This is Third Wave Foundation’s second year of gender justice grantmaking and this docket represents the embodiment of our movement building funding that supports youth-led organizing across multiple issues.

Since its founding, Third Wave has invested more than 3 million dollars in over 180 organizations.  In 2012, thanks to your generosity, we were able to provide grants to 14 organizations that reach and connect with over 22,000 individuals across the country.

It is with the support and commitment of our donor community that we were able to provide our grant partners with the necessary resources to continue to build stronger social justice movements inclusive of gender, racial and economic justice.

Download it:  2012 Gender Justice Grant Docket

The Board of the Third Wave Foundation is pleased to announce that Rosalba Messina has been named Interim Executive Director, effective September 1, 2012.

Messina is Principal and Founder of Messina Consulting Group, LLC, a management consulting firm that assists national and international non-profit organizations in fulfilling their mission by improving human and organizational capacity. Messina’s firm specializes in change management and human capital development, and their services include comprehensive organizational assessments, leadership transitions, and board and staff development.  Messina’s clients have included social service, advocacy and philanthropic organizations such as The Center for Constitutional Rights, The Funding Exchange, and Women In Need.  In her roles as CEO, COO and consultant, Messina has successfully addressed the needs of organizations going through an executive transition.

“As Third Wave prepares for an important transition, we are delighted to have Rosalba Messina join us as interim Executive Director.  Messina brings more than 25 years of experience as an effective transformational leader, manager and coach to the new position.  She is Principal and Founder of Messina Consulting Group – a management consulting firm that provides organizational assessments, leadership transitions, and board and staff development. Messina has extensive experience developing working partnerships among board, staff, community members, NGOs, government agencies and donors worldwide and successfully addressing the needs of organizations going through an executive transition. Her skills and experience will undoubtedly help us to move forward seamlessly,” said Mia Kim Sullivan, the co-chair of Third Wave’s board of directors.

Before launching her own consulting firm, Messina held executive-level positions for numerous nonprofit organizations and corporations. Her leadership in the LGBT community has been instrumental in facilitating educational programs on breast cancer and HIV/AIDS and securing funding for those programs. Professionally and personally, she has made a life-long commitment to advance reproductive justice and lesbian, gay and transgender rights. “Third Wave is an important organization with a rich history of supporting young feminist activists and movement building. I’m absolutely honored to provide my skills, knowledge, and experience during this time of change,” Messina said.

Ms. Messina will replace Mia Herndon, who led Third Wave’s successful programmatic and financial growth from 2009 until August 2012.

Third Wave Foundation is a feminist, activist foundation that works nationally to support the vision and voices of young women, transgender and gender nonconforming youth ages 15 to 30. Third Wave’s purpose is to support and strengthen these young activists and their allies who work for gender, racial, social, and economic justice.

For more information please contact:
Terry Ferreira
212-228-8311

For more information on how to be a part of the dialogue surrounding sex education, click HERE

The F.I.R.E. Award was presented by the New Mexico Education Equity Alliance (NMEEA), a collective of youth, community members, educators, and allies that believes that every child has a right to a high quality, equitably funded, public education. Similar to MLP, NMEEA supports campaigns to get more voices of educators, students, and community into the public discussion of school policies. MLP recently participated  in an initiative with Families United for Education to give families more say in the Albuquerque Public Schools Family.

Take a look at this comprehensive report recently released by one of our grant partners, Brown Boi Project, highlighting the importance of a “gender transformative learning” model.

The report includes a glimpse into the work they do with masculine-of-center womyn and men of color that emphasizes mental health, self-actualization, and an acknowledgement of the privileges of masculinity. Brown Boi Project’s report draws attention to the importance of the work they are doing and the nuance involved in addressing issues such as these.

“We believe that the same gender transformative learning that can keep boys of color in the classroom, will also reduce the levels of aggression and sexual pressure exerted on girls, and reduce the kind of gender policing that perpetuates violence against LGBT youth of color.” – Toward Healthy And Whole: Rethinking Gender and Transformation for Bois of Color

To read the full report, click here.

Third Wave is a feminist, activist foundation that works nationally to support young women and transgender youth ages 15 to 30. Through strategic grantmaking, movement building, leadership development, and philanthropic advocacy, we support groups and individuals working towards gender, racial, economic, and social justice.

Third Wave is led by an intergenerational board of feminists striving to combat inequalities that we ourselves face as a result of our age, gender, race, sexual orientation, economic status, or level of education. By empowering young women and transgender youth nationwide, Third Wave is building a lasting foundation for gender justice around the country.

*Program Intern Overiew*

Third Wave Foundation is seeking a Program Intern to work part-time (15 – 20 hrs/week) for the Fall 2012 semester for school credit or work-study hours and a monthly unlimited metrocard.  Working in the Program Department, the intern will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience with our programming team.  Ideal candidates have an interest in developing a birds-eye view of the racial and gender justice organizing landscape and learning more about feminist organizations, non-profits, and foundations. 

The Program Internship will focus on Third Wave’s grantmaking and capacity building.  Interns will also have the opportunity to learn more about Third Wave’s overall work and how funding decisions are made, participate in staff meetings, and attend relevant events.

