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Generation Spark: Igniting, Supporting, and Propelling Girls of Color

December 15, 2022

In 2020, the Ms. Foundation for Women released the groundbreaking report, Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less, which provided a baseline understanding of philanthropic funding and investment in women and girls of color (WGOC) throughout the U.S and its territories. The report found that total philanthropic giving to WGOC averages out to just $5.48 per year for each woman or girl of color in the United States.Since then, the Foundation has continued its strategic approach to invest in WGOC through its grantmaking initiatives, including the national Girls of Color Initiative, which provides funding, leadership development and capacity building resources to support the advocacy and movement building of adolescent girls of color – centering their advocacy needs.Girls of color don't just want to see change in their communities around these issues, they want to create it. The Girls of Color Initiative hopes to shift power back to girls of color to do just that.With new research, surveys, and focus group participation, this appendix takes a closer look at the national landscape of programs and organizations in the U.S. Based on their experience, it directly shares from WGOC what is needed from the philanthropy community to best support girls of color and transgender and gender nonconforming (TGNC) youth of color in their advocacy efforts.

Tired Of Dancing To Their Song: An Assessment of the Indigenous Women’s Reproductive Justice Funding Landscape

December 7, 2021

The Ms. Foundation for Women's Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less report revealed a dearth of philanthropic dollars for Indigenous women and girls. Less than 3% of the more than $350 million in foundation funding was allocated for this group, which has enormous ramifications especially when it comes to reproductive justice.Pocket Change set the stage for larger conversations and initiatives that addresses the historically low levels of philanthropic investment in Indigenous women and girls – examining the needs of Indigenous communities, with Indigenous leaders, to understand how such funding discrepancies are a direct byproduct of colonization and institutional systems and how to shift the philanthropic paradigm to one that prioritizes Native communities.In our convenings with Indigenous women, what emerged as funding priority was the lack of quality health care and that the limits placed on Native women's reproductive choices are directly tied to colonization. Instead of being relegated to a secondary issue, Indigenous Women's Reproductive Justice must be put front and center and made part of a fully inclusive conversation.This assessment, informed by an Indigenous Women's Council, discusses how funders' priorities are not aligned with the needs of the very people who are most lacking reproductive justice and shares their recommended actions to advance reproductive justice in Indigenous communities.

Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less

June 1, 2020

Women and girls of color are pivotal frontline leaders and organizers in the powerful social change movements that pave the way for a more equitable and just democracy. Our report, Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More With Less, seeks to better understand how they do this work and asks critical questions of philanthropy and donors: How is philanthropy supporting or not supporting women and girls of color? Are philanthropic practices in alignment with the breadth of advocacy and services that women of color-led organizations actually provide? How can we change our practices to center women and girls of color in our giving and hold ourselves accountable?As feminist activists and philanthropists working to advance gender and racial equity, we must grow and expand movements for equity while making space for taking care and healing. Each day brings significant challenges and pressures on women and girls of color, especially indigenous and transgender women. Pocket Change is a data-driven testament to how they rise to these challenges with ingenuity, resilience, fortitude, and integrity. These are unprecedented times, and there are many, many ways to engage in philanthropy and activism. We hope that Pocket Change will provide new tools and a mandate to give more, better, and with greater transparency to our gender and racial justice movements. The model of feminist, trust-based philanthropy that centers women and girls of color is needed now more than ever.

The Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline: The Girls' Story

July 9, 2015

This report exposes the ways in which we criminalize girls -- especially girls of color -- who have been sexually and physically abused, and it offers policy recommendations to dismantle the abuse to prison pipeline. It illustrates the pipeline with examples, including the detention of girls who are victims of sex trafficking, girls who run away or become truant because of abuse they experience, and girls who cross into juvenile justice from the child welfare system. By illuminating both the problem and potential solutions, we hope to make the first step toward ending the cycle of victimization-to-imprisonment for marginalized girls.

Ms. Foundation for Women, 2014 Annual Report

January 1, 2015

In 2013, we launched a new project to analyze the links between economic and reproductive justice. These focus areas contend with federal and state government policies that curtail public benefi ts and have adverse consequences for women's economic equality, as well as their reproductive and sexual health and freedom. Unfortunately, across-the-board state and federal budget cuts are having a disproportionate eff ect on low-income women, particularly with respect to the provision of public benefi ts such as health coverage through Medicaid and child care subsidies. We are beginning to develop an integrated landscape analysis and advocacy and communications plan with input from strong grassroots and peer organizations to address these issues systemically.

Celebrating 40 Years: 2013 Annual Report

January 1, 2014

For forty years, the Ms. Foundation for Women has led the charge for women's rights. We were at the frontlines in 1973 and continue to fight for equality, justice and freedom today.

Rights Don't Equal Access

January 16, 2013

40 years after Roe v Wade, most states impose prohibitive requirements for women seeking access to abortion

Hyde Amendment

January 1, 2013

The restrictions posed by the Hyde Amendment unfairly jeapordise the health and well being of low income women, women of colour, and thei families. The infographic describes its effect on women's reproductive healthcare services in the United States.

Ms. Foundation for Women, 2012 Annual Report

January 1, 2013

2012 marked an unprecedented year for the war on women. As a leading national organization dedicated to eliminating barriers facing women in the US, the Ms. Foundation for Women's 2012 annual report was a critical communication that engaged and inspired donors to take action. The central message "there's more to do" acted as a platform for the Ms. Foundation to elevate the most pressing issues, their success stories, their role and positive impact in 2012, and their vision for the future.

Ms. Foundation for Women, 2011 Annual Report

January 1, 2012

Energized by New York, the Ms. Foundation is helping transform a regional win into victory nationwide. We were there to support DWU as it led the formation of the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), a coalition that now boasts 31 member groups from 11 states and is propelling the movement across the United States. Today, the Ms. Foundation is funding a local organization and NDWA member, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, to push for a California Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. The momentum is palpable: Their bill passed the California assembly in June 2011 by a decisive 41-19 margin, setting the stage for passage by the state Senate. In a national political environment awash with increased attacks on women, workers and immigrants, domestic workers' success in New York and California is a beacon of hope for progressives across the United States.

Leading the Way: Advancing the Women's and Social Justice Movements; 2009-2010 Annual Report

January 1, 2011

For nearly four decades, the Ms. Foundation for Women has been a pioneering voice for social justice and the leading national public foundation committed to building the collective power of women to create positive social change.

Ms. Foundation for Women, 2007-2008 Annual Report

August 11, 2010

Each year, in addition to delivering over $4 million in grantmaking, the Ms. Foundation brings together grassroots and national groups like La Voz Latina and NLIRH to learn from and network with one another, tostrategize, and ultimately, to build and strengthen powerful social movements. At the Ms. Foundation, we believe that cultivating these kinds of connections is essential to strengthening our democracy and bringing about the just and safe world we strive to create. That's why in 2008, we launched a new framework for our philanthropy, Creating Connections: Strategies for Stronger Movements. The Ms. Foundation has always linked activists and donors, and recognized the connections among the myriad issues women face in their daily lives. But today, we are supporting new and deeper connections--across race, class and gender, and across issues, constituencies and policymaking levels--to build greater power to ignite inclusive, equitable change.