Asian American Voices for Education (AAVEd) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to transforming Georgia’s K-12 classrooms so that all Asian Americans and other students of color are affirmed, valued, and empowered to become community change-makers.
AAVEd works for long-term structural change by promoting a comprehensive U.S. history curriculum, teacher and student leadership, and community advocacy with all Georgia residents who value their students and their right to affirming classrooms.
As a women-founded and women-led organization, AAVEd recognizes that many of the workplace challenges teachers face are deeply gendered, given that nearly 80% of Georgia’s teaching workforce are women. At a time when educators face increasing barriers to teaching diverse perspectives, AAVEd is strengthening teacher training, coalition development, and community education across Georgia.
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For over thirty years, Curve magazine has been a beacon of visibility and pride. Filled with stories of resilience and triumph, the magazine paved the way for the creation of The Curve Foundation, a nonprofit founded to ensure that the voices and experiences of LGBTQIA+ women and nonbinary people are celebrated and preserved. Today, The Curve Foundation carries forward the mission of the magazine, which has ceased publication in print but continues as a digital quarterly, focusing on the positive representation of LGBTQIA+ women and non-binary people in media and building connections to the community and their shared history.
With over 30% of Generation-Z adults identifying as members of the LGBTQIA+ community, it is critical to belong to accepting communities and have positive role models, especially for young queer women and nonbinary people. In support of this, The Curve Foundation will continue hosting panels for young queer adults to discuss homophobia and misogyny, coordinating Lesbian Visibility Week events and initiatives, expanding the Queer Women’s Media Coalition, and ensuring representation in media through journalism fellowships, awards and the Curve archive.
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Founded in 2017, the Atlanta Doula Collective began as a volunteer-driven initiative aimed at addressing disparities in Black maternal healthcare. This grassroots movement for Black maternal health has evolved into the dynamic, multifaceted Georgia Black Doula Network and Training Institute. This expansion includes Georgia’s largest directory of Black Birth Workers, training and mentorship programs to expand the doula workforce and improve maternal health outcomes, community education and training alongside direct client support.
As the leading Black woman-owned and operated network and directory of Black and Indigenous birth workers in Georgia, the Georgia Black Doula Network and Training Institute remains dedicated to eradicating maternal and infant mortality experienced by Black families in the state of Georgia and improving maternal health outcomes by ensuring every family has access to affordable doula care.
Over the next five years, the Georgia Black Doula Network and Training Institute plan to expand their reach to 28 metro Atlanta counties, focusing on areas with higher populations of Black and Indigenous individuals who currently lack access to maternal health services.
Idaho Justice Project is the only nonprofit organization working exclusively on nonpartisan criminal legal reform in Idaho, utilizing public education, organizing, and advocacy. One of their current projects focuses on reducing Idaho’s high level of incarceration for women through public education, policy recommendations, agency and non-profit collaborations, and community-based programming.
With funds from their previous Mary’s Pence grant, Idaho Justice Project published Women’s Incarceration in Idaho: The Problem and a Path Forward, a report written by Executive Director Erica Marshall. This report called attention to the fact that Idaho has the highest rate of incarceration for women in the U.S. and outlines the impacts this has on the community. It also presents non-carceral solutions and advocates for strategies that help women recover, empowering them to improve outcomes for themselves and their families, while prioritizing public safety.
Idaho Justice Project is dedicated to reducing the number of people in prison, on probation and on parole, reinvesting in community-based services that treat mental health and substance use disorder, and restoring individuals and families impacted by the justice system through evidence-based treatments.
Kind-Hearted Women Society (Cante Waunsilpi Wi Ta Ominiciye) is an Indigenous-led nonprofit dedicated to revitalizing Lakota cultural practices, empowering Native women and girls, and fostering long-term systemic change.
Rooted in the Lakota values of respect (Wóohola), cultural revitalization (Lakȟól’iyapi), healing (Wówaŋyaŋg Wicákȟ’e), empowerment (Wichóni), and community (Tiospaye), Kind Hearted Women’s Society provides a safe, culturally connected space for young Indigenous women to heal, grow, and lead.
Traditional practices, including regalia making, storytelling, and sacred ceremonies are blended with modern advocacy and leadership opportunities, such as raising awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, in order to inspire self-determination and resilience.
