women remains 100% committed to our vision of a safe and just world where power and possibility for ALL women are not limited by identity. We believe that feminism is fundamental to a strong democracy. We go forward in the light of this vision and belief. Here’s what we’ve been up to the past few weeks:
We are joined by 10 new grantee-partners in the Activist Collaboration Fund! The ACF is a capacity building initiative that provides unrestricted, single-year “rapid” grants of $20,000 to $25,0000 to address critical organizational priorities related to the impact of COVID-19. The December ACF docket represents nine states: California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Puerto Rico. 80% of the grantee-partner organizations are led by Black women, Indigenous women, or Trans people of color and 20% are led by immigrant women.
The Ms. South team is hard at work evaluating more than 350 applications received in response to our December call for letters of intent. As we announced in December, Ms. South is a million-dollar, multi-year grantmaking strategy to support the sustainability and leadership of organizations led by women and girls of color in the southern region of the United States. We are excited about the response to this program and committed both to resourcing and amplifying the work and impact of a group of leaders and a region of the country that has been historically ignored by philanthropy.
Philanthropy Women noted that all four Ms. Foundation Founding Mothers joined our CEO and President Teresa C. Younger in observing the historic inauguration of the first female Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris and congratulating President Biden and his team.
Women are faltering under the impossible load of juggling jobs and unsupported caregiving responsibilities during COVID-19. In today’s statement, we urge the Biden-Harris administration to expand the protections of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act to create the possibility for true equity for all women. As women put our own bodies and mental health on the line to juggle caregiving and workforce responsibilities, it is past time to close the gap.
And don’t miss this in February. . .
February 17 and February 25: After an exciting Women+Power series last fall, Ms. Foundation joins the Center for Brooklyn History again for a new speaker series called Beyond White Feminism: Envisioning an Intersectional Future. The two-part series will feature discussions related to White Feminism, a book by Koa Beck, former editor-in-chief of feminist media outlet Jezebel. In the words of Combahee River Collective cofounder Barbara Smith, “White Feminism documents how. . . race and class have undermined US feminism since the very beginning.” Facilitated by Koa Beck, the panelists will include Roxanne Gay, Rinku Sen, Barbara Smith, Teresa C. Younger, and Andie Zeisler. Go to the Center for Brooklyn History website to find more information and to register.
In Solidarity,
Ruth McFarlane
Vice President, Advancement
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