The organizations we supported in 2021 are working at the intersection of gender, worker safety, and justice. They are furthering public education, legislative advocacy, litigation, and other resources that protect and expand economic opportunity and access to all reproductive health services for women and girls.

Care Economy and Economic Justice

Women make up a large portion of the essential workforce and play a critical role in the U.S. economy. In the last year, women have lost the majority of jobs, dropped out of the labor force, and are disproportionately represented in the industries most devastated by COVID-19. In response, we prioritized funding to support frontline workers most affected by the pandemic, including retail, home care, domestic, and agriculture workers.

We continued seed support for the country’s first women-focused policy hub and supported the grassroots organizing and power building of farmworkers, domestic workers, and other low-wage professions who have been systematically and intentionally excluded from federal labor and employment protections, such as the Fair Labor Standards Act’s guarantee of minimum wage and overtime pay.

Reproductive Justice

Additionally, we responded to attacks on reproductive rights, resourcing the nation’s first-ever reproductive legal defense fund, and supporting the first-ever miscarriage and abortion hotline in the country.

19 states enacted over 100 abortion restrictions in 2021, including 12 abortion bans. SB 8 or the “Texas Abortion Ban,” which bans abortions after six weeks, created a blueprint for some of the most restrictive laws in the country.

WDN identified the critical need for increased and ongoing funding to support abortion services and legal and legislative advocacy in the states attempting to replicate SB 8. We quickly responded and moved $750,000 out of the Special Opportunities Fund to resource direct clinic and patient support for self-managed or doctor-assisted abortions, legal protection, and culture and narrative change.

Birth Justice

The unprecedented assault on reproductive rights disproportionately harms Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), who also experience the worst maternal mortality rates among industrialized countries. Depending on the state in which they live, Black and Indigenous women are up to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, and most of these deaths are preventable with access to quality, affordable care.

For much of the United States’ history, Black midwives and Indigenous birth workers were a critical part of the care infrastructure; however, they have been systemically disenfranchised and pushed out of the healthcare system due to misogyny and white supremacy. The birth justice movement is working to return care infrastructure and culture to the hands of BIPOC birth workers who are at the heart of an anti-racist and community-based healthcare system.

We hosted a three-part birth justice learning series with seven other donor networks. This space encouraged midwives and birth workers of color to share their work with over 300 donors. This series was the first of its kind within philanthropy, where there’s been little mainstream discussion around birth justice, even though it’s inseparable from reproductive justice.

As a result of the series, we moved $300k to birth justice organizers featured on the calls, namely Groundswell’s Birth Justice Fund, National Birth Equity Collaborative, and Birth Center Equity Fund. We are also continuing to organize around birth justice and reproductive care in partnership with Midwifery Funder’s Group, Groundswell, and others.