Top 8 Third Wave Moments in 2018

Before 2018 comes to an end, we want to recap some powerful moments in our Third Wave community this year. Check it out, and help us sustain this critical work today!

1. We kicked off our 2018 blog series interviewing Tarana Burke, founder of the me too movement. When Tarana launched her incredible organizing work in 2006, Third Wave gave me too. their first grant to help purchase the necessary materials for programming with young girls of color.

2. After 10 years at Third Wave Fund, Rye Young stepped down as Executive Director. At our annual Gender Bash, we welcomed Ana Conner & Kiyomi Fujikawa into the fam as our new co-cos (Co-Directors)! Kiyomi is the first openly transgender women to serve in a senior leadership position in the history of institutional philanthropy, and Ana is quite possibly the youngest philanthropic executive in the U.S. Do you know about our Sustainable Leadership Fund (link has expired)?

3. In May, we launched our very own podcast, Mic Check! featuring conversations with young women, queer, trans, and intersex people of color on the intersection of organizing and philanthropy. Tune in to the first three episodes!

4. Listening to our grantees’ needs is important. That’s why this year, we launched a series of webinars on digital safety and financial management exclusive to our grantee partners.  

​5. Not only did we launch the first sex worker-led fund housed at a U.S. foundation this year, but our Sex Worker Giving Circle fellows made 11 grants to sex worker-led organizations and groups across the country, totalling $200,000.

6. We also smashed our own record this year! Third Wave gave out $900,000 in grants in over 40 cities and territories across the U.S.! You can learn who all 73+ grantees were in our Year-In-Review.

7. 2018 marked the first time we made our Mobilize Power Fund application accessible to Spanish-language speakers! We’re also still one of the few funders to support organizations that do not have a 501(c)3 status, allowing us to fund grassroots work without limitations.

8. Last, but certainly not least, our grantees made history this year. Up against extreme repression, we witnessed Black queer and trans migrants organizing deportation defense trainings, Puerto Rican communities providing safe infant feeding counseling in the midst of climate disaster, Black and Brown doulas offering reproductive care for Spanish-speaking families dealing with ICE presence during labor, Black sex workers organizing against SESTA/FOSTA, and so much more. All of this work was supported through our Mobilize Power Fund grants and your support. Thank you.

Continue to sustain this critical work today!

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