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Grantmakers for Girls of Color

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Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC) is a grantmaking organization for groups that support left-of-center advocacy and philanthropic efforts that target women of color. G4GC is financially sponsored by the left-of-center Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. 1

G4GC is built on the idea of combatting “systemic” barriers which face girls of color, alleging that girls in ethnic minority groups are held back by ageism, misogyny,  and racism. 2 To combat these purported barriers, G4GC created the Black Girl Freedom Fund with a goal of raising $1 billion to support left-of-center initiatives that target the “systemic racism” allegedly faced by African American girls in policing, public education, and healthcare. 3

Left-wing activist Monique Morris is the executive director of G4GC. Morris has previously called for the elimination of police officers from all schools and demanded a “truth and reconciliation” commission to interrogate and restructure policing nationwide. 4 5 Morris has further argued that schools themselves criminalize African American girls and impose a “white supremacist ideology” on students. 6 7 Morris has critiqued even left-of-center political initiatives, claiming that the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act created by former Vice President Joe Biden has had a “profoundly negative impact” on minority communities. 8

Background

G4GC began as a collaborative initiative between a number of left-of-center organizations, including the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Foundation for a Just Society, the NoVo Foundation, and the Communities for Just Schools Fund. G4GC organizes research, conferences, and grantmaking initiatives to correct a perceived underfunding of left-progressive advocacy projects focusing on women of color. 9

G4GC has placed itself outside of the left-of-center mainstream, arguing in that the outrage displayed after the 2020 death of George Floyd should also be shown for African American women who die in police custody and complaining that African American women do not receive the same amount of public attention. 10

Research

In March of 2019, G4GC produced a report entitled “Start from the Ground Up: Increasing Support for Girls of Color.” The report categorized “girls of color” as including transgender girls and even white girls who practice Islam. In the report, G4GC officials claimed that girls of color, and white Muslim girls, face nine types of “structural barriers” caused by “entrenched racism,” including disproportionate school discipline and “patriarchal” power structures. 11 12

Grantmaking Programs

G4GC operates primarily through grantmaking programs that target girls of color. In 2019, G4GC began its grantmaking initiative through the Love is Healing COVID-19 Response Fund, a program which awarded over $1.5 million to eighty nonprofit organizations. G4GC identified the recipients as those seeking to stop the “marginalization” of minority girls. 13 G4GC primarily awarded grants to organizations and coalitions led by women of color, with organizations led by men having to prove to G4GC that their work focused on girls of color or the LGBT community. 14

In September of 2020, G4GC announced the creation of the Black Girl Freedom Fund, an initiative to raise $1 billion for projects focused on ending “structural violence” against African American girls. The Black Girl Freedom Fund also includes the Black Girls Dream Fund, an initiative created by the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium (SBGWC) which seeks to raise $100 million for African American women in the American South. 15

At the launch of the Black Girl Freedom Fund, the initiative founders wrote an open letter calling for philanthropic support and alleging that African American girls are in “crisis” due to violence and discrimination in education, healthcare, and policing. 16 G4GC further alleged that African-American girls are ignored by left-of-center advocacy movements, calling out Black Lives Matter’s fundraising efforts for allegedly ignoring African American girls. 17

G4GC has taken other left-wing political stances in the past as well, describing the United States as having a “flagrant disregard for Black lives.” 18 G4GC has also alleged that American police are racist and perpetuate the “dehumanization” of African Americans. 19

Leadership

Monique Morris

Monique W. Morris is the founding executive director of G4GC. Morris has spent 30 years in left-of-center organizing, authoring several books and contributing to a number of publications. Morris has called her organizing efforts a “war for black girls’ souls.” 20 21

Morris has criticized even left-of-center social justice policies, writing an article on the 20th anniversary of the signing of Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act by former President Bill Clinton. Morris excoriated then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden for writing the bill and President Clinton for signing it into law, alleging that the bill damaged minority communities by expanding incarceration and not providing enough public funding for crime prevention initiatives. 22

