Philanthropy has no shortage of stories about women and girls. Sometimes, it\u2019s from the lens of what they lack: resources, safety, protection, or education. Other times, it\u2019s from the lens of what they are overcoming or building in their communities: agency, possibilities, choices, and futures. <\/p>\n
These stories both matter.<\/strong> Stories of overcoming hurdles remind us that \u201cgirls are creators of opportunity, rather than simply recipients of it,\u201d as Shogher Mikaelyan, founder of the Nor Luyce Mentoring Center<\/a> so beautifully put it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have seen girls who initially struggle to speak in a group become mentors and leaders, girls who were unsure about their future begin planning careers and higher education, and girls who once saw themselves primarily through the circumstances they were born into begin imagining completely different futures.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of the center\u2019s former mentees have gone on to become mentors themselves, supporting the next generation of girls who are facing some of the same challenges they once faced.<\/p>\n Gerald Othieno of The Girl Child Foundation Uganda (GIFU)<\/a> echoes this sentiment:<\/p>\n \u201cGirls are not simply beneficiaries waiting for adults to solve their problems. They are problem-solvers, peer supporters, students, entrepreneurs, caregivers, advocates, and future community leaders.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Stories like these point to broader cultural trends toward women\u2019s freedom, equality, and choice. <\/p>\n \u201cGirls are growing up with much greater expectations of equality, independence and having a voice in their own lives,\u201d said Connie Duran, the president of Puerta Abierta<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThey question things that previous generations of women were often expected simply to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But Connie reminds us that there is another side to the story:<\/p>\n \u201cI see two changes happening at the same time, and the tension between them worries me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cViolence remains deeply present in our society,\u201d Connie continued. \u201cWe see increasingly violent language, toxic relationships, and ways of resolving conflict that normalize aggression.\u201d<\/p>\n Harder reality stories remind us that violence and vulnerability continue to be real hurdles women and girls continue to face.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Nearly 1 in 3 women worldwide<\/a> have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, a figure that has changed little over the past two decades. <\/p>\n Fiona Peart at the Orchid Project<\/a> highlights the lethal reality of some of these hurdles, noting that female genital mutalitation (FGM) \u201cis the fourth leading cause of death of girls in African countries where it is practiced, taking the lives of over 44,000 girls a year. That translates to 1 girl dying every 12 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond physical violence, Neema Kashindi Glorieurse of Union des Agriculteurs de Fizi<\/a> in Congo points toward stalled progress in economic sovereignty:<\/p>\n \u201cWe do not talk enough about the difficulties women face in accessing land, agricultural inputs, credit, markets and decision-making spaces,” said Neema. <\/p>\n \u201cA woman may work on a farm every day while still having limited control over the land or income generated from her work,\u201d said Neema.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWomen are deeply involved in agriculture, food production, small businesses, household responsibilities and community activities, but much of this work remains invisible,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n Gerald also points to ongoing structural issues that continue to impact girls:<\/p>\n \u201cA girl may receive a school uniform or sanitary products, but if her family cannot afford food, if she is expected to care for younger siblings, or if she faces pressure to marry early, staying in school remains difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSupporting girls therefore requires us to look beyond the individual girl and strengthen the environment around her,\u201d said Gerald.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Aid cuts<\/strong> have also had dire impacts on local nonprofits stewarding gender equality. <\/p>\n \u201cAid cuts have meant needing to find a fifth of our yearly income elsewhere. But the global backlash against gender equality has left us with few places to look,\u201d shared Fiona. <\/p>\n Neema echoed this concern:<\/p>\n \u201cWhen resources decrease, activities such as agricultural training, women’s economic empowerment, access to inputs and community support can be reduced or interrupted. For rural communities, these are not abstract programs; they directly affect people’s ability to produce food, generate income and support their families.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we wish the world understood is that aid cuts are ultimately felt by people,\u201d said Neema.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cFor a girl who needs menstrual supplies to remain in school, a woman who needs livelihood support, or a family struggling to meet needs, a reduction in funding directly affects her opportunities and choices,\u201d echoed Gerald. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A fragile balance is shifting for women and girls against this complicated landscape.<\/p>\n And still, women and girls are<\/em> building, questioning, organizing and imagining what comes next. They are charting entirely new pathways that weren\u2019t once possible for themselves and for others.