Giving Compass' Take:

• During these transformative and unprecedented times, women in philanthropy are speaking out about the role of charitable giving in mobilizing resources and spurring innovation. 

• How is your philanthropy helping resources get to the communities that need them most? How does social activism fit into your giving strategy?

• Learn about the call to fund racial justice work. 

Over the past several years, we have seen women rising up in all kinds of powerful ways. In addition to the unprecedented surge of women running for office and organizing grassroots movements, women have also been exerting their influence through philanthropy, mobilizing their economic power and resources to create change by giving to myriad causes, campaigns and donor networks aligned with their values.

Women have become increasingly energized and resolute, and our commitment to giving has strengthened and continued. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic (and growing awareness about the many cracks and inequities that plague our society and institutions such as systemic racism), women’s philanthropy has become a powerful force responding to the many urgent needs on a local and national level, filling in the gaps of inadequate government funding and also addressing the often unrecognized specific needs of marginalized communities who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, including women and Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC).

The fact is, we need philanthropy more than ever—not just to assist those who are most vulnerable as a result of the pandemic but also to proactively use gender-lens, intersectional giving as an engine to support a purposeful re-shaping and rebuilding of a more equitable and just world. Money is underutilized as an enormous potential force for good, and now is the time to use as many tools as we have to address the many serious problems we currently face.

I reached out to an esteemed group of leaders in the space of women’s philanthropy to get their visions about the role philanthropy could play in these turbulent and transformative times, what innovative ways their organizations and members are responding, how women can lead the way and mobilize resources, and also what ideas they have to inspire a culture of giving.

Read the full article about leaders in women's philanthropy by Marianne Schnall at Forbes.