This year, 2010, is the year when the Federal Reserve of New York has estimated that women will own 60 percent of the private wealth in this nation, a striking statistic with big implications for philanthropy both here and around the world.
This historic transfer of wealth comes at a time when the world is waking up to the fact that social investment in women and girls is key to a more secure and prosperous future. The Clinton Global Initiative last fall placed this item at the top of its annual conference agenda. “Half the Sky,” a book on empowering women, rose to the top of the best seller list in recent months. CARE has refocused on investing in women to address the problem of poverty. The Obama administration has created a new ambassadorship focused on global women’s issues.
And, last week, the Women’s Funding Network, a pioneer in social investments in women, convened in Denver to lift up “best practices” in this vital area. With a half-billion dollars in assets, the network has played a leading role in generating resources to invest in women and girls and in recognizing the value of women-led solutions to pressing social problems.
Colorado has long been a pioneer this movement. Its leadership dates back to the creation in the 1980s of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, which last year granted more than $1.1 million to more than 167 grassroots organizations serving women and girls. It includes leaders like Merle Chambers and the Chambers Family Fund, which, as a top priority, is funding the creation of women’s foundations based on the Colorado model in other western states.
The women’s philanthropy landscape in Colorado includes the Jewish Women’s Fund of Colorado, a donor-advised fund of the Rose Community Foundation, started in 2005 by three women who understood the wisdom of giving collaboratively to serve unmet needs of women and girls in this state.
Women’s philanthropy in Colorado also includes Urgent Action, a Denver-based nonprofit devoted to directing funds towards women abroad in response to crisis situations. The fund conducts in-depth research to smartly administer its “rapid response” grantmaking.
In terms of statewide impact, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado, one of more than 155 members of the Women’s Funding Network, ranks as an international leader in women’s funding. With an endowment of $15 million, the foundation has to date invested more than $9 million with 180 agencies in 75 communities.
Like Urgent Action, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado recognizes the importance of research, as with its landmark 2007 study of the “cliff effect,” which penalizes low-income women for increased earnings. And Women’s Foundation of Colorado has done trailblazing work in advocacy on behalf of women and girls for legislation, creating large statewide impact by working to remove the barriers that women face to reach economic self-sufficiency in areas such as reducing the pay gap, mitigating the effects of the Cliff Effect, and increasing girls’ high school graduation rate.
Who’s behind all this work? Women of vision and wisdom. Women like Denver philanthropist Judith Wagner, honored this week by the Women’s Funding Network for “changing the face of philanthropy.” Women like Denver’s Linda Meric, executive director of 9to5, a “grantee partner” of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado that has for 35 years advocated for economic justice for working women. These and countless others embody the wisdom of women working collaboratively across the lines of race, class and ethnicity.
What must happen now is that philanthropists, corporations and governments at every level must scale up their investment. It’s been asserted that the rise of women in recent years has done more for the global economy than the rise of China. There is a wealth of knowledge around this issue, and a wealth of conversation. Now there must be a wealth of funding in order to realize the potential, and Colorado will undoubtedly lead the way.
Margaret Brown is president of CoBiz Bank Northeast and chair of the Women’s Foundation of Colorado Board of Trustees. Christine Grumm is president and CEO of Women’s Funding Network. EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an online-only column and has not been edited.
