What DataWoven Reveals About Capital and Power

Dear Colleagues,

As Women’s History month comes to a close, I am reflecting on the ways in which organizations led by women of color have been on the frontlines of gender justice for decades — defending reproductive rights, protecting LGBTQ+ communities, imagining solutions to a broken-care economy, addressing gender-based violence, and advancing racial and economic justice.  They’ve carried this work through political headwinds, funding droughts, and escalating attacks.  

And still, when resources are distributed, they are too often an afterthought —funded last, supported least, and rarely at the level that would allow their impact to fully unfold.

Women’s Funding Network’s DataWoven makes this imbalance impossible to ignore. Black women-led organizations with fewer than 10 staff spend just $0.08 to raise a dollar, while comparable organizations led by white men spend $0.49. With fewer assets and less financial cushion, these organizations are not underperforming — they are operating with a level of efficiency and constraint that should force a reconsideration of how value is measured. 

Governance data makes the mechanism visible. Organizations led by women of color show the highest representation across race and gender among both staff and boards — building alignment and accountability across organizational leadership and community. Yet that alignment does not translate into greater investment. If anything, it seems to coincide with its absence. 

The consequences are not abstract. As the current political environment targets racial and gender justice, the staff most vulnerable to funding cuts are women of color themselves, destabilizing the same communities philanthropy claims to serve. 

This is not a question of capacity. It is a question of who is seen as worthy of capital — and who is not. 

I’m honored to be part of this community of women’s funds that operate differently — rooted in communities, embedded in movements, and experimenting with innovative, participatory, flexible, community-centered models. For example, WFN’s Just Rise Fund, designed by movement leaders, reflects what becomes possible when those closest to the work help design how capital flows. 

Thank you for being part of this effort. 

Because what is at stake is not just funding inequity — it is whether the people doing the most to hold our future together are finally resourced to shape it. 

Yours, with courage for what comes next, 

Elizabeth Barajas-Román
Women’s Funding Network
President & CEO