Introducing Our Women & Girls of Color Fund Advisory Council & Timeline
Advisory Council to Guide Rural & Front Range Grant Cycles in 2021
Community-designed, Community-led
When we first announced our new Women & Girls of Color Fund this summer, we committed to a community-designed, community-led process. Through our community survey, you continue to share your voice and experience with us. Your feedback shapes our outreach, approach, and priorities for the fund. Our framework committee, a group of women embedded in racial and gender equity work, helped design an innovative grantmaking strategy. Dozens more community members, activists, and grassroots grantmakers shared their time and expertise with us. And this fall, we opened applications for the first Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council, which will serve as a space for women, girls, and nonbinary people of color to connect, learn together, and make granting decisions.
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado board and staff are grateful for the time and passion our community has put into this fund so far. Although there were only 15 spots open, we’re proud that more than 60 remarkable people applied. We will continue efforts to involve and engage all applicants in a meaningful way.
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Meet the Women & Girls of Color Fund Advisory Council
The Women & Girls of Color Fund is a different approach to philanthropy, which requires us to think critically about representation “at the table.” The 2021 Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council members are women and nonbinary people of color who span four generations and a range of socioeconomic circumstances. Their backgrounds are in nonprofits and the public and private sectors; they are entrepreneurs, parents, and community leaders; and their expertise ranges from housing to mental health, community organizing to STEM and education, victim advocacy to immigration to name just a few. Most importantly, they reflect the breadth of identity and depth of experience of women, girls, and nonbinary people of color across Colorado. They are uniquely qualified to guide this fund.
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Nadia Ali, Boulder
I’m excited to be part of the first Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council because I am passionate about developing programs and creating opportunities that center the voices of women and people of color. |
| Goddess Tyescha Clark, El Paso |  |
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Amber Coté, El Paso Women and girls of color are on the front lines of most of the social movements of our time. They are the changemakers who will bring about the world we’re seeking. This fund is the beginning of calling for more individual donors and foundations in; to invest in women and girls of color, who are consistently doing more with less. Imagine what they will do when we direct meaningful resources to the organizations they found and lead and are served by?! I am so very honored to be a part of this work to center the people who are making real and powerful change everyday. |
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Mariana Diaz, Denver I am really excited about being a part of this community and meeting other folks and womxn who are like minded, and have had similar experiences going through this world identifying as BIPOC. Additionally, I am excited to learn about work that is happening in Colorado that is supporting and building up women and girls of color; continuing to put into action and learn more about how to live a life that embodies my values; and getting the opportunity to move much needed resources to work that is continually underfunded! |
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Magenta Freeman, Denver
I’m super excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this equity work, to help promote the much-needed liberation and elevation of womxn of color of all ages and identities. |
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Lupita Garcia, Alamosa My hopes and goal for the Women’s & Girls of Color Fund is to show everyone there is a place for them in our community’s heart. |
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Shay Giles, Arapahoe
I am so excited to join the Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council to impact the success of girls and women of color. I believe in our future and I know that teaching women and children to embrace who they are and shatter the barriers is critical to the advancement of our society. |
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Keeley Griego, El Paso I am thrilled to be part of the first Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council because WFCO sought to bring together a diverse group of people to aid in advancing and accelerating economic opportunities for Colorado women and their families, prioritizing intersectionality and representation so that the council is reflective of Colorado communities. |
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Carly Hare (<i kita u hoo <i ]a hiks), Weld
This fund has an opportunity to stand out and stand up and to be unapologetic in how it centers women of color, how it centers women of color in leadership. We can address some deep inequities that exist around funding. |
| JoKatherine Holliman Page, Denver
The Women & Girls of Color Fund is certainly a project whose time has come and is very critical. |
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Ashlee Lewis, Arapahoe
Due to the intersections of sexism and racism, girls & women of color face inaccessibility of resources and opportunities among many other barriers in our society. My goal for the Women & Girls of Color Fund is to be committed to uplifting our women & girls of color through strategic means for a long-term impact. |
| Ariana Lopez, Eagle
