NY Women’s Foundation, NoVo and 15 Other PNY Members Support Leadership of Young Women of Color with $2.1M
New York (January 9, 2017) - The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color, a collaboration of 16 foundations, announced its 2016 grants totaling $2.1 million, awarded to 28 non-profit organizations across the five boroughs. Each organization works to cultivate the leadership of young women of color as change agents to advance cultural and systemic shifts. The grantees provide services, leadership development and advocacy in the areas of health, economic and workforce development, community support and opportunity, education, and anti-violence/criminal justice.
The Fund, managed by and housed at The New York Women’s Foundation, is an example of collaborative philanthropy where organizations pool resources to better leverage collective use of their assets. Launched by The New York Women’s Foundation and NoVo Foundation in 2014, it was formed to increase philanthropic resources available to organizations that advance the leadership of New York’s girls and young women of color and address longstanding issues that inhibit opportunity and provoke inequity.
The first of its kind in the United States, it is also unique in its specific mission to foster sustained structural change that will transform the lives of young women of color -- breaking generational cycles of poverty, abuse, and disinvestment. To that end, The Fund’s Participatory Review Committee (PRC), which helps select grant recipients, includes a majority of young women of color who are new to philanthropy and participatory grantmaking. The members of the PRC were (in majority) young women of color who facilitated site visits, read all proposals and made formal recommendations to the funding members participating in the effort.
The 2016 members of The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color are the Andrus Family Fund, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Cricket Island Foundation, Ford Foundation, Foundation For A Just Society, Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Ms. Foundation for Women, The New York Community Trust, The New York Women's Foundation North Star Fund, NoVo Foundation, Pinkerton Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Schott Foundation, Surdna Foundation, and Third Wave Fund.
Ana Oliveira, President & CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation said, “Recent events in our country have underscored the urgency in investing in the lives of young women of color, so they can take their rightful place as the next generation of leaders. Together, the members of The NYC Fund for Girls and Women of Color and its grantee partners will share strength, strategies and resources to help make this so.”
“If we want to create a world in which girls can live free from violence and discrimination, we must truly listen to them and follow their lead,” said Pamela Shifman, Executive Director of the NoVo Foundation. “Girls and young women of color are the best agents in transforming their communities and it’s time we invest in their leadership. That’s exactly what these grants will do.”
The 2016 NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women grantees are:
Ancient Song Doula Services | $50,000 |
Arab American Association of New York | $60,000 |
Arab American Family Support Center | $60,000 |
Atlas: DIY | $75,000 |
Black Alliance for Just Immigration | $75,000 |
Black Women's Blueprint | $75,000 |
CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities | $70,000 |
Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education | $100,000 |
Community Connections for Youth, Inc. | $75,000 |
CONNECT, Inc. | $85,000 |
DRUM - Desis Rising Up & Moving | $60,000 |
FIERCE | $60,000 |
Girls for Gender Equity | $250,000 |
Hetrick-Martin Institute | $70,000 |
Make the Road New York | $50,000 |
National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum | $60,000 |
New York City Anti-Violence Project | $75,000 |
Resilience Advocacy Project | $50,000 |
Sadie Nash Leadership Project | $100,000 |
South Asian Youth Action | $60,000 |
S.O.U.L. Sisters Leadership Collective | $80,000 |
Sylvia Rivera Law Project | $60,000 |
The Alex House Project, Inc | $100,000 |
The Audre Lorde Project, Inc. | $75,000 |
The Brotherhood/Sister Sol | $75,000 |
Turning Point for Women and Families | $50,000 |
Welfare Rights Initiative | $60,000 |
YWCA/The Young Women’s Christian Association Of The City Of New York |
$50,000 |
Since 2015, The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color has distributed $2.4 million in grants.
About The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color:
The NYC Fund for Girls and Young Women of Color is the first fund of its kind in the United States, bringing together a growing and evolving collaboration comprised currently of 16 foundations committed to increasing philanthropic investments for advancing the leadership of girls and young women of color toward cultural and systemic change.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Nancy Guida, 646-564-5988 or nguida@nywf.org
Ilyse Fink or Barbara Dimajo, 212-575-4545 or ifink@lakpr.com / bdimajo@lakpr.com