Boston Women's Fund is sending a huge thank you to everyone who attended our Research Unveiling & Dialogue Event!
We are thrilled to have come together among community for a morning of connection, dialogue, and collective reimagining around the well-being of BIPOC women and gender-expansive grassroots leaders.
Call To Action
"This data has not changed since the Boston Women’s Fund was put into existence back in 1984.” — Natanja Craig Oquendo, CEO of Boston Women's Fund
Our research findings echo conversations that have taken place over the past few decades on the challenges BIPOC women grassroots leaders face in Greater Boston. This is the crux of the issue. We need a broader movement of support for BIPOC women leaders in order for the data to change.
This event was only the beginning. We hope that you'll keep the momentum going and choose a way to stay involved in furthering the movement. Not sure where to start? Here are a few suggestions.
“I believe in the power of radical imagination. I think it's something we don't spend enough time investing in...We need to build that muscle around imagining the world that we want, because we don't have a blueprint for it. So, [this is] an invitation to really push ourselves to imagine something that feels unimaginable, but to remind ourselves that there are little snippets of examples.” — Aba Taylor, President & CEO of YW Boston
For Our Fellow Funders
In our research, BIPOC women grassroots leaders noted that they rarely experience tangible support that aligns with the philanthropic sector’s rhetoric of inclusion. So many innovative and beautiful ideas come from within communities, but they can't come to fruition without resources. Yet, exclusive networks and rigid evaluation metrics in philanthropy often limit grassroots organizations’ access to those resources.
We encourage you to commit one first-time grant to an emerging or fiscally-sponsored organization next quarter and tell us about it! Set public goals for Black-led, women-led, and gender-expansive organizations — and publish your progress. As you build and deepen relationships with these organizations, we encourage you to end site visits and instead show up as volunteers and partners in this work. Our external efforts toward liberation are only as strong as our internal practices and culture.
For Board Members
BIPOC women grassroots leaders often provide essential services through their organizations while operating with relatively small capacity. At your next board of directors meeting, we encourage you to motion to shorten applications and rightsize reporting. Join the commitment to prioritize people over paperwork.
For All Who Believe In This Movement
The data won’t change unless we do. Every dollar you give helps directly fund women and gender-expansive leaders of color who are already building the future.
Give today to move resources differently.
Thank You Movement Builders & Grassroots Leaders
Boston Women’s Fund cannot thank you enough for the work that you do on a daily basis, the labor, the emotional toll, and spiritual toll that you endure. We see you and know how difficult it is to sustain movements in a culture of scarcity. Let's work together to end the scarcity mindset that places grassroots leaders in competition with their peers. Tell us about the underfunded organizations you trust so that we can grow our network and explore partnerships.
Thanks To Our Panelists & Speakers
We'd like to share a special thanks to our incredible panelists for a captivating and vulnerable conversation around how they see themselves and their work in our research findings and what we need to unlearn and reimagine to better support BIPOC women and gender-expansive grassroots leaders in Greater Boston.
Natanja Craig Oquendo, CEO of Boston Women's Fund
Dr. Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson, Director of UMass Boston's Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy
Aba Taylor, President & CEO of YW Boston
Diana Hwang, Founder & Executive Director of Asian American Women's Political Initiative
We'd also like to thank Adanna Kalejaye, Graduate Assistant at UMass Boston's Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy, for an incredible presentation of our research findings!
Carrying The Weight, Leading The Change
How Women of Color Grassroots Leaders Navigate Inequities While Driving Solutions
We look forward to releasing our first-of-its-kind report in partnership with Center for Women in Politics & Public Policy at UMass Boston soon!
