Women and Philanthropy: Old Stereotypes, New Challenges

We are pleased to present the series Women and Philanthropy: Old Stereotypes, New Challenges. As organizations, active in the field of philanthropy that provide both funding and other kinds of support to groups serving the needs of women and girls, we offer these monographs on key issues affecting women and the practice of organized philanthropy. Our five organizations -- the Global Fund for Women, the Michigan Women’s Foundation, Resourceful Women, Women and Philanthropy, and Women’s Funding Network -- have known and worked with each other for many years. We were fortunate, however, to have strengthened our working relationships over the past two years during which we were participants in the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supported the Women’s Philanthropy Cluster. The Cluster provided a forum for our organizations to come together on a regular basis. It offered a unique opportunity for us to address many of the critical questions that affect our own organizations and the broader field of women’s philanthropy. We are grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for its support of our work and of this project. One of the first unanimous decisions was to commission targeted research and documentation on some of the key challenges facing the field. This series by Mary Ellen Capek is designed to give readers food for thought, provoke active discussion and debate, and offer an analysis of some of the emerging trends in the field. Other papers on related topics will follow. The perspectives presented in the series are those of the author, but the issues are of concern to all of us who care about and are active in the field of social change and philanthropy. We hope that these papers will simulate animated conversations and thoughtful reflection among those of us engaged in the foundation world as well as serve as a resource to grassroots practitioners serving women and girls in this country and around the globe. We welcome your responses and look forward to the ideas generated from such discussions.