Morris co-founded the National Black Women’s Justice Institute,23 and partnered with left-wing U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to create school discipline policies that are allegedly more favorable to children of color. 24 Morris and Rep. Pressley authored an article claiming that the education system has “deeply entrenched biases” that force girls of color from school and demanding reductions in school discipline. 25 Morris has further alleged that the United States has a white supremacist ideology within its schools, which systemically expel young girls of color. 26

Morris has authored several publications on education, including Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls and Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, which later became a documentary. 27

Pushout alleged that the public education system victimizes black girls with undue punitive discipline, excessive judgement, and degradation by educators. The book also claimed that the justice system drives young girls of color away from receiving an education. Pushout received high praise by left-of-center figures and publications, including the Washington Post; left-wing feminist Gloria Steinem; and Rep. Pressley, who called Morris “her shero.” 28

In Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues, Morris insists that all police officers be removed from public schools, claiming that their presence in the school system perpetuates police surveillance, the purported criminalization of black people, and the alleged maltreatment of African American girls. 29 Morris has further criticized police across the country, claiming that the police engage in the frequent violent oppression of African Americans and must undergo a nationwide interrogation and radical restructuring. 30

Morris has taken additional left-of-center stances on racial issues, claiming that people of color have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to systemic inequalities. Morris has used this claim to argue for a range of left-of-center social initiatives, including increased public housing and the implementation of government-run healthcare. 31

Teresa Younger

Teresa Younger is on the board of G4GC and is the president and CEO of the left-of-center Ms. Foundation for Women. Planned Parenthood honored Younger for her left-of-center activism, and she has been on the list of “50 Most Powerful Women in Philanthropy” published by left-progressive philanthropic outlet Inside Philanthropy.

Younger has held positions on a number of left-of-center organization boards, including the pro-abortion Funders for Reproductive Equity, the ACLU Awards Committee (2017), Black Funders for Social Justice, the ERA Coalition,  Essie Justice Project, and Philanthropy New York. Younger has previously worked as executive director of the Connecticut General Assembly’s Permanent Commission on the Status of Women and as executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut. 32 Younger also sits on the National Advisory Board on Religious Restrictions on Care, which seeks to mandate that religious healthcare systems cover birth control for plan members. 33

Younger has claimed that the lives of African-American women do not matter to the people of the United States and has alleged that the United States is an unsuitable nation for women of color, citing structural and institutional violence. 34 35

Tia Oros Peters

Tia Oros Peters is on the board of the G4GC Advisory Committee. Peters is the CEO of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples and is listed as an expert on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. 36 The Seventh Generation Fund supports “global decolonization,” a philosophy that prioritizes the needs of indigenous communities and customs over other residents living in the same geographic area. 37

References

  1. Travers, Julia. “Staffing Up and Moving Money, Grantmakers for Girls of Color Charts a New Course.” Inside Philanthropy. Inside Philanthropy, July 15, 2020. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2020/7/15/staffing-up-and-moving-money-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color-charts-a-new-course.
  2. Dorothy Ponton, Digital Marketing Manager. “Ready to Lead Roundtable: Black and Latinx Girls Speak Out.” Girls Leadership, August 22, 2020. https://girlsleadership.org/blog/ready-to-lead-roundtable/.
  3. “On Anniversary of Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Girls, Group of Prominent Black Women Leaders and Advocates Call for …” InvestorsHub, one of the most active financial forums in the world. Join iHub today for FREE!, September 15, 2020. https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/stock-news/83264163/on-anniversary-of-church-bombing-that-killed-four.
  4. Morris, Monique W. “As Schools Prepare to Reopen, We Must Remove Cops from Campuses to Protect Black Girls.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, July 8, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2020/07/07/black-girls-need-protection-school-criminalization-cops-campus/5356613002/.
  5. Morris, Monique W. “Why the US Needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission NOW.” EBONY, December 7, 2018. https://www.ebony.com/news/why-the-us-needs-a-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-now-532/.
  6. Dorothy Ponton, Digital Marketing Manager. “Ready to Lead Roundtable: Black and Latinx Girls Speak Out.” Girls Leadership, August 22, 2020. https://girlsleadership.org/blog/ready-to-lead-roundtable/.
  7. Morris, Monique W. “Equating Black Girls With Bad Attitudes Is Not the Answer.” Medium. ZORA, August 26, 2019. https://zora.medium.com/we-need-to-stop-criminalizing-school-age-black-girls-236ca856b607.