The Loretto Justice Fellowship was born of a commitment to de-colonize traditional approaches to faith-based service programs. The program operates in El Paso, Texas, at the intersection of many of the complex challenges that face our world and the systemic inequities that exacerbate the impact of these challenges on marginalized communities.
Centering community-identified needs and working in partnership with universities and social justice organizations, the collaborative Fellowship invests in and partners with students from impacted communities through their personal and professional journeys in justice.
Fellows work in one-year paid internships at partner organizations. As a cohort, they are accompanied with sustained interpersonal connection and supportive enrichment programs, such as trauma-informed practice workshops, resilience skill-building, advocacy and networking. The Fellows’ professional competencies, personal motivation, plus cultural and linguistic connection to the community enhances the capacities of and connections among social justice organizations at the US/Mexico border.
North Carolina Hmong Women Association (NCHWA) was founded to strengthen the voices of Hmong women and girls through education, advocacy, research, and leadership development. It creates opportunities for Hmong women and girls to thrive, while preserving and celebrating their cultural heritage. In doing so, NCHWA also addresses the interconnected challenges faced by the entire Hmong community, which exceeds 14,000 individuals in North Carolina.
In spite of the community’s size, little to no studies exist on the North Carolina Hmong community. This lack of data makes it difficult to accurately assess community needs and secure appropriate resources, limiting the ability of policymakers and funders to respond effectively.
Phumulani: Minnesota African Women Against Violence is a survivor-led, culturally rooted nonprofit on a mission to end gender-based violence within African immigrant communities in Minnesota. Grounded in African values, traditions, and collective care, they aim to restore dignity, rebuild trust, and transform pain into purpose for survivors.
Despite Minnesota’s robust network of high-quality victim service providers, domestic and gender-based violence continues to disproportionately impact women of African heritage. In particular, African American and African immigrant women face systemic gaps in services that fail to meet their cultural, linguistic, and community-specific needs.
Adding further urgency, Minnesota is home to one of the largest populations of African immigrants in the United States. To change this, Phumulani’s goal is to expand and invest in culturally grounded programming for domestic violence shelters and hotlines, as well as to launch storytelling initiatives that uplift the lived experiences, wisdom and resilience of African heritage survivors.
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Run entirely by “artivist” volunteers, Sacramento Poderosas uses murals and corresponding educational materials to give voices to and raise awareness about historically marginalized Chicana/Xicana/Latina Poderosas, powerful women. With a community of scholars, community activists, artists, culture bearers, students, and educators, Sacramento Poderosas is dedicated to preserving imperiled Xicanx/Latinx herstories/histories and highlighting culturally responsive, gender-inclusive narratives, while encouraging dialogue and reflection.
Their work represents contemporary civil rights and encourages increased advocacy for their communities, whether through farmworker rights, immigrant rights, the rights of missing Indigenous women and their families, trans and LGBTQIA+ rights, housing rights, and the right to educational equity.
Sacramento Poderosas murals utilize numerous symbols that reflect and embrace their heritage, creatively conveying an inventive yet rebellious social justice attitude. Funds from this second grant will support the creation of and community education surrounding a Know Your Rights mural.
The South Asian Women Project (SAWP) supports survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and their families through culturally sensitive support groups, trauma-informed counseling, and financial empowerment.
South Asian Women Project’s goal is to create a space for women and their children, who have suffered IPV, to feel safe and comfortable talking about their traumatic experiences and support one another while investing in themselves and laying the groundwork for financial independence.
Along with building a supportive community, SAWP offers skill-based resources, education, and empowerment support to the survivors to be self-sufficient. The organization serves South Asian immigrant women and children, specifically from the Bangladeshi community, who are living in the Bangladeshi enclaves of greater New York City as well as over 3,500 Bangladeshi women through social media.
Southern Project Hustle centers Black Women and Black Queer Femmes building economic alternatives to support those with minimal access to traditional economic support. It honors the legacy and resilience of the hustle economy, a space used to supplement incomes and meet needs of Black families.
A key part of the work is building worker cooperatives and collectives as an alternative economy – to share in economic gains and to flourish outside of an unjust labor market. With the intention of building wealth for Black families and utilizing the brilliance of Black women, Southern Project Hustle will pilot a project that allows folks to reset, re-adjust, and prioritize care and healing before moving towards owning their labor through cooperative development by pursuing listening and educational spaces.