News
Grassroots Organizations Activate Their Communities in Advance of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election
We are almost to election day for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Tomorrow, April 4, voters will decide who will fill the seventh supreme court seat vacated by conservative Justice Patience Roggensack. Because it currently stands 4-3 conservatives to progressives, whoever is elected will determine the court’s ideological leaning. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has been […]
ABC Funds the First Women of Color-Led, Employee-Owned Abortion Clinic in the U.S.
Valley Abortion Group (VAG) is a women of color-led group of local providers opening a clinic in Albuquerque, New Mexico that will focus on providing patient-centered abortion care later in pregnancy. Providing Abortion Care in Late Stage Alaska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Colorado, Vermont, and Oregon are the six states where abortion is technically legal […]
“We Can’t Go Away” Alabama Clinic Continues to Provide Critical Care Post-Roe
There haven’t been any active abortion clinics in Alabama since June 24, 2022. Alabama is a trigger state so a near-total abortion ban went into effect hours after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, forcing Alabama’s three independent abortion providers to close their doors or reinvent themselves. Reproductive health clinic West Alabama Women’s Center is […]
The Movement-Member-Staff Partnership That Sparked WDN’s First Series on Reparations
In 2022 WDN’s Jean Hardisty Initiative hosted its first-ever series on reparations in partnership with Liberation Ventures, Groundswell Fund, and the Fund for Nonviolence. How this dynamic, informative, and inspiring learning series came to be is a story unto itself. Our Programs & Initiatives Manager Summer Migliori Soto (she/they) joined us to share the journey […]
Small Towns, Big Promise: Organizing Local Arizona
The gaps in local political infrastructure in her home county of Pinal, Arizona became apparent to Natali Fierros-Bock when she joined her first legislative district meeting. She quickly stepped up as their Chair and a couple of years down the line went on to run for office together with her future co-founder Pablo Correa. Balancing their […]
Supporting Black-Led Movements: An Alternative to Inequitable Funding
Dr. Jean Hardisty was a writer, scholar, public speaker, activist, and member of WDN for 21 years. Self-described as a “baby boomer who grew up in a genteel, white, upper-middle-class Southern family, went to the right boarding school, and attended the right cotillions,” Jean radically departed from her conservative roots and dedicated herself to fighting […]
Funding Where Democracy-Building, Grassroots Power, and Reproductive Rights Intersect
How do we continue sustaining long-term strategies and capacity-building while meeting the needs of the moment? In our final funding round for 2022, we granted $300,000 to three organizations at the intersection of civic empowerment, grassroots base-building, and reproductive rights (either because they have a reproductive justice strategy or because they’re building progressive power within […]
Warm Wishes for the Holidays
As we bring closure to 2022, I am reflecting on how inspired I am by the power and purpose of this community. Together we are movers, shakers, and (systems) change-makers. As donor-activists who commit to an equity and justice lens, we are in a constant state of meeting the moment, while proactively investing in the […]
In Remembrance of WDN Members Susan Sandler and Mary Foley Cooper, Inspirations to Us All
On Friday and Saturday, December 16 and 17, beloved WDN members Susan Sandler and Mary Foley Cooper passed away. Many in our network had ties to at least one of them. With their passing, we have lost two dear community members whose brilliance, compassion, and dedication inspire us all. Susan’s 18 years with WDN formed […]
In Tribute to the Magnificent Donna P. Hall
Donna P. Hall has worked at the cutting edge of public health at the Kaiser Foundation, incubated women’s funding at Rockefeller, earned her MBA from Stanford University in an era when women were marginalized to a mere 10% of the student body – and, over the last two decades, she has transformed Women Donors Network […]
