Impact Areas - Together Women Rise

26
May, 2023

By Ellen Weiss, Transformation Partnerships Writer

Imagine a world where women have equal footing. A world where the power offered by secure rights to land is shared by women and men. A world where that power is used to strengthen the livelihoods of women, their families, and their communities.

This vision propels Landesa’s work with local, grassroots organizations in more than 50 countries.

Founded in 1981, Landesa is a non-governmental organization that partners with governments and civil society to extend and strengthen land rights for women experiencing poverty. Stronger rights to land have the power to reduce poverty and conflict, increase economic activity, empower women, strengthen food security, and improve environmental stewardship.

Landesa is one of Together Women Rise’s Transformation Partners. Our support of $200,000 over two years is furthering Landesa’s critical work, including Stand for Her Land — a global advocacy campaign spearheaded by Landesa to secure women’s rights to the homes they live in and the resources they care for and to engage men on the journey to equality.

“Together Women Rise is proud to be partnering with Landesa, a trailblazing organization that is fighting to change the systems that hold women back from achieving land rights and gender justice,” says Beverley Francis-Gibson, Rise’s CEO. “Landesa has a proven track record in securing property rights for women – having worked in over 50 countries where women still encounter persistent barriers to their land rights. Land rights are part of women’s human rights and a key component of gender equality.”

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Nov 23, 2021

Together Women Rise

Grantees, Impact Areas

Grant Selection, Grant Selection Committee, grant-making, grantee, grantees, grantmaking, grants, hope through health, Integrate Health, root causes, Shared Interest, Sustained Grants, systems change, Women's Justice Initiative

A Systems Change Approach in Action

Part 2 in a series of blogs by Scott Osborne, Member of Together Women Rise’s Grant Selection Committee

Last month, we looked at systems change and why that is such a powerful way to achieve our long-term gender equality goals.

A systems change approach says, in effect, let’s devote more time and resources to change the societies, economies, and laws that perpetuate gender inequality, instead of repeatedly helping each new generation of women struggling under these inequities. It says, let’s directly address the lower wages, the gender-based violence, the lack of land ownership, the unequal political representation, all the root cause inequities that women experience around the world. Details

Together Women Rise

Grantees, Impact Areas, Sustained Program

Grant Selection, Grant Selection Committee, grant-making, grantee, grantees, grantmaking, grants, root causes, Sustained Grants, systems change

Systems change? To help women? What’s up with that?

By Scott Osborne, Member of Together Women Rise’s Grant Selection Committee

The systems that make up our world were designed by men. From Tokyo to Tijuana, from Delhi to Denver, the workplaces, banks, bus routes, parliaments, voting requirements, and nearly everything else, were created by men, for men. Details

Beth Ellen Holimon, President & CEO

Health, Together Women Rise

cervical cancer, db peru, Peru, site visit

My Site Visit to DB Peru

Once a year, I have the distinct pleasure of doing site visits of some of our grantees. This year Dr. Khandke, our Director of Grants and Partnerships, recommended that I visit DB Peru and Chicuchas Wasi as we want to be visiting recent grantees. Both visits reaffirmed my commitment to Dining for Women, my appreciation of the work we do to select impactful grantees, and my love of our members who are dedicated to global citizenship. Let me tell you first about my visit to DB Peru, our featured grantee in October 2015. Details

Together Women Rise

2017, Education

Caravan to Class, The Big Wish

A Special Connection to our Featured Grantee

When DFW member Eileen Rogers celebrated a big birthday, she used it to impact the world.

In 2009, Eileen, along with friend and fellow activist Debbie Hill, launched “The Big Wish”, their fundraising initiative to build and outfit a school in Mali. The pair wanted to turn their “big birthdays” into something significant beyond themselves. They had the support of friends and colleagues who spread the word about the goal. The project was a resounding success, raising nearly $80,000, almost twice the original estimate. Details

Together Women Rise

Connections, Education, Impact Areas, Safety and Security, Together Women Rise

Afghanistan, Book, George W. Bush Institute, Lynn O’Connell, We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope

Afghan Women Are Impacting Communities and Culture

By Lynn O’Connell, DFW Member

We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope is the title of the book released just last month from the George W. Bush Institute. I had an opportunity to attend an event announcing the book’s publication in Washington, DC, hosted by the United States Institute of Peace which featured a discussion by Laura Bush, former U.S. First Lady, and Mina Sherzoy, a Council member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council. Details