The internship will involve:

• Planning grantee trainings and convening

• Support grantee evaluation
• Research and writing on philanthropic & movement building trends
• Database entry and other administrative tasks

Individuals applying for this internship should have demonstrated:

• An ability to plan and prioritize tasks to meet multiple deadlines
• Web, database and library research and writing skills
• Familiarity with Excel and/or other databases
• Interest in organizing by youth and/or communities of color
• Knowledge of gender justice issues
• Detail-oriented and great organizational skills
• Team player
• Sense of humor a plus

Please email your resume and a cover letter to Terry Ferreira at terry@thirdwavefoundation.org with the following subject heading: PROGRAM INTERN APPLICATION – YOUR NAME. In your application, include your potential start date and days for which you would be available.

Thank you for your interest in supporting Third Wave’s work!

At the end of 2011, Third Wave Foundation’s community of donors supported 20 youth-led feminist organizations engaging nearly 30,000 individuals around the country. Thanks to your generosity, our grant partners have the crucial funds and technical support they need to fight for reproductive justice, create a world free from violence and build empowered leaders in their communities.

This docket represents a milestone for Third Wave as we launch our new gender justice framework and re-emerge as a movement building funder, supporting work across multiple issues. Through this framework Third Wave funds youth-led organizations at the crossroads of sexism, homophobia and transphobia, developing leaders for a strong gender justice movement that also works for racial and economic justice.

Download it:  Grant Docket 2011.

Third Wave Survey

After more than a decade of extraordinary leadership, commitment, and service, Mia Herndon will step down as the Third Wave Foundation’s Executive Director at the end of the summer.

Under Mia’s direction, Third Wave has driven the philanthropic community in funding reproductive justice and work led by youth of color as a powerful tool for social change. She has overseen the creation of the Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative, ushered in a technical assistance and movement building program for grant partners, launched a national network of youth-led and -focused groups and, most recently, shepherded a new initiative to advance a gender justice framework within philanthropy and social movements.

From its founding 15 years ago, Third Wave today remains the only national feminist fund dedicated to supporting the social justice work of young women and transgender youth. Since 1996, more than 180 grantee partner organizations and individuals have successfully changed critical policies at local and state levels, shifting the terms of national debates on issues like reproductive rights, education, and health. In Mia’s four years as Executive Director, Third Wave supported 35 organizations through technical assistance, national convenings, and more than $1.4 million in grants; more than doubling funding for the field, despite the economic crisis and lasting recession.

“We will miss Mia’s incredible vision, grace and tremendous generosity as a leader,” said Mia Kim Sullivan, board co-chair. “As we celebrate our 15th anniversary, we honor the sustained impact of groups Mia has nurtured over a decade at Third Wave, first as Outreach Coordinator, Program Officer and Director, and then as the Foundation’s Executive Director.” For many of these groups, Third Wave was the first and lead funder whose support opened critical paths to new philanthropic resources. “Working with Mia was a definitive moment for me and so many of us in this movement,” said Paris Hatcher, Executive Director of SPARK Reproductive Justice Now. “She represents what reproductive justice means – the politics and the heart, and it is a fierce heart. She took risks on our work, leadership, and bringing us together. She is simply golden.”

Mia’s leadership in the field has extended the reach of Third Wave. She served on numerous boards, including: Women’s Funding Network; Funders Network for Population, Reproductive Health and Rights; and Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing. She shared the importance of supporting feminist youth work in low-income communities and communities of color through trainings and national conferences, including Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, National Council for Research on Women and the Women Donors Network, and as an Affiliate Scholar and Practitioner of the Women of Color Policy Network. Mia is a Progressive Women’s Voices fellow and She Source expert, and has been featured on television ranging from Grit TV, CNN, CSPAN, and an upcoming spot on “MAKERS: Women Who Make America.” In 2011, Mia was named a “Power Woman of the Year” by NY Moves Magazine.

This executive director transition has been planned for more than two years. In the year ahead, the Foundation’s board will embark on an ambitious campaign to secure continued support for effective youth-led, multi-issue and multi-strategy work. “The transformative struggle for justice, equity and sustained joy in our world requires the innovation and leadership of Third Wave grant partners,” Mia said. “The threats posed by the economic downturn, the Right and our movements’ own challenges in taking the lead from the most impacted and standing up for each other’s dignity is too great to defeat without their voice.”

The disproportionate toll levied on our communities by recent economic hardship comes at a time when Third Wave, like other publicly supported foundations across the country, is facing one of the most challenging fundraising environments of the past 40 years. Over the past year the board made the prudent decision to streamline staff and programming, reducing yet maintaining financial reserves. Despite these challenges, Third Wave will pursue its grantmaking and continue to champion young people’s leadership and organizing as critical sites for innovation, building power, and working across divisions to build a road map to freedom.

Over the next several months, the Foundation’s board will partner with current staff, founders, and community stakeholders to ensure programmatic activities are maintained during the transition, and to plan for the long-term stability and sustainability of Third Wave. An interim director will be engaged to work with staff while the Board conducts a national search for a new Executive Director.

The fellowship is part of a joint initiative by Echoing Green and Open Society Foundations (OSF) to support “visionary leaders who are generating new ideas for black male achievement in the areas such as fatherhood, mentoring, college preparatory programs, community-building, supportive wage work opportunities, communications, and philanthropic leadership”(Echoing Green).

Cole should be proud of this high-profile achievement! Her work to empower and train “masculine-of-center” young people, and to shape a radical new vision of non-oppressive masculinity certainly deserves this support.

To read Cole’s fellowship profile, click here.