As part of the Advisory Board for Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) I am thrilled to recognize the meaningful impact G4GC has made in this past year of pandemic and racial uprising. We know that this could not have happened without the steadfast and visionary leadership of Dr. Monique W. Morris, which is why effective April 1st of this year we, as a Board and in partnership with Monique, have agreed to an important title change from Executive Director to President and CEO. In just one short year Monique has led and grown the team to a current staff of seven (and it is still growing!), has brought on a number of new co-investors, built critical strategic partnerships and initiatives, and has built a grantmaking practice rooted in the values of urgency, reciprocity, and love.
The title shift recognizes Monique’s important contributions, leadership, renowned activism, and three decades of experience in education, civil rights, juvenile and social justice. We believe that the title of President and CEO better represents the leadership Monique has demonstrated, and helps position G4GC to continue to engage in the work with rigor, intention, and ambition. As Advisory Board members, we believe in Monique, her vision for the work, her ideas for the field and to build a practice informed by the needs, desires, and dreams of girls and gender-expansive youth of color.
Dr. Monique W. Morris joined Grantmakers for Girls of Color in April of 2020, and in just one year has made a profound impact in our community of grantees across the country.
Monique joined G4GC in April of 2020, just as the world shut down and we all entered COVID-19 quarantine, and as we all witnessed the murder of George Floyd which sparked the global movement against anti-Blackness. These two significant shifts amplified the intersectional challenges that girls and gender-expansive youth of color face. In response, Monique formed important strategic partnerships and mobilized a robust grantmaking effort that resulted in significant growth and impact. These include the Love is Healing Fund, which has granted over $3 million to more than 140 organizations. And in September, she joined with seven other remarkable Black women leaders to co-found the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign, and launched the Black Girl Freedom Fund as part of this campaign. While G4GC’s external work is focused on equity, Monique is also working hard to develop an internal infrastructure that embodies G4GCs values of accountability, urgency, transformation, inclusivity, authenticity, and love.
We, as an Advisory Board, could not be more thrilled and inspired by Monique’s work over the past year, and we are excited for her to take on this new title as she prepares for G4GC’s future. Many of us on the Advisory Board have been on a journey with G4GC since its inception, and viscerally understand how critical G4GC’s work continues to be. As G4GC continues to mobilize philanthropic resources so that girls and gender-expansive youth of color can achieve equity and justice, we applaud the meaningful impact achieved in one year under Monique’s leadership, and invite you to join the team to strengthen the future of G4GC as a dynamic home for funders, movement leaders, and young people to collectively organize for a more just future.
In celebration, and on behalf of the G4GC Advisory Board,
Leticia Peguero,
Board Member and Vice President of Programs at Nathan Cummings Foundation
