Grantmakers for Girls of Color

Historically, women and girls of color have been woefully neglected by philanthropy, as male-centered approaches to racial justice work have failed to recognize the distinct challenges this segment of the population faces at the intersection of systemic racism, sexism and other forms of oppression. According to a landmark 2020 report by the Ms. Foundation for Women, of the USD 66.9 billion given by U.S. foundations in 2017, just 0.5 percent was awarded to organizations specifically representing women and girls of color.

Grantmakers for Girls of Color emerged in 2015 as an online platform and funder network seeking to address this long standing disparity. In 2020 it evolved as a stand-alone grantmaking entity, becoming the only philanthropic intermediary in the U.S. exclusively for girls of color. In Philanthropy News Digest in 2020, G4GC’s Executive Director Monique Morris (now President and CEO Monique Couvson) called upon funders to stop viewing girls of color as “trickle-down beneficiaries” of broad racial equity investments, and instead to become intentional about supporting them directly.

G4GC’s commitment to center and uplift girls of color is built into an organizational practice that vests significant power in youth advisors to shape policies, priorities and communication strategies. Further, through participatory grantmaking councils, G4GC empowers its constituents to guide funding decisions that best reflect their needs and concerns. In a 2023 interview with Youth Today, Couvson explained: “When we cede power to young people, when we invest in their ability to feel strong and competent in the mobilization of resources to support their own well-being, what we’re doing is relocating this notion of how knowledge is controlled and where the expertise lies.”

G4GC’s signature programs include Love is Healing, its primary grantmaking fund; Black Girl Freedom Fund, part of the #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign to mobilize USD 1 billion for Black girls by 2030; New Songs Rising Initiative, which resources Indigenous girls; Holding a Sister Initiative, which supports trans girls of color; and Future Economy Lab, an effort to create new and culturally responsive economic opportunities for girls of color. Between 2020 and 2023, these programs mobilized more than USD 25 million to nearly 400 organizations centering and/or led by girls and gender-expansive youth of color across all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.

In Philanthropy News Digest in 2022, Couvson affirmed her faith in the transformative power of G4GC’s youth engagement model. “Trust and respect Black girls, femmes, and gender-expansive youth,” she said. “Center their leadership and abundantly resource them. When we get out of their way, we all thrive.”

Contributor: Erin Brown