Nonprofit and feminist leaders are confronting a convergence of systemic crises: a crumbling social safety net, hostile policy environments, rising authoritarianism, and unprecedented funding volatility. Leaders serving women and underrepresented communities face especially acute burdens. Less than 2 percent of philanthropic funding goes to gender equity, and an even smaller portion reaches gender-based violence (GBV) work, despite GBV being a pervasive, under-addressed global health issue. With limited resources, frontline organizations respond to survivors, advocate for immigrant dignity, develop culturally responsive interventions, and fill gaps left by harmful legislation and governmental neglect. Sustained philanthropic investment and removal of structural barriers are required to scale frontline leadership.
In this moment of immense social, political, and economic upheaval, nonprofit leaders are shouldering a burden unlike anything we've seen in recent history. More than any prior administration, war, or national tragedy, we are navigating a convergence of systemic crises: a crumbling social safety net, a hostile policy environment, rising authoritarianism, and an unrelenting demand to deliver lifesaving services to communities at the margins-all while facing unprecedented funding volatility.
Feminist leadership is navigating frontline crises while also confronting an entrenched philanthropic structure that has chronically underinvested in our work. Less than 2 percent of all philanthropic funding goes toward gender equity. An even smaller sliver is directed toward gender-based violence (GBV), the most pervasive and under-addressed global health issue of our time. For those of us working at the intersection of race, gender, immigration, and violence, the scarcity is even more acute.
With limited resources, we respond to survivors navigating systems that were never built to protect them. We advocate for policies that affirm the dignity of immigrant families. We develop culturally responsive interventions and, increasingly, fill the gaps created by harmful legislation and governmental neglect-patching up what broken systems have abandoned. But we cannot do this alone. Not anymore. The Philanthropic Disconnect Too often, feminist leaders on the ground are expected to stretch ourselves thin, fill systemic gaps, and lead movements on shoestring budgets-all
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