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Updates & Impact

Events & Convenings

Dear G4GC Community,

We hope your year has been abundant and energizing ✨ Our G4GC team entered 2024 inspired by the leadership of girls and gender-expansive youth of Color.

During our staff retreat in January, we gathered in Atlanta to cultivate connection and envision ways to deepen our resourcing. One of the highlights was joining a traditional African dance and high-energy drum circle led by Sister Omelika Kuumba, a multi-talented artist and educator. 

As we move ahead recognizing the enormous challenges many in our community face, and finding hope in unity as we navigate all that is going on in our country and the world, we look forward to deepening our engagement and continuing to amplify the important leadership and impact of girls and gender-expansive youth of Color.

WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO

✴ G4GC NEWS 

The power of nonprofit networking

Maheen Kaleem, G4GC VP of Operations and Programs, joined the 2024 Nonprofit Resource Hub Conference as a speaker on ‘The Power of Networking’ panel. She and other panelists discussed maximizing nonprofit networking for collaboration, partnerships, and influencer relationships. Check out her panel here.

Get G4GC’s Impact Report

Last fall, we released our latest comprehensive impact report! Since 2020, we have mobilized more than $25 million to nearly 400 organizations centering and/or led by girls and gender-expansive youth of Color. In our report, you’ll find details about our funds, initiatives, projects, and impact. You can download the report PDF here. For FREE print copies please fill out this Google form.

 

Celebrating Trans Day of Visibility

On March 29th G4GC held an Instagram live event to honor this day of awareness. nahr suha, G4GC’s ​​Holding a Sister Initiative (HASI) Fund Manager was in conversation with Jack Knoxville (Executive Director, Trans Empowerment Project) and June Pearson (Rising Scholar, at Western Michigan University). Attendees celebrated the joy and resilience of trans, non-binary, gender nonconforming and gender-expansive communities of Color and shared many insightful experiences, as well as some of their favorite video games. View the recording here

Catch up on BGFW 2024 & save the date!

The #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign and G4GC’s Black Girl Freedom Fund hosted our 4th annual Black Girl Freedom Week in February. This year’s theme “A Future of Justice and Democracy” highlighted urgent issues facing young people today, including affirmative action, reproductive justice, and voting. We are deeply grateful for the youth participation and inspiration that helped make BGFW 2024 memorable! Watch all of this year’s events on our YouTube here. Save the date: We’re already planning our next Black Girl Freedom Week, February 2025!

✴ TEAM ACCOLADES 

Maheen is one of the ‘2023 Philanthropy 100 Individuals’

Maheen Kaleem, our G4GC Vice President of Operations and Programs, was selected as one of Unboxed Philanthropy Advisors’ Philanthropy 100 list of foundations, companies, and individuals making a positive difference in our world! 🎉

We are fortunate to work alongside Maheen towards a liberated, joyful world for all. Get to know more about Maheen, her deep commitment and support of youth and families impacted by interpersonal and state violence, advancing racial and gender justice, and her dedication to our youth, here

nahr selected as 2024-25 Grantmakers United for Trans Communities Leaders Fellow

Join us in congratulating nahr suha, our Holding A Sister Initiative (HASI) Fund Manager, who was selected as a Funders for LGBTQ Issues 2024-2025 GUTC Leaders Fellow! 🎉👏 The Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) Leaders Fellowship provides support, peer networking, and professional development to a cohort of trans and gender-expansive professionals in philanthropy. Learn about the fellows here.

✴  MOVEMENT BUILDING, PARTNERSHIPS & CONFERENCES 

Cultivation event at SXSW

On March 12th, G4GC co-hosted a cultivation dinner with Donors of Color Network at SXSW in Austin, Texas, to share ideas and strategies for revolutionizing support for girls and gender-expansive youth of Color. Attendees included philanthropists and advocates who discussed how youth are driving change in culture, communities, economies, and our world.

HARNESS Mainstage

G4GC attended the inspiring HARNESS Mainstage, an event we proudly co-sponsored! 🌟 It was a gathering of artists, creatives, and activists who discussed how we can collectively work to achieve justice. It was thrilling to see our grantees like Protect the Sacred and National Women’s Law Center featured!

G4GC co-hosts feminist solidarity at UN CSW 

On March 12 at the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women G4GC proudly co-hosted a resistance-focused event that centered on the experiences, wisdom, and power of girls and women responding to crises in our world. G4GC Sr. Director of Research, Advocacy, and Policy Dr. Whitney Richards-Calathes supported the facilitation of a story circle curated by ADI Magazine and Our Collective Practice.

GRANTEE PARTNER NEWS

Are you a high school and college Black girl in the Baton Rouge area? 

