A Message from Our New CEO
On March 1st, our Board of Directors announced the appointment of Beverley Francis-Gibson as our new CEO. See the announcement HERE.
 Hello to everyone in our Rise community! I assumed the position of CEO of Together Women Rise on March 1st and, in my first month, I’ve been inspired by the commitment, hard work, and legacy of this organization!
Spring has always symbolized new beginnings, moving forward, and growth! This is synonymous with my new role as CEO! I am thrilled to join you on this new journey to move forward and grow our exposure, grants, chapters, and funding opportunities. Together, we have the ability to provide new beginnings and access to women and girls globally, while educating our world about their lives and their resilience. I invite all of you to join me on this journey because I believe that only by growing our community of powerful women and allies, we can and we will change the world! Our collective power says YES to new beginnings.
I appreciate the warm welcome I’ve received and look forward to meeting all of you and working together to make a difference and make the world a better place for women and girls.
Beverley Francis-Gibson
CEO, Together Women Rise
P.S. Thank you Chapter Leaders for your hard work and dedication to Rise!
|
|
April is National Volunteer Appreciation Month and here, at Together Women Rise, we celebrate Chapter Leader Appreciation Month! We simply could not do this important work without the time and commitment that our volunteer leaders dedicate to their chapters and to women and girls globally.
In honor of our 646 chapter leaders and co-leaders, we will be making a special gift to one of our past grantees. In previous years, we have purchased fruit trees in Guatemala, and this year, it will be seeds for community gardens in Rwanda!
Rise has had a long-standing relationship with Gardens for Health International (GHI), and we love the work they are doing to combat chronic malnutrition in impoverished communities in Rwanda. We will purchase seeds for local indigenous leafy greens such as amaranth and Collard greens as well as root vegetables such as carrots, radishes, beets, and onions. The seeds will be used in 16 community gardens that serve as learning grounds about nutrition-sensitive agriculture and a source of seeds for 144 families in the Gasabo District of Rwanda. This gift is timely as it will enable GHI to replace seeds in gardens that were destroyed by heavy rains in January.
|
|
|
|
Raised beds and sack gardens built by the community in Gasabo District, Rwanda.
|
|
|
We will also celebrate Chapter Leader Appreciation Month at our April 7th national webinar where we will highlight some of our unique chapters across the country: a mother/daughter chapter in Sarasota FL; a Philadelphia chapter with a unique study group; a diverse chapter in St. Louis; a class of nursing students at Anna Maria College in MA, and more! Join us on April 7th at 8 pm ET/5pm PT.
|
|
New Featured Grantees Selected
 |
| Colors of Connection |
 |
| Organization for Youth Empowerment |
Thank you to our fabulous volunteers on the Grant Selection Committee for all the time and effort they dedicated to reviewing, researching, and selecting the projects we will support in the second half of 2022! With unique, transformative approaches to advancing gender equality, these projects will make a difference in the immediate needs of women and girls, while facilitating systemic change.
- July – Soccer Without Borders (Nicaragua)
- August – Colors of Connection (DRC)
- September – Everfree (Uganda)
- October – OYE – Organization for Youth Empowerment (Honduras)
- November – Authentique Memorial Empowerment Foundation (Cameroon)
- December – Ek Tara (India)
SEE GRANTEE FLYER
|
|
New Grant Cycle Opens
Our next grant cycle opens April 1, and we will accept applications until April 24. From these applications, we will select all 12 of our 2023 Featured Grantees. Visit our website for more info on our grant guidelines and application process.
|
|
Grantees Addressing the Ukraine Crisis
Our hearts go out to all of the people of Ukraine who are suffering as a result of the Russian invasion. We are proud of the work being done by several of our past grantees to help with this humanitarian crisis:
Refugee Protection International (RPI) – Thank you to Jennifer Hill (Founder and Executive Director) and her team at RPI for the incredible work they are doing to organize and fund medical evacuations of surrogate babies and other Ukrainian children and their families from besieged towns and cities. RPI is also working to procure medical equipment, such as neonatal incubators and infant warming beds, for hospitals whose patients are moved into the under-equipped basement during air raid sirens. Urgent funding is needed to procure more medicines and equipment and get it into Ukraine in time to assist these critical children’s hospitals. You can donate to RPI HERE.
HealthRight International – HealthRight has 13 crisis mobile teams providing social and psychological assistance as people cope with trauma, fear, and anxiety in this difficult time. They state: “There is a great need for mental health services for those who are enduring constant shelling, for those on the road with children, for those who have lost everything and do not know how to rebuild their lives.” Donate HERE to HealthRight’s Ukraine Emergency Fund.
Together Women Rise is a member of the Network of Engaged International Donors (NEID) which has put together a list of ways to help the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. SEE RESOURCE LIST HERE.
|
|
What’s Happening With Transformation Partnerships?
