Grantmakers for Girls of Color

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OVERVIEW: Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) is a funding intermediary that mobilizes resources and pools funds in support of girls and young women of color ages 25 and under in the U.S. and territories. It actively partners with other major funders and organizations working on issue areas that include education and youth development, violence prevention and healing justice, gender justice, community development and economic equity.

IP TAKE: Grantmakers for Girls of Color is a relatively new funder with the ambitious goal of mobilizing $100 million in funding annually for young women and girls of color. To date, this funding intermediary has spearheaded the creation of several new funds and projects, including the Black Girl Freedom Fund and its #1Billion4BlackGirls campaign. With backing from major donors including MacKenzie Scott and the Libra Foundation, G4GC has quickly become an influential presence among progressive social justice funders. In additional to grantmaking, G4GC engages in capacity building, research, organizing, donor mobilization, and leadership development. This is a transparent funder that frequently updates its followers on social media and via its newsletter about new developments.

PROFILE: Established in April 2020, Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) is a philanthropic organization and funder collaborative that is dedicated to the needs of girls of color in the U.S. G4GC aims to “cultivate and mobilize resources in support of girls of color” and to “resource and support transformative organizing work that dismantles systems of oppression in the U.S.” G4GC defines “girls of color” as any cis, trans, gender-expansive, non-binary and/or any girl- or femme-identified person age 25 and younger who identifies as Black, Indigenous, Latina, Asian, Arab, Pacific Islander and/or other People of Color. The programs at G4GC support women-led organizations that serve these demographics.

Grants for Racial Equity, Women and Girls, and Public Health

Currently, all of G4GC’s grantmaking focuses on young women and girls of color as giving is conducted through both a gender and racial equity lens:

  • The Black Girl Freedom Fund is a fiscally sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color.

    • The fund's grantmaking exclusively supports programs that address the needs of Black women and girls across the U.S. It practices a unique form of participatory grantmaking in which a council of Black girls help select the fund’s grantee organizations.

    • To be considered for funding, potential grantees must serve and be led by Black women or girls, “Black femmes, and/or gender-expansive Black folks.” Funded projects and organizations should include a focus on “leadership development, including political education, community organizing,” and should teach “Black girls to exercise the power of their voice.”

    • More information is available at Black Girl Freedom Fund website.

  • The Holding a Sister Initiative focuses on trans girls and gender-expansive youth of color. The program was incubated at Groundswell Fund and operates in partnership with the Black Trans Fund. The fund works “to mobilize funds and bring attention and resources to organizations that serve and are led by trans girls of color.” Like the Black Girl Freedom Fund, it works with its target demographic, in this case trans girls and gender-expansive youth of color, including them in the decision-making and grant-selection process.

  • The New Songs Rising Initiative is a collaboration between G4GC and the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples. The initiative seeks “to strengthen entities that support multi generational healing and organizing amongst Indigenous girls and women, that support the organizing capacity of Indigenous girls and women to resist state and colonial violence and gender-based violence that impacts Indigenous girls and women, and that advance the creation of art, music, and poetry that can be used to advance healing and uplift the voices of Indigenous girls and women.”

  • The Love is Healing Fund was established to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls of color. It is unclear for how much longer this program will operate.

Important Grant Details:

G4GC is relatively new and has conducted only had a few rounds of grantmaking so far, which makes it difficult to discern funding trends. However, its most recent annual report provides information about current grantees and how much they have received.

The Black Girl Freedom Fund periodically announces open calls for applications from Black women- and femme-led organizations. Although dates are subject to change, the application period typically runs from the middle of September to the end of October.

With the exception of Black Girls Freedom Fund, G4GC does not provide a clear way for new grantseekers to apply for funding from their programs; however, it does invite those with general questions to reach out at contact@grantmakersforgirlsofcolor.org.

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