Virginia Woolf wrote Three Guineas in 1938. Her essay explores philanthropic choice and develops a theory of social change based on investing in women and girls. The Foundation's name reflects its core strategy. Three Guineas Fund creates social change by investing in economic opportunity for women and girls. The Fund's philanthropic program and strategies are designed to enable women and girls to earn an independent living, participate fully in the economy, and give back to their communities.

Values:

• Three Guineas Fund works to create social equity by addressing systemic limitations to women’s and girls’ economic access.
• Three Guineas aspires to model a philanthropic process and culture promoting partnership, transparency, thinking outside of the box, and long-term relationships with grant partners based on mutual trust and respect.
• Three Guineas Fund values collaboration with partners working on issues of girls' and women's economic opportunity. Historically, the Fund has shown a preference for investing in early stage organizations and innovative models where small grants can have significant impact.
• We believe that cross-sector partnership can contribute to programmatic effectiveness. The Fund has also invested in models for influencing change inside of powerful institutions such as corporations, governments, and international organizations.
• Three Guineas Fund believes that a holistic approach to women and girls is essential. Solutions must integrate health, literacy, self-esteem, labor and basic human rights to effectively contribute to women's economic equity.
• We believe that it is important to remain global in our orientation, and to selectively partner with innovative international organizations outside of the United States.
• We view economic opportunity for girls and women as a broad based societal issue. Barriers to equality for women exist at all economic levels and across professions, industries, and institutions. The Fund's portfolio of grant partners represents a diversified approach to creating social equity on multiple levels.