Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity’s Post

For 25 years the Urgent Action Funds, a consortium of four autonomous feminist funds, have supported the resilience and advocacy efforts of feminist activists across the world. Guided by our Feminist Principles of Philanthropy we strive to transform philanthropy and move towards a more just and equitable world. Alliance Magazine published a series of articles highlighting how we are working to transform philanthropy with our feminist principles. Find this article and a few others detailing how we are practicing these principles in our work here: https://ed.gr/efpbt

For 25 years the Urgent Action Funds, a consortium of four autonomous feminist funds, have supported the resilience and advocacy efforts of feminist activists across the world. Guided by our Feminist Principles of Philanthropy we strive to transform philanthropy and move towards a more just and equitable world. Alliance Magazine published a series of articles highlighting how we are working to transform philanthropy with our feminist principles. Find this article and a few others detailing how we are practicing these principles in our work here: https://ed.gr/efpbt

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. As a board member of Women In Transition (WIT), a non-profit that empowers people to move forward in their lives free of domestic and substance abuse, this cause is very personal to me. Throughout the month I will be sharing facts and events to help support victims of abuse and the WIT community. By acknowledging this reality, we can collectively work towards ending domestic violence and creating safe, healthy communities for everyone. Learn more about WIT: https://helpwomen.org/ #Every1KnowsSome1 #DomesticViolenceAwarenessMonth #DomesticViolence

Just like Melinda French Gates mentions in this very important piece, I never thought I'd see my 13-year-old daughter having fewer rights than I had growing up. For Ms. Gates to spend $1 billion over the next two years to help women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the U.S, is something to celebrate this morning. 👏👏👏 Just one blurb from her piece: "In nearly 20 years as an advocate for women and girls, I have learned that there will always be people who say it’s not the right time to talk about gender equality. Not if you want to be relevant. Not if you want to be effective with world leaders (most of them men). The second the global agenda gets crowded, women and girls fall off. It’s frustrating and shortsighted. Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone. We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow. That women’s political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. That reducing the time women spend in poor health could add as much as $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040." #pivotalventures #womensrights #womensrightsarehumanrights #thankyou

🎆 The definition of impact philanthropy. Kudos to Melinda French Gates for her leadership and investments to advance women's power globally. "Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone," she shares in the New York Times op-ed. "We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow. That women’s political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. That reducing the time women spend in poor health could add as much as $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040." She continues. "Despite the pressing need, only about 2 percent of charitable giving in the United States goes to organizations focused on women and girls, and only about half a percentage point goes to organizations focused on women of color specifically." Brava, Melinda. We look forward to our continued work with partners to advance this type of progress and significant investments as well. Read our latest insights and recommendations on advancing women's political leadership the Global South: https://lnkd.in/gng_Ck2e.

empathyequalsjustice.com (4 pages - 3 min. read) #WomensHealth #ReproductiveHealth #WomensRights #ReproductiveRights ............🤔❣⚖🏗🏛🏗⚖❣🤔............ #ReproductiveJustice #EqualityCantWait

In the doom and gloom of the news cycle, we have a hopeful ✨ bright spot ✨ from one of the world's most impactful living philanthropists and leaders in public health — Melinda French Gates! 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝: "Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone. We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow. That women’s political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. That reducing the time women spend in poor health could add as much as $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040." 𝐓𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬: — Melinda French Gates is transitioning from her role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to focus on their own philanthropic endeavors through their organization, Pivotal. Melinda is committing $1 billion to support women and families globally, including efforts related to reproductive rights in the United States. — The plan involves strategic funding to organizations such as the National Women’s Law Team, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and the Center for Reproductive Rights, aiming to balance the playing field in the fight for women’s rights. — She's experimenting with new philanthropic approaches. For example, she recently offered 12 people their own $20 million grant-making fund to distribute as he or she sees fit. That group — which includes the former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, the athlete and maternal-health advocate Allyson Felix, and an Afghan champion of girls’ education, Shabana Basij-Rasikh — represents a wide range of expertise and experience. — On the horizon, there will be a $250 million initiative focused on improving the mental and physical health of women and girls globally. By issuing an open call to grass-roots organizations beyond the reach of major funders, she hopes to lift up groups with personal connections to the issues they work on.

The active participation of women in leadership and the solutions they offer turn men into a force of change as well. This notion presents a disconnect from the fixed mindset that arises from the world of exploitation. Men, who have become alienated from their true human essence due to the male-dominated culture, rediscover their human potential. This transformation, which should be regarded as a true awakening and an authentic cultural transformation, is the trigger for the eruption of hidden energies. 

Hopefully some of this investment includes support for innovative childcare programs. That is one of the hurdles we have to address with our CARES program. The other area I hope/know this will probably help is with Increasing exposure to career pathways. Groups like LEAD Girls of NC and other initiatives should start getting their programming overviews in order to apply when this opens. There is a tendency and belief now, amongst many philanthropists, to build strong non-profits by seeding them first with smaller gifts, which can be transformational the small non-profits. Philanthropists then watch for the impact and then adjust the sluices of support, to build a longer term strategy for their giving, that makes the impact they wish to see. It looks like Melinda French Gates is setting up a similar strategy. Which is probably wise because, as we have seen with Mackenzie Scott, sometimes the funds you give in trust are not always utilized to make the exact impact your wish to see. This is though the beauty of Mrs. Scott’s model.

Powerful reasons to change the narrative ; We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow. That women’s political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. 💜