  8. Morris, Monique W. “Black Women and the Crime Bill,20 Years Later.” EBONY, December 17, 2018. https://www.ebony.com/news/black-women-and-the-crime-bill-20-years-later-403/.
  9. Travers, Julia. “Staffing Up and Moving Money, Grantmakers for Girls of Color Charts a New Course.” Inside Philanthropy. Inside Philanthropy, July 15, 2020. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2020/7/15/staffing-up-and-moving-money-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color-charts-a-new-course.
  10. Travers, Julia. “Staffing Up and Moving Money, Grantmakers for Girls of Color Charts a New Course.” Inside Philanthropy. Inside Philanthropy, July 15, 2020. https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2020/7/15/staffing-up-and-moving-money-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color-charts-a-new-course.
  11. Uchida, Kyoko. “5 Questions For…Monique W. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color – PhilanTopic: PND: Candid.” Philantopic – A blog of opinion and commentary, August 24, 2020. https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2020/08/5qs-monique-w-morris-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color.html.
  12. Grantmakers for Girls of Color. START FROM THE GROUND UP. New York, NY: Grantmakers for Girls of Color, 2019. https://www.grantmakersforgirlsofcolor.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Start-From-The-Ground-Up-Report_1.pdf?utm_source=G4GC+-+Start+From+The+Ground+Up+Report+Downloads+Sign+up+-+03+2019&utm_campaign=35139a2c03-AUTOMATION__1&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f652dfe74d-35139a2c03-236663153
  13. Uchida, Kyoko. “5 Questions For…Monique W. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color – PhilanTopic: PND: Candid.” Philantopic – A blog of opinion and commentary, August 24, 2020. https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2020/08/5qs-monique-w-morris-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color.html.
  14. Lehnert, Author Tim. “Grantmakers for Girls of Color Gives One Million for COVID-19 ~.” Philanthropy Women, May 31, 2020. https://philanthropywomen.org/gender-lens-grantmaking/grantmakers-for-girls-of-color-gives-one-million-for-covid-19/.
  15. On Anniversary of Church Bombing That Killed Four Black Girls, Group of Prominent Black Women Leaders and Advocates Call for …” InvestorsHub, one of the most active financial forums in the world. Join iHub today for FREE!, September 15, 2020. https://ih.advfn.com/stock-market/stock-news/83264163/on-anniversary-of-church-bombing-that-killed-four.
  16. “Open Letter.” Black Girl Freedom Fund, October 9, 2020. https://1billion4blackgirls.org/openletter/.
  17. Staff, WI Web. “Black Female Leaders, Advocates Call for $1B Investment to Help Black Girls Thrive.” The Washington Informer. The Washington Informer, September 16, 2020. https://www.washingtoninformer.com/black-female-leaders-advocates-call-for-1b-investment-to-help-black-girls-thrive/.
  18. Morris, Monique. “G4GC Statement in Solidarity with the Movement for Racial Justice.” Grantmakers For Girls of Color, June 3, 2020. https://www.grantmakersforgirlsofcolor.org/resources-item/g4gc-statement-in-solidarity-with-the-movement-for-racial-justice/.
  19. Morris, Monique. “G4GC Statement in Solidarity with the Movement for Racial Justice.” Grantmakers For Girls of Color, June 3, 2020. https://www.grantmakersforgirlsofcolor.org/resources-item/g4gc-statement-in-solidarity-with-the-movement-for-racial-justice/.
  20. Dorothy Ponton, Digital Marketing Manager. “Ready to Lead Roundtable: Black and Latinx Girls Speak Out.” Girls Leadership, August 22, 2020. https://girlsleadership.org/blog/ready-to-lead-roundtable/.