I am excited to be part of the first Women and Girls Color Fund advisory council because I want to be involved in the conversation. I want to fight for change and a better world where equity in race and gender is possible. I want to provoke positive change that will endure generations. My hopes and goals for the Women and Girls Color Fund are to make people uncomfortable enough where we bring up issues that should and must be changed to dismantle these systematically oppressive systems. |
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Nneka McPhee, Denver
This fund is important because of the exposure it provides for smaller grassroots organizations who are really on the frontlines working for social change and may not otherwise have the exposure that this fund will provide – not just in the grant itself but also the exposure to the vast network of The Women’s Foundation and the resources that it represents. |
| Anjanette Mosebar, Larimer
I believe that it will take each of us as women to make a difference in the lives of other women. Education, childcare, equal pay, and equal opportunities will be key in doing this. I would like to be a part of something that supports women and girls of color in achieving their goals and dreams and believe this council’s commitment to this will create the opportunity to do this. |
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Angell Pérez, Denver
What excites me about this fund is the opportunity to really be trendsetters, to encourage and influence other folks in philanthropy to really focus on sharing power. |
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Sarah Rimmel, Weld When I first read about the Women & Girls of Color Fund I thought, “Wonderful, this is a chance to collaborate and build alongside amazing women of color leaders and community members!” |
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Rhianon Schuman, Denver
Women of color bring a lot of so many rich experiences to the table. I hope to use my power and privilege to create systems change and give women of color the resources they have been denied to prosper. |
| Emily Shamsid-Deen, Denver |  |
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Nina Vendhan, Douglas
I’m excited to be a part of the first Women & Girls of Color Fund advisory council to help shape a more equitable and prosperous Colorado through philanthropic investments. |
| Cori Wong, Larimer
I think what makes this fund unique and so exciting and important is that there is a lot if intentional thought put behind investing in women and girls of color through a lens of intersectionality. Intersectionality isn’t just a concept, it is a part of the practice and it has been woven into every step of the development of the fund. There is real, purposeful intention behind making sure that we are connecting with the folks in our communities who are often overlooked. |
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Timeline for Grantmaking
Colorado is a large and diverse state. However, Community Resource Center’s Statewide Funding Impact research shows a significant disparity between Front Range and rural funding. Surveyed Colorado foundations granted more than $192 million to the Front Range and only about $102 million to rural Colorado in 2018. Communities and leaders of color face different challenges in rural counties and they are especially underinvested in. In order to best serve the needs of communities of color across the state, the Women & Girls of Color Fund will operate separate grant cycles for rural organizations and Front Range (Larimer, Boulder, Broomfield, Jefferson, Denver, Arapahoe, Douglas, Adams, and El Paso counties) organizations.
The first cycle of the Women & Girls of Color Fund will focus on rural Colorado. Applications to the fund will open at www.wfco.org/WGCF on January 11, 2021 and close on February 5, 2021. In early December, we will release more specific details about the process as well as the application questions so that applicants have time to prepare. Grants will be distributed by the end of March 2021.
The Front Range cycle will open in July 2021.
Is My Organization Eligible for a Grant from the Women & Girls of Color Fund?
The Women & Girls of Color Fund will focus on organizations led by women or girls of color executive directors that are committed to building economic power and dismantling oppressive systems through direct service or community organizing. We have identified six funding priorities:
| Led by Women & Girls of Color | Focused on Women & Girls of Color | Colorado-based, Colorado-focused |
| Women of color have the experience and community knowledge to best lead our communities into an equitable future. Grantee organizations will be led by women of color executive directors. | Women and girls of color receive just .5% of all foundation funding. Programs we fund will have a focus on the power and potential of women and girls of color. | Colorado is a large and diverse state. Grantees will take a range of approaches to advancing the economic security of women and girls of color based on their specific communities’ needs. |
| Liberatory Leadership | Advancing Economic Security | Those Traditionally Most Underfunded |
| Grantees will not only reject systems of racism, classism, homophobia, and patriarchy, they will also demonstrate radical practices of liberatory leadership such as self care and collective leadership, which undermine white supremacy culture. | In alignment with The Women’s Foundation of Colorado’s mission, the fund will support programs that advance the economic security of women and girls of color. | Following principles of intersectionality, the Women & Girls of Color Fund will prioritize those communities marginalized by multiple systems of oppression and most underfunded. |
Organizations must have a 501(c)(3) or be fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)(3). Organizations without nonprofit status who are interested in this fund should contact Camisha Lashbrook, donor relations manager, at camishal@wfco.org.
If your organization meets these criteria, we invite you to stay tuned and apply. Eligible organizations are encouraged to learn more about the fund and fill out the interest form on our website and sign up for our emails to receive communications about the fund.
