Meet Our New Board Member — D.J. Baker

The Boston Women's Fund recently added new leaders to our incredible Board of Directors!

We are excited to welcome D.J. Baker (they/them) to the Boston Women’s Fund board! D.J. currently serves as the Program Manager at the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, one of BWF’s Community Impact grantee partners. Early in their career, D.J.’s work focused on food justice and access in economically disadvantaged communities. Later, they became a certified birth doula and their work has niched in working with queer and trans/nonbinary individuals and families. 

We connected with D.J. to learn more about what liberation means to them and the work they hope to do with the Boston Women’s Fund!

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Boston Women's Fund: What initially drew you to the Boston Women’s Fund?

D.J. Baker: The history of the Boston Women’s Fund is a powerful history and witnessing the leadership of Natanja, I saw a vision of the future. BWF is playing a crucial role in communities across the Boston Metro. The approach is deeply intentional, unique, and very personal with every organization and partner.

What are you most looking forward to in your new role as a Director of the Board?

Being in collaboration with other directors, the leadership, and staff. There’s a beautiful combination of talent, backgrounds, and simply personality in BWF. I am elated to share space and vision with the incredible women and people who make up this organization.

What does liberation mean to you?

Liberation, to me, means never-ending curiosity. Curiosity lets go of social constructs and barriers, and invites exploration to what has been and what could be. I love to think about how curious children are, and some may see naivety, but I see a willingness to new perspectives, new paths, and frontiers. I am always in awe of where a child’s mind goes because we adults fell out of practice of the curiosity we once had.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about philanthropy, what would it be?

The need of philanthropy, if I’m being truly honest. But because we do need it, I would change the tax-incentive. This challenges entities who do give to really work towards a collaborative self-interest and alignment to their values, rather than a tax front. It’s actually putting your money where your values are not where the tax-incentive or marketing convenience is.

What are two fun facts about you?

1. I am a certified Master Naturalist.

2. I am a twin, and his name is J.D. He also works in civic engagement and philanthropy.

What’s one quote that gives you life?

My grandmother used to say a lot of things — funny and inspirational — but my favorite quote of hers, “Do all you can, while you can. In all that you do, let it be good and let it be out of love.” This keeps me going, this would be my ethos.

Announcing Our 2024 Grantee Partners — $400K In Grantmaking and Sponsorships

This year, the Boston Women’s Fund is celebrating 40 years of radical giving and continuing our commitment to women, girls, and gender-expansive leaders across Greater Boston. We’re excited to announce that we’ve selected our 2024 grantee partners! We have awarded $400,000 in grants and sponsorships to 17 grassroots grantee partners and other organizations doing systems change work in Greater Boston.

Our grantee partners represent us and our communities — women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals who are Black and Brown, LGBTQIA+, low-income, youth, elderly, immigrants, refugees, and disabled. Of the 17 grassroots organizations selected as our 2024 grantee partners, all are led by women or gender-expansive individuals, 94% of whom are people of color, and 12 of them are volunteer-run. Together, our grantee partners collectively support over 900,000 people in the Greater Boston area through their programs, services, and policy work.

The Boston Women’s Fund is proud to go where other funders won’t, whether that’s providing first-time Executive Directors with their first significant grant, building spaces for grantee partners to develop their leadership in community, or having candid conversations about disparities in access and resources in the philanthropic sector. 

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“I am just super grateful for you all, the support and the love that you all have poured into me as a leader, and the ways in which you all create these spaces for us to be in community with other Black and Brown women leaders in the community. That's something that is so needed. It's not happening enough. But y'all are really paving the way when it comes to that, and I think, we're all forever grateful for it.”

— Ivanna Solano, Founder & Executive Director of Love Your Magic

“I think, generally, I just really appreciate your partnership, and it's been so eye opening, affirming, and also just really helpful for understanding not only how to navigate funding, but also how to dream and be imaginative, while also aligning that with programming and what our needs are. It's great to be in a space where you're investing in dreams and also encouraged to kind of make that concrete, and to see that in action with sustained support. So thank you.”

— Dr. Jallicia Jolly, Co-Chair of Birth Equity & Justice MA

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We’re honored to continue partnering with these leaders and support the innovative, life-changing work they’re pursuing in their communities. 

We are proud to support the following organizations as BWF’s 2024 grantee partners:

Abilities Dance Boston

Asian American Women's Political Initiative

Asian Women For Health

Association Of Haitian Women In Boston 

Birth Equity & Justice MA

Dominican Development Center

Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective

Essex County Community Organization 

Grimes King Foundation For The Elderly

Love Your Magic

Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition 

Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers

Melanin Mass Moms

Propa City Community Outreach

Sisters Unchained

Small House

Women Encouraging Empowerment

We have also expanded our sponsorship efforts and partnerships with organizations driving racial, economic, social, and gender justice. This fiscal year, we have supported the 2023 National Trans Visibility March, joined the Solidarity Philanthropy Learning Circle led by the Center for Economic Democracy and contributed to the Solidarity Economy Initiative Pooled Fund, and supported the Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts in affiliation with the The National Philanthropic Collaborative of Young Women’s Initiatives, and more!

Find more information on our website. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin for stories on the change we and our partners are driving across Greater Boston!

Official Statement on Federal Appeals Court Suspension of Fearless Fund's Grant for Black Entrepreneurs

The Boston Women’s Fund is disgusted by the Federal Court’s suspension of the Fearless Fund’s program funding Black women entrepreneurs. This is the latest in a series of stunts propelled by conservative groups determined to roll back years of diversity gains and disenfranchise Black women and their communities. 

The lawsuit leading to this suspension was brought by a group called the American Alliance for Equal Rights, claiming that the program’s focus on Black women contradicts the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which forbids race-based discrimination when making contracts. 

But ironically, the sole reason organizations like Fearless Fund exist is because even 159 years after the abolition of slavery, and 56 years after Jim Crow, there’s nothing equal about Black women’s lack of access to capital in the United States. For every dollar earned by white men, Black women make just 63.7 cents. In the philanthropic sector, organizations supporting Black women and girls receive a mere .5% of all charitable giving in the U.S. Is this what equal rights for all looks like? We at the Boston Women’s Fund think that America can do better and Black women deserve more.

These figures came to be while initiatives like Affirmative Action, and Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs were in play. Since Affirmative Action’s repeal, other private companies and institutions have watered down their diversity programs, fearing legal repercussions. What will the numbers look like when those who fear an empowered future for people of color have systematically attacked every attempt to level the playing field? 

The Boston Women’s Fund stands strong in our tireless support for Black women. We’re forever invested in the health of communities of color, and fund ideas penned by the leaders they’ve built. Our one-of-a-kind leadership development program helps women of color advance their professional journeys and navigate the challenges of white supremacy in the workplace. We honor the leadership of Black girls in our youth initiative, offering a supportive space for young people to share their challenges and take action toward justice in their communities. BWF will never stop fighting for a world where equal access truly exists for the persistently marginalized. With our partners, board, donors, and funders we will not waver. We will speak louder and be bolder in our collective goals. We will join local and national organizing efforts. We will. Until we all are liberated. I hope you will continue to show up, support, and walk with us on this journey to freedom.

In Solidarity,

-Natanja Craig Oquendo