When many funders think about impact, they don’t think about gender. Those who do typically view gender as its own discrete program area—a focus that has been vital for improving the lives of women, girls, and gender-expansive people. Yet time and again, the world shows us gender matters in every issue area.

Indeed, the literacy funder who wants to advance reading will want to know that women account for two-thirds of adults globally who are unable to read. 1

Funders concerned with forced displacement or the environment will care that, of the 20 million people displaced by climate change every year,2 an estimated 80 percent are women.3

And funders focused on health care should be aware that women spend 25 percent more time in poor health relative to men. Addressing this health gap would improve women’s lives and boost the global economy by an estimated $1 trillion each year by 2040 as women participate more fully in the workforce.4

To achieve equitable and lasting change, we must pay attention to the on-the-ground realities of how society works—realities that are shaped profoundly by gender. That gendered reality leads to differences in life experiences and outcomes across gender lines—on nearly every issue society faces. And gender inequity is compounded, dramatically, when it intersects with racism, casteism, and other systems of discrimination.

Read the article about gender by Nidhi Sahni, Elizabeth Bibb Binder, Deborah Bielak, Maddie Holland, and Riti Mohapatra at The Bridgespan Group.