What
we fund
We envision a world where all people can live fulfilling lives, where systems and societies are just and inclusive. We stand for gender equality, where all women have the opportunity to exercise power, agency, and leadership at all levels.
The Gender Fund is Co-Impact’s second fund, aiming to raise and grant US $1 billion and provide predominantly women-led locally-rooted organizations, in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with large-scale, long-term, and flexible funding. This method of funding is integral to creating more just and inclusive systems and shifting harmful gender norms that prevent progress. The Fund’s design and development was informed through consultation with our program partners, the gender community, as well as our funders, advisors, and other experts.
The objectives of the Fund are:
- To transform systems to be more just and inclusive so that at least 100 million people will have better healthcare, quality education, and the opportunity to thrive – regardless of their gender, class, ethnicity, or race.
- To advance women’s power, agency, and leadership, so there are more women leading at all levels -from the household and community to institutions and government – influencing decisions that affect their communities and society.
- To shift harmful gender norms that prevent progress.
Co-Impact offers support to a broad ecosystem of actors working to advance gender equality and women’s leadership, while seeking to shift harmful gender norms that limit progress. We support partners to strengthen key organizations and institutions, and to generate and disseminate evidence on how to support gender equality.
- The Fund prioritizes partners’ knowledge and expertise of the regions in which they work.
What we support
- Systems change to achieve gender-equitable outcomes in health, education, and economic opportunity
- Institutional change to advance women’s leadership in the fields of law and economics
- Dismantling structural barriers and discriminatory gender norms holding women and girls back
- Advancing women’s and girls’ voice, power, and agency
- Amplifying scale and impact by investing in and advocating for evidence-informed solutions
The possibility of change today is limited because women are not at the table, not involved, and not heard. The Fund focuses on women’s leadership so that women are not only the beneficiaries of programs, but become equal drivers of these initiatives. This means equal representation, inclusion of lived experience, and diverse perspectives informing policy, programs, and funding.
Where we fund
The Gender Fund has selected 8 focus countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, based on their demographic and social contexts. These countries include Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, and South Africa.
Who we fund
Eligible Gender Fund program partners could be civil society groups, think tanks, academic institutions, professional associations and networks, women’s rights groups, or feminist and allied movements. We understand that deep-rooted change requires a variety of actors. This is why we aim to support a broad, cross-section of actors working to advance gender equality and women’s leadership at all levels – to tackle issues by addressing the multiple systems that they are embedded in.
Our grantmaking and sourcing is regionally-led. Information about our current sourcing approach can be found in our Approach to Sourcing and Grantmaking in 2024 document. We are sharing for transparency purposes that we do not currently accept unsolicited proposals.
Advisory board
The Gender Fund Advisory Board is comprised of a group of leaders who bring substantive expertise and experience on gender equality, philanthropy, and large-scale change in a range of countries and sectors.
The group provides leadership, counsel, and expertise to Co-Impact’s work to help align the organization with feminist approaches, helps forge alliances, builds bridges with the feminist community, and ensures that, in partnership with others, the Gender Fund delivers the impact we seek, in partnership with others and in accordance with our organizational values and principle.
The Gender Fund Advisory Board is advisory in nature, serving as a critical thought partner to both the Board and Co-Impact staff. It advises the Co-Impact team on advocacy, fundraising, or any other aspects pertinent to the fund.
Among our Advisory Board members, we ensure strong representation from women (at least 50%) and Global South leaders. We proactively seek to include younger emerging leaders under the age of 40 years.
Funding partners
The Gender Fund brings together leading foundations, philanthropists, corporations, and other donors to commit significant funding to gender equality. Each Funding Partner comes with unique perspectives and experiences. All are connected by a deep commitment to advance gender equality and women’s leadership across the globe, and a fundamental belief in the importance of a systems change approach to do so.
By joining the collaborative, Funding Partners pool their resources to accelerate their impact, and benefit from multiple opportunities to share experiences and convene and learn together about what it takes to achieve inclusive impact at scale.
Cartier Philanthropy
The Light Foundation
Lead donor
Lead donors commit at least $25M over five years to the Gender Fund and play a crucial role in the development and success of the Fund. They are invited to take a seat on the Gender Fund Advisory Board. Lead donors to the Gender Fund who have committed over $100 million over ten years across both the Co-Impact Foundational Fund and Gender Fund are invited to nominate a representative to serve on the Board of Directors of Co-Impact.
Champion donor
Champion donors commit $15 million over five years to the Gender Fund, are invited to become members of the Gender Fund Philanthropy Council and play a key role in supporting the mission of the Gender Fund.
Council members are invited to part of the Advisory Board meetings to participate in the discussions, and one member of the Philanthropy Council serves on the Advisory Board. The Philanthropy Council may jointly define additional topics where the Council may want to engage together.
Africa gender initiative
Philanthropy has the potential to do more and do better to support women and girls by coming together. The Africa Gender Initiative (AGI), led by the African Philanthropy Forum, will act as a platform for bringing together African Philanthropists and Foundations to address gender injustice, by pooling, leveraging and directing new resources to create a world where all women and girls thrive. The initial activity of the AGI is to support the work of the Co-Impact Gender Fund in Africa.
Wider funding community
Our broader community of funders commit between $1.5 to $5 million over three to five years to the Gender Fund and are an integral part of Co-Impact. All our funding partners have the opportunity to come together through a range of learning events and targeted convenings. They benefit from the experience, diligence, and academic rigor of the Co-Impact team, and from the track record and platform Co-Impact has built.