Throughout 2019 as we celebrate 10 years of grantmaking, the RISE Together Fund (RTF) team will be sharing 10 lessons we’ve learned.
By Lida Azim, RTF Philanthropy Fellow
March 27th is Muslim Women’s Day, a day meant to give Muslim women the space they deserve and to amplify their voices. In today’s world, and in the past, Muslim women have accomplished amazing feats in the face of adversity. However, Muslim women are often targeted with Islamophobic rhetoric and hate speech. From Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib to Women’s March organizer Linda Sarsour, to community members targeted by hate crimes, Muslim women bear the brunt of gendered Islamophobia. Nonetheless, the Muslim, Arab, and South Asian (MASA) field that the RISE Together Fund (RTF) supports is overwhelmingly led by directly impacted MASA community members, with 76% of RTF grantee organizations being led by women. The RTF believes there is a critical need and an opportunity to raise the visibility of and support for MASA women’s leadership, not only to fight anti-Muslim hate, but also because supporting MASA women’s leadership will uplift the entire field.
In 2019 RTF is excited to co-host, with the Rockwood Leadership Institute, the first-ever MASA women’s leadership cohort. The goals of the women’s leadership programming are: to cultivate a supportive space for MASA women leaders that yields lasting bonds; to provide concrete leadership tools tailored specifically for MASA women; to empower and sustain nonprofit leadership and movement building; to create mentorship opportunities; to create space to ability to learn from other successful movements; and finally, to connect and strengthen a field that is largely led by women the field.
Want to learn more about the MASA women in this field? Check out the articles below: