Advancing Adolescent Girls' Rights

Overview

<p>We believe that the best solutions to community challenges come from within those communities, and we support social movements that build the power of people to create lasting change. To learn more about the work happening across the country, NoVo is accepting letters of inquiry. 1. NoVo Foundation: Background and Overview - COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING GIRLS OF COLOR - The NoVo Foundation is dedicated to building a more just and balanced world. Since 2006, we have worked to catalyze a transformation from a world of domination and exploitation to one of collaboration and partnership. Together with our partners, we work at the intersections of patriarchy, racism, and other forms of oppression that stand in the way of girls living in their full power and achieving their potential. NoVo has become one of the largest private foundations in the world to support initiatives focused explicitly on girls and women—with a focus on advancing adolescent girls’ rights and ending violence against girls and women. It also works to advance social and emotional learning, support Indigenous communities in North America, and promote local living economies. Across all of its work, the NoVo Foundation supports the development of capacities in people – individually and collectively – to help create a world based on mutual respect, collaboration, and love.<br>The NoVo Foundation has always included a strong focus on adolescent girls, going back to our inception in 2006. As a social justice foundation with a deep commitment to addressing the structural barriers that perpetuate inequality, it was absolutely clear from the beginning that we needed to focus on girls. NoVo is committed to working towards a world where all girls are safe and free. Who the Work Will Support -- In 2016, we launched a learning process to deepen our grantmaking in support of the movement for girls of color in the U.S. After speaking to more than 300 girls of color as well as activists of all ages, we have designed a grantmaking strategy aimed to strengthen the movements for girls of color in the U.S. Below, we outline the grantmaking priorities that emerged from our year-long learning process.Who the work will support: Adolescent girls of color. In the U.S., NoVo Foundation focuses on adolescent girls of color because of the structural barriers they face as a result of deep-seated racism and sexism in this country. We also recognize that girls of color hold particular vulnerabilities because of their age; and yet they also hold immense power to drive transformation because they sit at these intersections. At the same time, girls of color are often invisible across funding priorities, efforts to address policy change, and in systems and programming. We believe that investing in building the power of girls and responding to their vulnerabilities is critical to creating meaningful change with and for them, their communities, and this country.<br>When we use the term “of color,” we recognize that there is not a consistent definition across all communities. Our practice is to trust partners leading the work to identify language that is honoring and inclusive. Through this initiative we will support organizations, activists, and collectives who self-identify as “of color” and face racism, sexism, and other intersectional structural barriers.</p>