Marsha Wallace

2015, Connections, Environmental Sustainability, Featured Year

CREATE!, grandmother project, Senegal

Connections and Transformation in Senegal

By Marsha Wallace, Dining for Women Co-Founder

When I received a call from Susan Anderson, a board member with The Grandmother Project (GMP), inviting me to travel with her to Senegal to see their work in action, I jumped at the chance. Patricia Andersson, inveterate traveler and trip leader, was up for the adventure too! CREATE!, another DFW grantee, was headquartered within several hours drive of the GMP office, so we were fortunate to be able to visit both organizations to see the projects we’ve supported with our DFW grants. Details

Beth Ellen Holimon, President & CEO

Gender Equality, Impact

#Dineforwomen, #IWD2016, #PledgeforParity, Equality, Equity, International Womens Day

International Women’s Day – Women’s Equity vs. Equality

By Beth Ellen Holimon, Dining for Women Executive Director

International Women’s Day is March 8^th and this year’s theme – “Pledge for Parity” – brings up the issue of equality. According to the World Economic Forum, the gender gap won’t close entirely until 2133. We know the benefits of closing the gender gap – Dining for Women Co-Founder Marsha Wallace addressed it in her blog and I addressed it in a blog as well. We know the importance of equality, but we also need to recognize the importance of equity. Details

Marsha Wallace

2015, Education, Gender Equality, Together Women Rise

find me unafraid, grantee, Kibera, Shining Hope for Communities, SHOFCO

Find Me Fascinated

The first time I talked with Jessica Posner, co-founder of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), was June 2011. Shining Hope for Communities was Dining for Women’s featured grantee, and I had asked her to Skype with my chapter. It was about 2:00 a.m. in Kenya! We were riveted as she described the school and the vision that she and Kennedy, her life partner and SHOFCO co-founder, have for their organization. We were hooked by the vision but also by the story of Jessica and Kennedy, drawn together in life and in work. Jessica is from Denver, Colorado. Kennedy was born and raised in the slums of Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. Together they’ve established a thriving nonprofit that is changing the lives of precious girl students and also their community in Kibera. Details

Together Women Rise

2015, Economic Sustainability, Education, Gender Equality, Leadership, Reserve Program, Together Women Rise

EDUCATE, Mercado Global, Reserve Grantees, Visions Global Empowerment

Three Reserve Grants Awarded

Thanks to the generous support of our members and donors in 2015, DFW has awarded three reserve grants. These grants are awarded when excess funds are accumulated in our grant reserve fund. Reserve grantees are named alternates in previous grant cycles which means they were thoroughly vetted and met all of our rigorous criteria. These organizations were also required to submit updated information and budgets for evaluation prior to being awarded a reserve grant. The three reserve grantees for 2015 are:

Visions Global Empowerment (Ethiopia) — $46,728

Mercado Global (Guatemala) — $28,061.99

EDUCATE! (Uganda) — $15,000

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28
Dec, 2015

Together Women Rise

2016, Education, Fair Trade, Health, Safety and Security, Together Women Rise

Anchal Project, Fair Trade, Hand-stitched goods, l, textiles

Our Sustained Funding Grantee: Anchal Project | Designing Change, Stitch by Stitch

The mission of Anchal – our sustained funding grantee for January — is to address the exploitation of women around the world by using design thinking to create employment opportunities, services and products that support empowerment. This mission statement truly comes to life when you hear the stories of Nita and Nasine:

Nita is a senior artisan and project assistant with Anchal Project. She was married at a young age and left her husband after years of abuse. Because of her limited education and lack of transferable skills, Nita joined the commercial sex trade. Nita has now been with Anchal Project for four years where she has excelled in design training and created beautiful, marketable pieces. She has taken advantage of Anchal’s workshops in financial planning and saved enough money to move out of the slum and purchase a home in a new neighborhood where she is no longer stigmatized for her previous life as a sex worker. Details

Marsha Wallace

Gender Equality, Safety and Security

france, Gender Equality, ISIS, peace, sex and world peace, women and girls

Gender Equity: A Path to Peace

Recent terrorist attacks in Paris have resulted in shock and sadness among millions, making some question what, if anything, can be done to make a positive impact on the state of affairs that contributed to the violence. In others, it has generated a sense of urgency to do something, to make a difference.

