Closing Another Gap
At Women Connect4Good, we are committed to achieving gender equality and empowering women to lead. Period. Logically, that should be an easy, achievable goal. Especially since women make up approximately 49.7% of the world’s total population. Yet less than 2% of charitable giving is earmarked for organizations and programs dedicated to women and girls. Organizations that could equip and empower, support, care for, and educate. Organizations that could give women and girls the same tools and supports that so many give to boys and men.
The math doesn’t make sense. Roughly half the population, roughly two cents on the dollar.
And the funding gap is just the visible part of a deeper one. As Pivotal Ventures’ Brooke D. Anderson recently noted, women are “in the minority in every major position of power” — 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs, 17% of venture capital check writers, 26% of U.S. senators.
Closing the gap in giving isn’t just the right thing to do—it makes good economic sense. Research consistently shows that women reinvest at higher rates into their families, their communities, and the economies around them—multiplying the impact of every dollar far beyond the original gift. At the Harvard Center for International Development, Priyanka Varma notes that women typically reinvest up to 90% of their earnings in their families and communities, compared with only 30 to 40% among men.
And the stakes have never been higher. As Ms. Magazine reported last summer, federal rollbacks on women’s health, reproductive care, civil rights, and DEI programs are forcing philanthropy to fill gaps that government once did. Ana Marie Argilagos of Hispanics in Philanthropy summed it up perfectly, “This is precisely when philanthropy must step forward with courage, doubling down on long-term, flexible funding that sustains organizations through uncertainty.”
Two percent was already inadequate. In this moment, it is even harder to justify. The question is no longer why funding stops where it does. The question is what happens if it doesn’t. Because every dollar directed toward women and girls doesn’t just close a gap—it creates opportunity, stability, and growth across all aspects of entire communities. We need to prioritize giving our money, time, or talent to women and girls: mothers and daughters, sisters and aunts, cousins and friends. Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because we can’t afford to lose the ground we have gained—and we know exactly what is possible when we invest in keeping it.
Do One Small Thing
The funding gap is enormous, but the actions that could close it are not. Pick one.
• Learn – This week’s blog post shares our time at the Giving List Women Summit, where the funding gap was the main topic of conversation.
• Give – Direct charitable dollars to women’s funds and women-led organizations. National funds matter, and so does the women’s shelter, women’s business center, or girls’ leadership program three blocks down the street.
• Mentor – Sponsor a young woman in your orbit. Open a door. Make an introduction. One hour a month is not a small thing to a 16-year-old who is still deciding whether she gets to lead.
• Share – Forward this newsletter to a friend who needs the reminder that the gap is not an accident, and closing it is not optional.
It’s Here!
Sacred Bonds: Heartfelt Stories of Mothers and the Lives They Shape is officially available!
This collection features 17 true and inspiring stories about the profound bond between mothers and the lives they touch--including my own. I’m deeply honored to share this journey with such an incredible group of authors.
Whether you’re a mother, a daughter, a son, or someone navigating your own path of healing, this book offers something meaningful for everyone.
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Your support—through your purchase and review—will help us share these powerful stories with more people who need them. I can’t wait for you to dive into these stories and feel the love and connection they hold.
The Global Platform To Uplift Girls And Women Through Sport
With the world watching Mexico City and excitedly anticipating the FIFA World Cup 2026, OmniWin Impact Foundation for Girls is partnering with Street Child United to create its own World Cup moment. Providing a global platform to uplift girls and women through sport, OmniWin is aligning with the world’s most-watched sporting event with a powerful platform for visibility and influence like no other.
OmniWin has earned its reputation as an impact platform, seizing historic moments and powerful partners to spotlight its mission of building partnerships that tackle global challenges like hunger, poverty, education, healthcare, at-risk communities, human rights, and allowing all children to have dignity, opportunity, and hope. In this instance, the convergence of power is aimed at sport, media, and leadership, which creates an unprecedented moment for girls to step into the spotlight and lead with confidence.
Continue reading our latest post over on the blog.
In Closing
Year after year, research from McKinsey, Goldman Sachs, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics finds the same pattern—companies with meaningful women’s representation in leadership and on boards outperform companies that don’t. The data is not subtle, and it is not new. When women lead, the numbers improve.
We must make sure that the women today, and the girls who follow, are equipped and ready. When women lead, we all win.