Feminist Funded Philanthropy Hill Day with the Women’s Funding Network!
Hey amigas hey!
Happy Hispanic Heritage month!! What a month we’ve been having and the celebrations have officially just begun.
Since we last chatted here, we’ve grown by 10k now with 46k creators and growing. If you’re new here: happy to have you! If you’ve been waiting for more updates I got them. 😎
After a summer of travel I knew the D.C. events circuit would pick up and I wasn’t wrong. I was excited to come across the Women’s Funding Network back in June and I immediately pitched to attend their first ever Feminist Funded event. When I got word back that I could attend I was stoked to bring you all the good feminist news. For those who don’t know the WFN is the largest philanthropic alliance in the world dedicated to advancing the essential role of these funders in the unwavering fight for gender equality and justice. Sounds like our kind of party!
If you haven’t already caught up with the socials be sure to check out the visuals of it all.
The short of it: the energy was electric. Any good feminist has been told to zip it once or twice so to be in a space where women were spreading the important messages of solidarity and change was magical. Most importantly every women there has some proximity to power whether it political, philanthropic or both. Did you know less than 2% of Latinas serve on philanthropic boards? So the significance of this day week definitely not lost on me.
The first day was full of training of the National Women’s Law Center on how to best approach feminist issues when meeting with their Senators.
What I found most poignant was the significance of intersectionality, the space where we are both women and Latinas and those issues crossover and compound. This gives us an opportunity to reach more women with our collective needs in mind and make the changes that we so need.
To be sure activism is a long game, but movements are built on the momentum of our daily efforts. So for those who wonder, yes the efforts now and today do matter and can make change.
The next day the group headed to the Hill where a Senate briefing was held. Here is a pic of the day:
This is my happy face. Thinking of my community getting to see someone who represents them stand here is the ultimate moment. Did I speak? Not today. But there’s always next time! I definitely soaked it all up. Getting to hear from power women like Mónica Rodriguez (the Dolores Huerta of our generation) was affirming of my life’s purpose. So much of what she said was new and there were also facts I know well. A testament that it’s important to repeat ourselves on the mission to educate and empower our sisters.
On the last day I caught the Poderistas panel and as someone who saw that page go from 0 to 200k it was a perfect moment of community.
Oh and did I mention it was moderated by Justina Manchado?
Pics or it didn’t happen:
I’m 5’2, talk about small but mighty! And as an added bonus they wrapped it up with a chat from actress Sasheer Zamata. They even granted me a 1:1 with her!
I asked her one question: what is the most important story a woman can tell? Her answer: your own. 😎
I hope you all enjoyed this recap and stay tuned because this week I’m somehow going to top myself! 🥹❤️🔥
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month amigas, keep creating!
