Dear Colleagues,
While this week’s news in Mexico was historic, we know there’s still work to do.
We don’t celebrate Claudia Sheinbaum solely because she’s the first female-identified politician (who, while accomplished, has a mixed grade on her feminist scorecard) was elected President.
We celebrate as an acknowledgment to the strength and courage of the feminist movements in the Global South fueled by some of the most innovative WFN members including Fondo Semillas, Fondo Centro Americao de Mujeres (FCAM), Vida Afrolatina, Global Fund for Women, Urgent Action Fund, and partners like Prospera INWF.
For decades these leaders have been a lifeline to underfunded frontline organizations. Because of their collective struggle, we now have a political shift in Mexico that’s a lifetime ahead of where the U.S. and other Global North countries are today.
The data is clear. Feminist movements are powerhouses for social change.
In Mexico, feminist movements enshrined gender parity into Mexico’s constitution, decriminalized abortion, and made anti-feminist views a political liability. It is these movements that have shattered hundreds of years of history.
As Elena Poniatowska, one of Mexico’s most distinguished writers, shared recently about this moment, “This is how I imagined (it). I worked for it.”
So before we get back to work, let’s celebrate for all the chingonas in Mexico, past, present, and beyond.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO