Women Donors Network

Topic: Women’s Leadership

In Communities, In Courtrooms, In Philanthropy, In the Streets – Celebrating the Transformative Leadership of AAPI Women

Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) women are reimagining our present. They are leading movements in their communities, in courtrooms, in philanthropy, and in the streets to bring us into a brighter world than the one we’re living in today. As we celebrate their heritage during the month of May, we also celebrate the future they are fighting to build.
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a portrait photograph of a farmworker. They wear a bandana over their face and a hat and reach for a bunch of grapes

Grantee Spotlight: Building Power for the Women Who Feed Us All

Farmworkers are perhaps the single most essential workers in our communities. Without food, nothing else matters. And yet, farmworkers often toil under backbreaking conditions and for poverty wages. Roughly 50% of farmworkers are undocumented, leaving them at risk of deportation and exploitation by employers.
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Celebration, Recognition, Elevation: Black Women & Femmes Are Bringing Us Into the Future – Part 2

Black women and femmes are at the center of transformation in America. In their hometowns, states, and nationally, they are resourcing their communities and battling injustice across intersections of oppression. In honor of the history they’ve come from and the world they’re building towards, we close out this year’s Black History Month by lifting up some of these outstanding leaders from our network of changemaking grantees.
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a mural of dorothy bolden. She is painted on a wall with a halo behind her head and colors over her heart. Another person and the sky is in the background

Building Black Domestic Worker Power

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a potent reminder of the crucial role that frontline workers play in every community. While many of us worked from home, food service workers, health care workers, domestic workers, and others put themselves at risk, every day, to keep critical infrastructure, businesses, and our homes running.
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Meet Our Three New Board Members: Suhad Babaa, Ellie Friedman & Nadia Ismail

Suhad Babaa (she/her/hers) What led to your interest in joining the WDN Board? I was told once that no matter what you do, you should make sure you do it with good people. Those that I have come to know in WDN’s community – its leadership and staff, members and importantly, its partners – are all kind, thoughtful, and strategic.
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Real Talk With New Member Jennifer Risher

New member Jennifer Risher, author of We Need to Talk, tells us how she’s shaking up the conversation about wealth and philanthropy. You have an interesting story about how you became wealthy. Can you share it with us? I am lucky.
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A photo of WDN member Amanda Coslor, she has short brown hair, blue eyes, and is smiling slightly at the camera. She wears an orange sweater and is outside in front of a bush.

Caring At The Very Beginning: Transforming Our World Through Birth Justice

WDN member Amanda Coslor joined us for a Q&A on birth justice as an often overlooked way to transform society. You are heavily involved in the birth justice movement. You are the seed funder and a board member of the Birth Justice Fund at Groundswell Fund, one of the largest birth justice funders in the country, and the Thriving Women’s Initiative at Seven Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, which is bringing back traditional birth practices for Indigenous women.
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Photo of WDN member Sage Wheeler, a white women wearing glasses and a purple scarf. She has shoulder-length grey hair and smiles at the camera.

Tending to Self through Change with Member Sage Wheeler

You run your own business, Sage Coaching, to support women going through transitions. What key message do you communicate to women going through changes or challenges? First off, this past year has thrown all of our nervous systems into varying stages of fight, flight, or freeze.
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Photo of Representative Barbara Lee, a Black woman with short textured hair, standing on a podium and smiling and waving. She is wearing a yellow jacket and orange shirt

Barbara Jean Lee: The Lone Voice

By: Kathryn Snyder, WDN Director of Programs & Initiatives This month, WDN had the honor of hosting a screening of Abby Ginzberg’s documentary Truth to Power: Barbara Lee Speaks for Me, followed by a live panel with Representative Barbara Lee and Abby Ginzberg, moderated by Lateefah Simon, President of the Akonadi Foundation.
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Photo of Sharon Chen, an asian woman with short grey hair smiling at the camera. She is wearing a green shirt with a white collar. The background of the photo is orange.

WDN Board Treasurer Sharon Chen Is Stepping Into Power By Sharing It

Your background is in computer science engineering and you worked at Microsoft for 12 years. You’re also incredibly involved in philanthropy, political activism, and environmental justice. How has your career propelled your philanthropic and activist journey? As a young Asian female in tech in the 90’s who was one of three women in my class to graduate as a computer science major, and the only one with an engineering degree, and even though I valued many of the coworkers and experiences I had during those 12 years, I found many aspects of working in the corporate tech world frustrating.
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