Support Women and Girls' Leadership in Puerto Rico

Not so long ago, the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) published its most recent findings in the Women’s and Girls Index. Although it showcases increased investments in organizations that serve, advocate for, and organize women and girls, we are still 2% below the global level of philanthropic investments.  

We must close the funding gap, which isexacerbated in Puerto Rico by the lack of philanthropic attention we receive outside of socio-climatic disasters.

At the Puerto Rico Women’s Foundation, we are committed to equity by reaching community-based organizations in the archipelago's regions that receive the least funds. Additionally, we are committed to their organizational development and growth by providing them with operational funds and capacity-building programs.

Here are two examples of the results directly from our grantee partners:

Recently, Casa Pensamiento de Mujer del Centro received funding under the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) for direct services that go up to $120,998:

“Thanks to the fact that the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico covered my salary, I can now invest hours looking for funds. This achievement is as much as Casa de Pensamiento as the Fundación de Mujeres.” Jennifer Berrios- Executive Director

Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres, Casa Juana Colón, and the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico partnered with Caminar Latino to train organizations and prepare them to request funds from the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). After the workshops and accompaniment, Hogar Nueva Mujer shared with us: 

“Thanks to the workshops of the Fundación de Mujeres en Puerto Rico with Caminar Latino, we submitted the Culturally Specific proposal of OVW and were approved with a $400,000 grant. We are so happy!’, Emma Santiago Cabrera, Executive Director of Hogar Nueva Mujer.”

Thanks to your support, we have distributed a significant amount of funding to organizations that represent the views and interests of their communities but are often excluded from funding opportunities. As a result, we are now working more closely with our grantee partners and have witnessed first-hand the positive impact this funding has had on the work and lives of the women running these organizations.

The FMnPR has recently expanded its networks and found new opportunities to share with grantee partners. This includes securing additional funding from foundations and providing capacity building to access and manage federal funding. We have also worked on building relationships between grantee partners to facilitate collaborations and more funding opportunities. Such partnerships are essential because they help match smaller organizations that otherwise would not qualify for funding but can do so if working with an experienced organization. 

We are deeply grateful for your generosity and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate to bring equity to Puerto Rico.

We are committed to promoting greater gender and racial equity and justice, and we look forward to continuing our work with you toward this common goal.

Let’s continue working together #HastaLaEquidad

Links:

• Read our latest reports
• Community Leaders and Feminist Philanthropy Panel
• Annual Assembly 2024 | First Half of Event

Puerto Rico has faced severe challenges in recent years that have delayed our progress toward equity. Rebuilding and rethinking our future with a focus on gender and racial equity will require us to challenge traditional philanthropic practices and shift the narrative. This report highlights the importance of Feminist Funding in Puerto Rico and our conscious and intentional approach to grantmaking before, during and after socio-natural climate disasters.

Since the beginning, our grantmaking efforts have been centered around providing crucial funding to organizations close to the communities and, in several cases, acting as their first and only source of funding. Our primary focus has been to strengthen institutional capacity as a means of of ensuring that they are better prepared to tackle future challenges, including climate change and socio-climatic disasters. We are investing in feminist, women-led, and LGBTQ+ organizations, trusting their capacity to drive economic growth that will result in success for their families and communities.

Since Hurricane Fiona in 2022, we have invested more than $800,000 in organizations that are working towards the safety, well-being, economic success, and building power with women, girls, and gender-expansive communities in all the archipelago of Puerto Rico. This investment has resulted in nearly $1.6 million in grantmaking since the Foundation launched four years ago. Foundations, individual donors, and our extended community of supporters, are part of this story. For that, we are sincerely grateful.

Thank you for your continuous support and your generosity since day one. If I have learned anything over the last two years serving as the Foundation’s first Executive Director, it is that we can only do this work if we all come together to build community.

Read our latest annual report here.