The Lela Breitbart Memorial Fund

“Third Wave’s Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative is building a new movement to fight for women’s reproductive freedoms. There is no better way to honor Lela’s memory and all of the supporters of the Memorial Fund than to offer this endowment.”
said Vicki Breitbart, Lela’s mother and the President of the Memorial Fund’s Board of Directors


An endowed gift to Third Wave Foundation from the Lela Breitbart Memorial Fund will ensure greater support for young women’s reproductive freedoms.

The Lela Breitbart Memorial Fund has made a generous philanthropic contribution that inaugurates an endowed fund to support the Third Wave Foundation’s Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative.

Third Wave Foundation will use this endowed fund to offer an annual grant of $3,000 in memory of Lela Breitbart to innovative organizations working on issues of reproductive justice around the country. This grant will be given to programs that are developed and led by women and transgender people between the ages of 15 and 30, with an emphasis on supporting and strengthening young women, transgender youth and their allies working for gender, racial, social, and economic justice.

Monique Mehta, former Third Wave Executive Director, said, “We are truly honored to receive this gift and opportunity from the Breitbart family. Their support will greatly expand our ability to further shift resources and funding to young women-led organizations working on reproductive justice issues. In this political climate, dramatic action like this gift is more important than ever to ensure women’s reproductive freedoms.”

The Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative of the Third Wave Foundation financially supports activities that directly expand reproductive justice and promote reproductive health for young women. Third Wave’s Reproductive Health and Justice Initiative awards grants to support increasing access to and awareness of the need for reproductive health services in underserved areas as well as promoting the leadership of young women within the reproductive justice movement.

The Lela Breitbart Memorial Fund is a public foundation supporting reproductive rights and young women’s activism. It was founded in 1995 by the family of Lela Breitbart following her tragic death at the age of 24.

The Brooklyn Young Mothers Collective were the 2008 recipients of the Lela Breitbart Memorial Fund grant. They are a member of the RJ network and work to break the cycle of generational poverty among pregnant and parenting low-income mothers by helping them actively engage in improving the conditions that impact their lives. BYMC also builds leadership skills in young mothers and organizes them to improve the response of community and government agencies in addressing their needs. ($6,000)