Preface: Part 1 — Two of the 10 authors of “The Uprising of Women in Philanthropy” share insights into their mission, process and what you’ll learn in this groundbreaking tome

Books stop time for the reader.

In exchange for your attention, books animate a moment in time so that readers can get a sense of a complex landscape that is not otherwise visible or well-known.

The challenge of this book—despite its static form—is to describe a historical movement that is alive, surging, yet still evolving. It aims to immerse readers in the past while also looking toward the near future to fully grasp the broader implications of a complex global movement whose influence spans multiple geographies of diverse communities and cultures, all driven by myriad goals and purposes. This book breathes life into a world that might otherwise seem hidden from view by weaving together intersecting and shared journeys captured through a diverse ensemble of shared voices. The world of women’s philanthropy has many surprises and even more shocking truths that are revealed through acts of courage and defiance. The Uprising of Women in Philanthropy is a book that will elevate your appreciation of what has been and still needs to be accomplished.

It tells the story of the Global Women’s Funding Movement as its unique cause parallels and supports women’s movements worldwide, serving as social justice innovators for women, girls, and gender-expansive people. The Uprising in Women’s Philanthropy has gathered many voices to tell the origin stories of how the Global Women’s Funding Movement began over 50 years ago, embedded in the women’s movement, and grew into its distinctive movement. More importantly, it focuses on how women have amassed and currently use money to wield the necessary power to achieve equity and justice in the world. Although the Global Women’s Funding Movement is about money and power, it is not about the financial power of the individual. Rather, it’s the revelation of how collectively that money is applied to support the women, girls, and gender-expansive people doing the hard work across continents and communities, wherever justice is threatened in the lives of all people.

To truly understand the Global Women’s Funding Movement, it would be ideal to hear and see what has been happening everywhere at once. The Uprising of Women in Philanthropy comes as close as possible to conveying the extensive human drama of building a funding movement. This movement has turned traditional philanthropic norms upside down while venturing into the challenging and often dangerous edges of women’s lives where change is most needed and where few, if any other, philanthropists dare to tread!