BENDING TOWARD JUSTICE

As my daughters and I watched the swearing-in of our nation’s first female, Black, and South Asian Vice President, justice felt just a bit more within our collective grasp.

Dear Friend,

Throughout the last year, when the world’s challenges felt too great, I found strength in one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” 

From the unequal health and economic impacts of COVID-19 to the persistence of systemic racism and growing attacks on our democracy, justice often seems out of reach. Yet last week, as I sat with my two daughters watching the swearing-in of Kamala Harris, our nation’s first female, Black, and South Asian Vice President, Dr. King’s vision of justice felt just a bit more within our collective grasp. 

Even in the darkest moments of 2020, our Rise Up team found hope for a brighter future in the courage of our leaders, who continue fighting every day for justice. When the pandemic hit, Rise Up Leaders leapt into action around the globe to protect their communities and raise their voices for a more just world: 

• In India, Alicia distributed emergency rations to hungry families who were hit hardest by the economic fallout of the pandemic.
   
• In Guatemala, Ixchel protected girls in her community from sexual violence during lockdowns by using social media campaigns to raise awareness and prevent violence.
   
• In Ethiopia, Yidnekachew pushed health officials to prioritize maternal and neonatal care, to ensure the health of women who were forced to give birth at home due to COVID-19.
   
• Here in the United States, when social distancing halted in-person workshops and support groups, Maritza turned to digital platforms to connect Latinx LGBTQI+ youth and their families with much-needed resources.

Our incredible Rise Up team adapted quickly to support these leaders, launching our first-ever virtual accelerators and providing them with flexible funding and resources to continue their crucial advocacy with and for women and girls.

The challenges ahead are still great, but as we look to 2021, the radiant words of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman bring new inspiration: “There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

May we all have the bravery to be it. 

PROTECTING CHILDREN IN INDIA

WELCOMING NEW LEADERS IN MEXICO

Rise Up Leaders who graduated from our 2018 Accelerator in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, created a video sharing their well wishes and experiences to welcome the newest cohort of Rise Up Leaders from Mexico. As Yamel Campos shares, “If whatever you do, you do it from the heart, you have found the perfect place.” 

Watch the Video >>

IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR
GIRLS IN MALAWI

Rise Up’s partnership with Girls Empowerment Network, Youth Tech Health, Youth Net and Counselling, and the International Center for Research on Women to reduce child marriage and improve health and education outcomes for girls in Malawi was recently featured in the news. The ENGAGE initiative is coming to an end after four years of empowering adolescent girls to increase their autonomy, advancing more gender-equitable social norms, and holding decision-makers accountable for ending child marriage. 

As Stanley Nyirenda, a consultant for the project shared: “The project has supported the expansion of care, protection, and justice for girls, and has standardized rights-based curriculum for boys’ and girls’ initiation camps, formalized and strengthened sexual harassment reporting systems, popularized school re-admission policy, and increased access to youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services.”

Read the article >>

RISE UP LEADERS ON THE FRONTLINES

In case you missed it: Around the globe Rise Up Leaders have stepped up to protect their communities from the COVID-19 pandemic and adapted their work to continue the fight for gender equity. You can read their reflections and see photos of their work in our blog series.

Read the stories >>