This quote comes from a friend who posted her thoughts on Facebook: “So many things swirling in my mind this afternoon. Things about how enormous the problems and injustices in the world are, and how insignificant any one person’s efforts seem in the face of such immense wrong.” Another friend was so moved to take action that she decided to write a letter to a nonprofit she’s involved with, suggesting the creation of a program to bring women of the U.S. together with women in developing countries as a way to foster deeper knowledge of others, to break down barriers that keep us from seeing one another’s common humanity.

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Beth Ellen Holimon, President & CEO

2015, Education, Health, Leadership, Programs, Safety and Security

Collateral Repair Project (CRP), Jordan, Syria, Syrian refugees

Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Firsthand Perspective

It is devastating to see and read about the Syrian refugee families, and I find myself searching constantly for more information, more perspective. Dining for Women’s featured program in January was the Collateral Repair Project (CRP), which helps refugees living in Jordan. Our $37,000 grant is being used to provide psychosocial and wellness programs as well as leadership training for refugee women, many of whom have escaped from the conflict in Syria. I wanted to loop back with CRP to dig a little deeper into the perspective of the refugees and the future. Details

Chris Worthy, Education Coordinator

Fair Trade, For members, Impact, Together Women Rise

Anchal, beadforlife, cause marketing, child's cup full, Fair Trade, holidays, maya works, Shopping, symbology, the true cost, women's peace collection

Food for Thought: Plan a Fair Trade Holiday

When you make a purchase, it is often an opportunity to do far more than make a wardrobe change or add to your home décor. You can make a real difference in the lives of women around the world!

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Together Women Rise

Impact Areas, Programs, Together Women Rise

Gender Equality, SDG, sex and world peace, Sustainable Development Goals

New Sustainable Development Goals Will Guide DFW Decisions

By Beth Ellen Holimon, Executive Director

On September 25^th, the United Nations made a historic and bold move by adopting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These new SDGs follow and expand on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were set in 2001 and are due to expire at the end of this year. Each goal has specific targets to be achieved over the next 15 years.

The Millennium Development Goals were a good framework for governments and international aid that have resulted in many global improvements, but they were too narrow to create comprehensive change. For the past two years, thousands of stakeholders have been developing a new approach. The 17 SDGs, which include 169 individual targets, are collaborative and transformational; they are inextricably linked to each other and reliant on each other for total success.

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Beth Ellen Holimon, President & CEO

Programs, Safety and Security, Together Women Rise

Gender Equality, USIP, world peace

Gender Equality and World Peace

Recently, DFW co-founders Marsha Wallace and Barb Collins and I had the opportunity to visit the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, DC with Ambassador (Ret.) Steve Steiner. Ambassador Steiner is a fabulous supporter of DFW, along with his wife and DC-1 Chapter Leader Merle Steiner.

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Together Women Rise

2015, Education, Health

family planning, infant health, muditar, Myanmar, Reproductive Health

A conversation with Muditar

We spoke with Tricia Karpfen and Amy Hartenstine from the Muditar Foundation about how Dining For Women’s sponsorship will help provide maternal and infant care for the women in the Pa-O tribal villages in Southern Shan State, Myanmar. Muditar has worked hard to create a Maternal and Infant Health program that empowers women to make healthy reproductive choices reducing maternal and infant mortality and raise healthy children.
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Together Women Rise

Connections, Health, Impact Areas, Programs, Together Women Rise

ebola, outbreak, Project Muso, West Africa

Reacting to Ebola: The World Takes Stock.

Dining for Women’s grantees are located around the world, but many work in Africa, specifically West Africa. For
the past year, the burdens of recovery from war – inadequate infrastructure and the struggle for education, health care and in many cases, survival – have been increased by the fight against Ebola.

In a three-part series, Dining for Women takes a closer look at this disease. In part one, we looked at the basics of the disease and the 2014 – 2015 outbreak. Our second feature looked at how a past Dining for Women grantee played a critical role in containing the outbreak. Finally, we look at the current state of this outbreak.

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Together Women Rise

Economic Sustainability, Education, Programs, Together Women Rise

artisans, Education, Rwanda

A conversation with Indego Africa

We spoke with Karen Yelick, CEO of Indego Africa, about the program’s history and plans for expansion. Indego Africa partners with cooperatives of female artisans to support them through economic empowerment and education. Listen with us as Karen shares success stories and displays the artisan’s beautifully handcrafted products.

Bumi Sehat addresses some questions