 BLAC U Fest is a dynamic summit empowering young Black women through insightful workshops and engaging experiences on April 5th. Dive into career exploration with industry professionals, while nurturing self-perception and personal growth in a vibrant atmosphere. Sign up here!

Our grantees in kahani magazine

In March, G4GC staff attended kahani magazine’s launch of their “Our Freedom” issue, which featured youth from some of G4GC’s grantee partners! ✨📖 kahani is a print magazine for girls, by girls from around the world, designed to inform, elevate and inspire. Congrats to kahani’s co-founders Tara Abrahams and Babita Patel and all the “Our Freedom” issue contributors! Get your copy here.

New report: Black youth feel unsafe in schools

During one of the BGFW panels, we learned about Interrupting Criminalization and In Our Names Network’s new report about police presence in schools. The report shares insights from a 3-year community storytelling project engaging Black girls, trans and gender nonconforming youth in Columbia, South Carolina, New York City, and the Bay Area around their experiences of police presence in schools, including sexual harassment, assault, and violence by police stationed in and around schools. Read the full report here.

Creative Audio Performance in NYC

Carys Dixon, a Willie Mae Rock Camp alum and emerging artist,  will debut a new, recorded work that combines her unique style. This free evening is hosted in partnership with the CT::SWaM ExChange, on Sunday, April 28th RSVP and details: Here!

EVENTS, ANNOUCEMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

Grant & fundraising opportunities

  • Racial Equity Seed Grants: POISE Foundation grants provide programming support up to $10K for Black-led, Black-serving organizations that are advancing youth leadership, development training and opportunities, and community-based intergenerational collaborations and programming within the racial justice space. Deadline is May 1, 2024, apply here.

  • NDN Collective’s Community Action Fund: Short-term grants to frontline Indigenous organizations, groups, and individuals most impacted by local challenges for direct action and organizing efforts that are often urgent and time-sensitive. Grants up to $40K ; applications accepted from May 29 to July 17.
  • NBCUniversal Local Impact Grants: NBC and Telemundo-owned television stations will fund organizations that are working in: Youth Education and Empowerment, Next Generation Storytellers, and Community Engagement. Application deadline is April 19, 2024, learn more here.

Bernice Kaibetony Scholarship for Indigenous women and femmes

 This scholarship opportunity was established as a tribute to the legacy of Bernice Kaibetony (mother of the ED and Founder of Social Roots Foundation) and her unwavering commitment to higher education for Indigenous women and femmes. Applications open March 18th here.

Financial workshops & coaching 

Our friends at A Bookkeeping Cooperative are offering an April ‘Financial Foundations’ series and a new ‘Coaching Cohort for Nonprofits’ program this season! Sessions begin in April and continue through June. Tickets are available on a sliding scale, starting at $100. Learn more about the financial series here, and the coaching program here.  

 

✴ JOB, INTERNSHIP & FELLOWSHIP BOARD 

  •  New Voices: New Voices is unapologetically Black and queer and dedicated to the work of Reproductive Justice, a framework founded and built specifically for Black women, girls,and gender-expansive folks. Check out all of the current part-time and full-time job opportunities in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland here.
  • Sesame Workshop: Sesame Workshop is looking for a Creative Development Intern for Summer 2024 in New York City. If you’re currently enrolled in a college, university, or graduate program, apply here
  • Chicago Freedom School: The Freedom Fellowship is a 6-month Fellowship for Black and Brown Chicago youth ages 14-17 interested in activism and racial justice. The fellowship starts July 8th and offers a $1000 stipend. The application deadline is April 14th. Apply here

 

Share a youth story, event, or opportunity with us!

If your org has a youth story, funding opportunity, event, or celebration centering girls of Color, we invite you to share it with the G4GC community! We would love to amplify your efforts that center the wisdom and leadership of girls and gender-expansive youth of Color. Complete this Google form at least 2-3 weeks in advance for events and any deadlines. Email [email protected] with any questions.

WHAT’S INSPIRING US

The Last Repair Shop 🎻  

“If I didn’t have my violin from school, I don’t know what I would do,” 12-year-old Porchè Brinker said as she opened the Oscar-winning documentary, The Last Repair Shop. The film follows an instrument repair shop in L.A. and the young people of Color who are changed by tapping into their musical gifts with free instruments at school. Porchè lit up the Oscars stage as the film’s directors accepted their award. “Music education isn’t just about creating incredible musicians, it is about creating incredible humans,” said co-director Kris Bowers. The Last Repair Shop is streaming on Disney+

 

Affirmations for Indigenous youth

The Native Youth Sexual Health Network (NYSHN) is led by Indigenous youth working across issues of sexual and reproductive health, rights and justice! The Indigenous Youth Affirmation Deck was designed by and for Indigenous youth to celebrate, support, affirm, and encourage self-reflection and peer support. 

Check out the deck here and share them with an Indigenous young person in your life.