CHAMPIONS FOR EQUALITY

A learning journey to bring together philanthropists and activists around the world to seek inspiration, share knowledge, and take action for gender justice.

BECOME A CHAMPION

WE ENVISION A WORLD WHERE MOVEMENTS FOR GENDER JUSTICE HAVE TRANSFORMED POWER AND PRIVILEGE FOR A FEW INTO EQUITY AND EQUALITY FOR ALL

Only 1.9% of all charitable donations are made to organizations dedicated to women and girls

We’re shifting power to the people most impacted by gender injustice—including Black people, Indigenous people, people of color, LGBTQI+ people, rural women, people with disabilities, and sex workers. We believe they know how to create revolutionary change and trust them to determine how to address the most urgent issues their communities are facing.

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WHY WE’RE DIFFERENT

We believe in building a global community of donors and passionate partners who want to learn about the issues facing women, girls, and all marginalized communities around the world. Together we build bridges with international activist networks who support gender justice movements.

Through Champions for Equality, we engage committed philanthropists to connect, learn in community, and collaborate in new ways toward global gender equality.

LEARN TOGETHER

As an intimate cohort, we commit to a three-year program focused on a specific gender-justice-related theme. Through workshops, deep-dive classes, readings, partner visits, and discussions, members participate in a transformative learning journey, interrogating traditional philanthropic mindsets, principles, approaches, and language to model a different way of practicing philanthropy—one that values equity over charity. We meet with guest faculty, grantmaking and evaluation experts, and local activists and community leaders to understand the power of funding movements.

Themes are chosen based on the emerging needs of grassroots movements. Past themes include reproductive justice in Kenya, violence against women in Morocco, domestic worker unionization in India, and climate justice in the Pacific Islands and Caribbean.

FUND COLLECTIVELY

Each Champion commits $100,000 annually for three years for collective grantmaking. Together we fund at least $1 million in grants to each movement (generally three movements per cohort), distributed across multiple grassroots organizations. Over the course of the experience, participants learn the movement landscape, meet movement leaders and activists, and read grant applications—learning how to fund and holistically support movements for gender justice.

SHIFT POWER

We don’t hide from discussions of wealth, inequality, and power. Exploring these topics, building relationships with other donors, and sharing about our philanthropic work is part of our practice. We connect with donors in the majority world to ensure that our philanthropy works in concert with theirs. Our Champion members finish their journeys prepared to be advocates in their own communities. We support them to join the international community of donor activists on delegations, conference panels, and local and global events.

TRAVEL

Annual trips to meet with grantee partners and movement leaders underscore the collaborative nature of change-making, helps build relationships, and enables Champions to see their giving in action. Our week-long trips combine experiential learning with local community members, mealtime conversations with country experts, and exciting activities inspired by our locations.

WHO WE ARE

Champions for Equality is an initiative of Global Fund for Women, a feminist fund with a 30+ year track record of providing core, flexible funding and resources to activists to drive gender equality around the world.

Learn more about Global Fund for Women

I've been surprised by how many close friendships I've built, not only with women in the Bay Area, who are now my go-tos for hikes and dinners, but with women we've met around the world. You never know when you will meet someone who will completely change your perspective, or who just captures your attention because of how intensely they live their life.

Theresa Preston-Werner

Champions for Equality co-chair

For me, joining Champions has been life-changing. Every trip I’ve taken with Global Fund has deepened my commitment to their model of feminist philanthropy. When you meet someone making a difference in their community, you can feel it. Over and over on international trips I’ve been blown away by the women we’ve met, their complete command of the needs of their community, and their steely determination to achieve a better future. I come away thinking, These are the people we need to fund to make real change. And Global Fund for Women has the deep networks to find, connect, and fund them.

Carey Jones

cohorts I and II

I was a little reluctant to make the commitment, and there were definitely times where I thought, do I really have the time for this? But our group was a really special group of people and I came to deeply respect and love everyone in the group. And that’s not at all a given. It was an incredible experience.

Inaugural Cohort member

My life has changed so much because of the Champions program. I was running a foundation, and I was sort of working in a bubble. I needed a community I could turn to. I did not expect to make such deep connections. I expected to feel like I was taking a class – but in the end, it felt more like we created a family of like-minded people who brought all their strengths and weaknesses, their wisdom and challenges, and we got to work things out together.

Lori Barra

cohorts I and II

Both the international trips and the retreats have been some of the most intellectually engaging experiences of my life. The speakers are leading figures in their fields; the women spearheading regional work, absolute powerhouses; the conversations with activists and within our cohort, brilliantly structured. Not a minute is wasted. I come home and find myself thinking about the discussions had, and issues raised, for months.

Member, Cohorts I and II

The logistical planning of the trips is incredible. Every last part is curated, weaving between very practical conversations about granting to really talking about what's in our hearts. It's orchestrated like this incredible piece of music. It's sometimes challenging and terrifying, but you always know that there’s someone behind you walking you through it. And it's fun. Every day is this incredible mix of learning, of stretching, of being inspired, of being wowed, of learning how difficult things are in the world and wanting to do the best you can to make a difference.

Member, Cohorts I and II

The women who work at, and with, Global Fund, all over the world, are so dedicated — their philanthropic process is so relational and goes so far beyond funding, to a tremendous amount of collaboration and support. So much research and depth goes into their work. It involves such deep relationships, which is a value I have in my own philanthropy. So that really resonated with me. I've learned a deep respect for Global Fund for Women and feel that they are a great vehicle. When I give funds to them, I know that funding will be used really well.

Inaugural Cohort member

Donors who are attracted to this program are people who care deeply about the person receiving the donation. Very rarely does any kind of tourism allow you to really meet people. There’s a hunger for a kind of travel that is not voyeuristic, but that really brings you in, to form real\ relationships. It sounds beautiful; in reality, it can be hard and awkward. But Global Fund for Women lays the framework, and we’re the better for it.

Member, Cohorts I and II

What sticks with me is the dignity, and the kindness, and the empathy and the wisdom that Global Fund brings to the meetings with the women, wherever we are in the world. Conversations don’t stay on the surface, they go deep. And when you’ve traveled so far, and asked so much of people to show up, the least you can do is really go in deep, and create space for them to speak up.

Member, Cohorts I and II