The Global Fund for Women is a publicly supported grantmaking foundation that advances human rights by investing in women-led organizations worldwide. Their international network of women and men mobilizes financial resources to support women’s contributions to social justice, equality and peace. They raise funds from a variety of sources and make grants to women-led organizations that promote the economic security, health, safety, education and leadership of women and girls in 171 countires.
 

Their Vision

Every woman and girl is strong, safe, powerful, and heard. No exceptions.

Their Mission

They are a global champion for the human rights of women and girls. They use their powerful networks to find, fund, and amplify the courageous work of women who are building social movements and challenging the status quo. By shining a spotlight on critical issues, we rally communities of advocates who take action and invest money to empower women.

History

Global Fund for Women was founded in 1987 in Palo Alto, California, by four bold women: Anne Firth Murray, Frances Kissling, Laura Lederer, and Nita Barrow. They were convinced that women’s human rights were essential to social, economic, and political change around the world, for the benefit of us all. Frustrated by a lack of interest in funding women’s human rights, they founded an organization to fund grass-roots women-led movements directly. They knew that by trusting their grantee partners to tackle the problems they were uniquely qualified to solve, permanent change would happen. They were right.

Founding member Anne Firth Murray served as our Founding President from 1986 to 1996. Anne established Global Fund for Women as a leader in women’s rights funding and expertise.

From the start, Global Fund for Women was a public foundation, relying on the generosity of donors to support its critical work. The work caught the public’s attention. The first grants in 1988 totaled $30,000, but by 1996 grantmaking had grown to $1.2 million.

Kavita Ramdas became CEO in 1996, serving until 2010. Under Kavita’s leadership, Global Fund for Women experienced unprecedented growth, with assets increasing from $6 million to $21 million. Her powerful advocacy and thought leadership won hearts and minds, and mobilized resources and attention for women’s rights.

Musimbi Kanyoro joined the organization in 2011. Under her leadership, Global Fund for Women celebrated a major milestone – surpassing $100 million in total grantmaking. Musimbi focused the organization’s program areas and added more comprehensive learning, monitoring, and evaluation.

In March 2014, Global Fund for Women and the International Museum of Women (IMOW) merged. The merger brought together Global Fund for Women’s powerful grantmaking and advocacy expertise with IMOW’s skills in awareness raising, online campaigns, and digital storytelling.

IMOW was founded in 1997, led by Founding President Elizabeth Colton, and evolved into an innovative online museum inspiring creativity, awareness, and action on vital global issues for women. Elizabeth joins the lineage of founders of the merged organization.

Though Global Fund for Women has changed with the times, the philosophy of our founders has remained: trust women. Women are the best agents of change in their communities, and giving them resources and voice can change the world.