 We are pleased to announce that Scott Osborne will Co-Chair our Transformation Partnerships Committee. Scott has been a long-time volunteer on our Grant Selection Committee as well as a member of the FL, Sarasota-Bradenton-1 chapter. She joins Sue Malick (previously announced) in leading this new initiative. The Transformation Partnerships Committee is currently researching organizations to consider as potential partners in our effort to address the root causes of global gender equality. Stay tuned for regular updates. Click HERE to learn more about Transformation Partnerships.
|
|
Advocacy Update:
Tuberculosis is a Woman’s Issue
 March 24th was World TB Day. Did you know that TB is one of the top three causes of death among women ages 15–45, killing half a million women worldwide each year? And TB causes between 6% and 15% of all maternal deaths. This month, Leslie Heilig, Co-Chair of the Rise Advocacy Group With RESULTS, discusses long-time pandemics, such as tuberculosis, as well as the current COVID pandemic.
READ BLOG
|
|
International Women’s Day
Thank you to everyone who joined our special International Women’s Day event: “Together Women Rise … AGAIN! Recovering from COVID’s Setbacks”. In case you missed it, you can watch the recording or view the presentation slides at your convenience. Our speakers were excellent, and the music was so inspiring and appropriate for International Women’s Day! Click on the link below to watch the music video, Women Who Walked on Water, by singer/songwriter Joy Zimmerman. Remember, Joy is donating 50% of the proceeds from each digital download of her album to Together Women Rise!
WATCH RECORDING
SEE PRESENTATION SLIDES
WOMEN WHO WALKED ON WATER MUSIC VIDEO
PURCHASE JOY’S ALBUM
Thank you also to everyone who attended our live interview on International Women’s Day for Juliet Hahn’s Your Next Stop podcast. The episode is now available on most podcast players, including Apple, Android, Spotify, iHeart Radio, etc. You can also click HERE to listen to it. Please share widely to anyone who is interested in learning more about our Rise community!
|
|
New Ways to Donate to Rise!
 It is easier than ever to support Rise's mission with the addition of these mobile payment options! You can now donate via Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay from our online donations page. Just click on the DONATE button on any page of our website and select how you would like to pay. (FYI, Apple Pay and Google Pay will only show up if you already have these mobile wallets set up on your device.)
Our online donations platform allows you to cover the processing fees
so that more of your donation goes to Rise!
|
|
Upcoming Events
All Together Women Rise events are recorded and made available for on-demand viewing. Please visit the Upcoming Events page on our website, or click here for a list of recordings.
Missed our March 29th Book Club event with Edwidge Danticat?
Watch the recording HERE.
April 7 – National Webinar at 8 pm ET. Guest speakers will be Amy Syres and Jennifer Schenk from Second Mile Haiti, our April Featured Grantee. We will also celebrate Chapter Leader Appreciation Month by highlighting some of our unique chapters across the country. REGISTER HERE.
April 19 – Monthly Advocacy Webinar at 8:30 pm ET. SIGN UP here to receive information about our Advocacy Group with RESULTS and the webinar links.
May 5 – National Webinar at 8 pm ET. Our guest speaker will be Kim McCall, Managing Director at Yamba Malawi, our May Featured Grantee. REGISTER HERE.
June 8 – Book Club event at 12 pm ET. We will discuss The Girl With the Louding Voice and our speaker will be the author, Abi Daré. REGISTER HERE.
|
|
Our April Featured Project:
Breaking the Cycle of Malnutrition in Haiti
|
|
This month's project, with Second Mile Haiti, is focused on solving the systemic problems of acute malnutrition in children in Haiti. It uses a caregiver-centered approach to meet the immediate needs of malnourished children, and then it invests in women through education, support, skill-building, and income-generating business activities. These two interventions ensure the long-term health and economic well-being of families and helps break the cycle of poverty in Haiti.
UN Sustainable Development Goals that this project addresses:
|
|
Our Conversation with Amy Syres, Co-Founder and Program Director at
Second Mile Haiti, is located here.
Join our April National Webinar on April 7th at 8 pm ET
to learn more about our project with Second Mile Haiti. Register here. |
|
|
The Proven Platter: Makawoni au Graten
By Georgia Reader, Together Women Rise Recipe Co-Curator
|
|
You can’t go wrong with pasta and cheese, and this Haitian version of the ultimate comfort food can be as spicy as you like.
SEE PROVEN PLATTER RECIPE
SEE OTHER RECIPES FROM HAITI
|
|
|
|
|
The OR, Happy Valley-1 chapter, led by Ellyn Jeck and Meghan Hoobler, celebrated its fifth anniversary in March – the first in-person meeting in a long while. Congratulations!
|
|
|
|
Congratulations to the WA, Vancouver-1 chapter, led by Katlin Smith and Frances Foley, on its 11th anniversary!
|
|
|
|
The CA, San Luis Obispo-2 chapter, led by Gail Cheda and Clare Kennedy, celebrated its 4th anniversary in March. Chapter members bring their own lunch and chair and meet in a beautiful neighborhood park … a wonderful tradition born out of the pandemic!
|
|
|
|
|
A Rise meeting San Diego style! The CA, La Jolla-1 chapter is an inter-generational chapter led by Susan Lieberman, Janet Chrispeels, and Alana Carmel. Members range in age from 25-80!
|
|
|
|
Five of our Philadelphia chapters held a joint Zoom meeting with guest speaker Rachel Cohen from Common Threads Project. What a great way to build community across our Rise chapters!
|
|
|
|
|
