Today, The White House released the first-ever National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality. Last March, on International Women’s Day, the President issued an Executive Order establishing the White House Gender Policy Council (GPC). That Executive Order also charged the GPC with leading the development of the first-ever, government-wide national gender strategy to help guide the Biden-Harris Administration’s work on gender equity and equality in domestic and foreign policy.
Women’s Funds and Gender Justice Funds across the globe have been regularly meeting with local, state, and federal representatives to share learnings and insights from regions across the United States as well as internationally.
Below is a statement from WFN President & CEO, Elizabeth Barajas-Román on this historic announcement:
“As an international philanthropic alliance dedicated to gender equity, the Women’s Funding Network (WFN) is thrilled to see the Biden Administration release the first ever Strategy On Gender Equity and Equality. Women’s Funds and Foundations are on the frontline of change in local communities – when we invest in women’s funds, we invest in the interconnected policies that increase access to education, healthcare, and environmental safety that impacts the lives of women, children, and families in communities across the globe. Equity and equality at the policy level must recognize that seemingly different policy priorities are all interconnected.
Policy changes that are created, tested, and validated locally by women’s funds can lay the groundwork for national policy transformation. With the President following the Gender Policy Council’s (GPC) recommendations and with support from women’s funds across the country who have been meeting regularly with the GPC to share local learnings, community insights, and shape state-based policy solutions, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make true change and create a future where everyone can thrive.”
– Elizabeth Barajas-Román, President and CEO, Women’s Funding Network
Additional Resources:
- Read the full National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality from the White House
- White House Fact Sheet: National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality
- World Economic Forum: Global Gender Gap Report 2021
- UN Women: Generation Equality: Women’s Funding Network Members Commit to Mobilizing $300 Million for Economic Justice and Rights
- IWPR’s Status of Women in the States report underscores the urgency of the Gender Policy Council’s strategies and recommendations and provides a deft understanding of the role geography plays in shaping women and girl’s access to opportunity, and their safety, health, and economic security in the U.S.