  21. Erica L. Green, Mark Walker and Eliza Shapiro. “’A Battle for the Souls of Black Girls’.” baltimoresun.com. Baltimore Sun, October 4, 2020. https://www.baltimoresun.com/featured/sns-nyt-effect-of-punitive-on-black-girls-20201004-f5vbuoxjljeybjplc5qavcq6lu-story.html.
  22. Morris, Monique W. “Black Women and the Crime Bill,20 Years Later.” EBONY, December 17, 2018. https://www.ebony.com/news/black-women-and-the-crime-bill-20-years-later-403/.
  23. Uchida, Kyoko. “5 Questions For…Monique W. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color – PhilanTopic: PND: Candid.” Philantopic – A blog of opinion and commentary, August 24, 2020. https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2020/08/5qs-monique-w-morris-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color.html.
  24. “HOME.” NBWJI.org. Accessed October 23, 2020. https://www.nbwji.org/.
  25. Pressley, Ayanna, and Monique W. Morris. “A Just Society Doesn’t Criminalize Girls.” Common Dreams, December 7, 2019. https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/12/07/just-society-doesnt-criminalize-girls.
  26. Morris, Monique W. “Equating Black Girls With Bad Attitudes Is Not the Answer.” Medium. ZORA, August 26, 2019. https://zora.medium.com/we-need-to-stop-criminalizing-school-age-black-girls-236ca856b607.
  27. Uchida, Kyoko. “5 Questions For…Monique W. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color – PhilanTopic: PND: Candid.” Philantopic – A blog of opinion and commentary, August 24, 2020. https://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/2020/08/5qs-monique-w-morris-grantmakers-for-girls-of-color.html.
  28. “Share Your Story.” PUSHOUT. Accessed October 23, 2020. https://pushoutfilm.com/book.   
  29. Morris, Monique W. “As Schools Prepare to Reopen, We Must Remove Cops from Campuses to Protect Black Girls.” USA Today. Gannett Satellite Information Network, July 8, 2020. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2020/07/07/black-girls-need-protection-school-criminalization-cops-campus/5356613002/.
  30. Morris, Monique W. “Why the US Needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission NOW.” EBONY, December 7, 2018. https://www.ebony.com/news/why-the-us-needs-a-truth-and-reconciliation-commission-now-532/.
  31. Ed.D, Monique W. Morris. “COVID-19 Highlights The Harsh Reality Facing Black Girls, Girls Of Color.” Essence. Essence, May 19, 2020. https://www.essence.com/feature/covid-19-black-girls-girls-of-color-coronavirus/.
  32. “Teresa C. Younger.” Conference on World Affairs, January 23, 2019. https://www.colorado.edu/cwa/teresa-c-younger.
  33. “UNH Women’s Conference Focuses on Redefining Leadership, Success.” University of New Haven, September 22, 2014. https://www.newhaven.edu/news/releases/2014-2015/unh-womens-conference-focuses-on-redefining-leadership-success.php.
  34. Younger, Teresa C. “Black Girls Matter: For Too Long, the Sexual Abuse to Prison Pipeline Has Gone Unchecked.” HuffPost. HuffPost, July 10, 2016. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-girls-matter-for-to_b_7763974.
  35. Anneau, Manon. “Shape Your Future with Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women.” Impakter, December 3, 2019. https://impakter.com/shape-your-future-with-teresa-c-younger-president-ceo-ms-foundation-for-women/.
  36. “Tia Oros Peters.” Seventh Generation for Indigenous Peoples, Inc. Accessed October 23, 2020. http://www.7genfund.org/tia-oros-peters.
  37. “On the Topics of Decolonization • Re-Indigenization • Self-Determination.” Eagle Feather Notes. Accessed October 23, 2020. https://eaglefeathernotes.org/.
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