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

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.

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.

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.

All of the groups funded by Third Wave are doing groundbreaking and inspirational things. But I was also struck by the kinds of challenges Third Wave’s grant partners are facing. To me, these challenges are significant because they represent the fact that grant partners are doing truly revolutionary, as opposed to popular, work. This lack of “popularity” also underscores the necessity of Third Wave’s support, since funding for many of these issues and approaches is hard to come by.

One challenge is public perception of issues related to sex and gender, as well as the way these issues are (or are not) represented in the media.  St. James Infirmary tried to get their media campaign posted on billboards and was turned down by CBS Outdoor and Clear Channel because the use of the words “sex work” and “sex worker” was deemed “not family friendly.” Different Avenues also reports that they have to stay away from mentioning “sex work” when interacting with many funders.  This also seems to be an issue with many of our groups fighting to bring comprehensive sexual education into schools.  Conservative school boards have put up many barriers, leaving our grant partners frustrated.

Another challenge is navigating the changing fads in philanthropy. Because some issues are hot topics, it is easier for them to get funding. Meanwhile, other equally important issues get overlooked. For instance, many funders are more interested in boys in the system than in girls in the system.  This means they don’t want to invest in groups like Different Avenues.  Young Women’s Empowerment Project reports being approached by those who have caught onto the anti-trafficking fad and want to speak with “trafficked victims.” They have difficulty expressing how the trafficking framework does not feel relevant for most of the girls who are a part of YWEP. Rather, “Girls Do What They Have to Do to Survive,” according to the title of their report on the participatory action research they did with street youth in Chicago. Within the context of prison reform, Justice Now reports on the realignment movement in California and the push for “gender responsive prison reforms.” At first glance, these proposed changes may appear to be improvements.  They are certainly getting plenty of support.  But Justice Now explains how they are, in fact, a regression. They are fighting for substantial changes to make the prison system more humane and for a movement towards decarceration.

Third Wave grant partners tend to look at issues of reproductive health and justice as they affect and are relevant to under-served communities. It can be a challenge for them to appeal to funders working within a mainstream reproductive rights framework (which can seem focused on providing white women with access to abortions). This framework tends to ignore the ways in which gender, class, and racial privileges intersect. Choice USA, the Chicago Abortion Fund, SPARK Reproductive Justice Now, and New Voices Pittsburgh, are all fighting for a woman’s right to choose and for access to safe, empowering, and affordable reproductive healthcare.  New Voices Pittsburgh organized Pennsylvanians to rally against Senate Bill 732, the Health Care Facilities Act, which would close almost all free-standing or non-hospital affiliated clinics in Pennsylvania.  Despite their success as an organization, they report “resistance to our leadership as young women of color”(NVP 2010 report).  These groups recognize that the reproductive rights of people of color are especially under attack. For example, over the past few year, anti-choice billboards around the country have been equating a black woman’s decision not to have a child with the genocide of black people.  Recently, there have been similar billboards aimed at Latina women.  SPARK, Chicago Abortion Fund, and local chapters of Choice USA (at University of Georgia and University of Missouri) have all mobilized against this assault on women of color.

Meanwhile, groups such as COLOR and Kalpulli Izkalli report that many of their constituents are very religious, and have views about abortions that differ from the views of many others fighting for reproductive health and justice. They face the challenge of understanding this fight in different ideological contexts.  COLOR reports: “The conservative religious sentiment in the community drives people to ask how we manage to navigate the relationship between strong cultural religion and reproductive freedoms”(COLOR 2010 report). Kalpulli Izkalli has found it necessary to separate the polarizing issue of “abortion” from the broader issues of reproductive justice, such as reproductive healthcare access.  Working from another angle, Young Women United is supporting young parents, recognizing their accomplishments and expertise, and fighting the stigmatization of teen parenting. All of these groups are negotiating what may seem from the outside to be ideological incompatibilities, and challenging the idea that reproductive justice means only “abortion.” They are working to forward reproductive health and justice in a way that makes sense within their communities, leaving constituents informed and empowered to make the decisions that feel right for them.

To me, the very fact that our grant partners are running up against these kinds of obstacles to their work is a sign that they are doing something right.  It also reinforces my appreciation of Third Wave as a grantmaker.  Third Wave seeks out those doing crucial work, even if it is “unpopular,” and especially when other sources of funding are hard to access.

Below is “I am NOT a Statistic,” a video they created as a public service announcement to help spread awareness about the many issues affecting today’s youth, from unprotected sex to underage drinking:

Here is another video they worked on (produced by Columbia University students) about the crucial need for sex education in New York City schools, especially in communities of color:

To read more about the BMA Fellowship and the 16 finalists, click here.