Welcome to the weekly newsletter from the Women's Funding Network.

WEEKLY NEWS // MAY 31, 2022

// A LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT & CEO

Stanford Social Innovation Review: Women's Funds After the Pandemic

Dear Colleagues,

The small silver lining of the pandemic is that through leveraging investments from larger foundations, government, and other funders, preliminary data suggests that women’s funds not only recovered from initial COVID-19 losses but, on average, showed double-digit growth in operating and grantmaking budgets.

Specifically, funds with grantmaking budgets between $100k and $1M saw an average of 43% growth in grantmaking budgets from 2019 to 2022.

The new resources allowed you to deepen your focus on core issues affecting women. For example, the Women’s Foundation for the State of Arizona lobbied the state to pass legislation to help moms maintain childcare financial assistance while enrolling in full-time education. The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio made micro-grants to organizations who are the least likely to receive institutional dollars, with a significant amount of funding directed to programs led by and for women of color and refugees. The Iowa Women’s Foundation helped the state make informed recommendations for long-term childcare solutions, including funding a new program to increase the number of childcare workers across the state. The Western New York Women's Foundation brought thought leadership to an economic recovery task force, lobbying to ensure childcare concerns were understood–and funded–at the highest federal level.

Healing our communities will take time and purposeful effort. Thankfully, because of you, we are already seeing progress.

From legislative work to grassroots fundraising to immediate impact giving, it’s clear that women’s funds are pioneering solutions that have a measurable, sustainable, and life-altering effect. You can read more about the data on how women’s funds are changing the post-pandemic landscape for gender equity in the Stanford Social Innovation Review [[link removed]].

In solidarity,

Elizabeth

Elizabeth Barajas-Román

Women’s Funding Network

President & CEO

Read the SSIR Article [[link removed]] WFN Member News

Thank you to Fondo Semillas [[link removed]] for renewing 2022 WFN Membership!

Learn More about our Members [[link removed]]

On April 26th at the Omni Dallas Hotel, Texas Women’s Foundation brought together nearly 600 people to celebrate the Maura Women Helping Women and Young Leader Awards to exemplary trailblazers across Texas. To read more about the event, click here [[link removed]].

The Women's Foundation of Alabama has released a new report: Clearing the Path: Galvanizing the Economic Impact of Women [[link removed]].

The Wallace Foundation has released a new report: Developing Effective Principals: What Kind of Learning Matters? [[link removed]].

The Women's Fund of Winston Salem has launched a new event series, Ideas to Action [[link removed]]. Join them for the second event in this series, hosted in partnership with the Black Philanthropy Initiative and Youth Grantmakers in Action: Equity in Education. June 7, 2022 | 6:00pm-7:30pm EST | Register here [[link removed]]

Matters That Count [[link removed]], the federal election initiative of the Victorian Women's Trust, launched this week, with more than 100 groups of screeners across 55 electorates putting the eight matters that counted before their candidates a week ahead of the election. Read the eight top Matters That Count to Australian Women [[link removed]]

The Women's Foundation of Colorado has released an updated Statement on Access to Reproductive Health Care [[link removed]], and the importance of including the abortion explicitly in public health campaigns.

Join the Women's Fund of Miami-Dade for the June Impact Collaborative: Reproductive Health, Justice, and rights. [[link removed]]Definitions, Distinctions, Intersections and Calls to Action.

Opportunities and Resources

Women's Forum invites any talented young women who are on their way to becoming influential figures in our economies and societies to join their Rising Talents community. [[link removed]] Applications close June 1st. To learn more about the opportunity, click here [[link removed]].

The Roosevelt Institute and a panel of President Biden's economic advisors will convene for a virtual discussion on the worldview that has shaped the Biden administration’s policy choices, as well as the work that remains to lay the foundation for a more inclusive, resilient economy. June 2, 2022 | 11:00am EST | Register here [[link removed]]

In conversation:

Felicia Wong, President and CEO, Roosevelt Institute

Bharat Ramamurti, Deputy Director, National Economic Council

Ben Harris, Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, Department of the Treasury

Mike Konczal (moderator), Director of Macroeconomic Analysis, Roosevelt Institute

The 26th annual Celebration of Courage gala [[link removed]], hosted by OutRight Action International, highlights the achievements and advances by activists leading the charge to gain equal rights for LGBTIQ people around the world.

Join United Philanthropy Forum for the 2022 Forum Annual Conference [[link removed]], which brings together people from all of the country’s philanthropy associations and networks—philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs) that play a key role in advancing, convening, mobilizing, informing and supporting the field. To register, click here [[link removed]].

The National Women's Law Center has released a Resource Hub [[link removed]] in response to the leaked draft of The Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Visit to find out what actions you can take, and messaging guides.

Check out the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's resource: Funding the Frontlines: A Roadmap to Supporting Health Equity through Abortion Access [[link removed]].

What We're Reading

Nonprofits Fighting Gender Violence Have Struggled Since Losing Buffetts' Funding. They Urgently Need More Support.

— T [[link removed]] he Chronicle of Philanthropy [[link removed]]

Women Still Absent From Top Ranks at Italy Firms, Regulators Say.

— B [[link removed]] loomberg [[link removed]]

Women's Voices Make Businesses Better.

— E [[link removed]] ntrepreneur [[link removed]]

The 10 U.S. cities where women are most likely to earn $100,000 or more.

— C [[link removed]] NBC [[link removed]]

What We're Watching

Women’s Foundation of the South has aired the first episode of its four-part Learn with Us series, which amplifies the Foundation’s vision of a flourishing South, where womxn and girls of color are healthy, doing well financially, and able to determine their own destinies, ensuring that they and their families thrive.

Have a story to share?

Email Ellen at [[email protected]]

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