<\/p>\n Chealsia Smedley of the Freedom Story<\/a> told us about female village leaders who are currently expanding their work to serve as first responders for children. They stepped in when three children were abandoned by their parents, helped a mother regain custody of her child, and are helping migrant families access education for their children. \u201cWhen women lead, it builds safer environments for everyone,\u201d Chealsia shared.<\/p>\n Ultimately, both<\/em> realities are happening, and both deserve our attention. Women and building better futures, and there are still many odds stacked against them.<\/strong><\/p>\n Is this where a more holistic approach to funding women and girls begins? With recognizing that opportunity and care are not separate needs.<\/p>\n Locally-led nonprofits can connect girls with tangible resources: scholarships, educational opportunities, financial assistance, and the materials they need to pursue their goals or meet their immediate needs.<\/p>\n But nonprofits are also made of people who listen, care, encourage, and show up. People who can remind a girl of her worth, whether she’s ready to climb a mountain or simply learning to love herself where she is.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough our work at this organization, we encourage girls to view power as the ability to choose self-love\u2014not as an act of revenge or retaliation, but as an opportunity to transform our surroundings,\u201d said Nathali Perez C\u00f3rdoba, Remar Occidente A.C.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis means embracing our limitations and imperfections, acknowledging our strengths and weaknesses, and finding true power in resilience, forgiveness, and collaboration, Nathalia continued. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen we cultivate the ability to love ourselves\u2014without self-criticism, self-pity, or the desire to trample on others\u2014we discover our true power.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cThis power carries a profound responsibility: the responsibility to avoid creating situations that could harm us internally or externally, to avoid harming others, and, above all, to be proactive wherever we may be,\u201d Nathali concluded. <\/p>\n Imagine what becomes possible when more girls have people like Nathali in their lives. People who see their potential without overlooking their present, and who remind them that their worth doesn’t depend on what they achieve.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connie is proud of the eight girls who graduated from university through Puerta Abierta after enduring childhoods of abuse and abandonment. But she is careful about what those achievements mean, and who gets to define empowerment.<\/p>\n \u201cI don’t believe an organization can “give” empowerment to a girl,\u201d said Connie.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cWhat we can <\/em> give her are the conditions and tools that make real choice possible: education, emotional security, critical thinking, confidence, economic opportunities, healthy relationships and the experience of having her voice taken seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA girl does not have a choice simply because an adult tells her she is free to choose. She has a choice when she has enough tools and opportunities to make a decision and enough independence and support to live with that decision.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u201cFor me, that is empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat really matters to me is seeing them become women who make their own decisions, form healthy relationships, and imagine futures that are different from the circumstances in which they grew up. One of the most important thing I have learned from 22 years of this work is that trauma does not need to remain the central story of a woman’s life.”<\/p>\n Because a girl’s life is not defined by what she has survived, or even by what she goes on to achieve.<\/p>\n It is hers to live.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Connie, Nathali, Shogher, Clemence, Gerald, Neema, Fiona, and Chealsia are among the people creating more possibilities for women and girls in their communities. Their work takes many forms, from education and emotional care to advocacy and community leadership.<\/p>\n Get to know the people and organizations behind the perspectives shared in this article, and discover how you can be part of their work.<\/p>\n Philanthropy has no shortage of stories about women and girls. Sometimes, it\u2019s from the lens of what they lack: resources, safety, protection, or education. Other times, it\u2019s from the lens of what they are overcoming or building in their communities: agency, possibilities, choices, and futures. These stories both matter. Stories of overcoming hurdles remind us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":232057,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[76],"tags":[10956],"coauthors":[10989],"class_list":["post-232038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips","tag-gender-equality"],"acf":[],"cp_meta_data":{"_edit_lock":["1792186809:151"],"_edit_last":["151"],"intro":["We recently asked eight leaders who work directly with women and girls in their communities to weigh in on gender equality and philanthropy. What emerged wasn't one tidy narrative, but a more complex picture of the stories we tell about women and girls, what those stories might leave out, and how philanthropy can support them more holistically.\r\nTwo stories are unfolding at once<\/h2>\n
Between empowerment and vulnerability<\/h2>\n
Writing one\u2019s own story<\/h2>\n
Meet the women behind these perspectives<\/h2>\n
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