Co-Impact, a global collaborative working to advance systems change to help improve the lives of millions of people, has announced the official launch of the Gender Fund, which aims to raise and disburse $1 billion over the next decade to transform systems to be more just and inclusive.

Through the Gender Fund, Co-Impact will award large, long-term, flexible funding to predominantly women-led, locally rooted organizations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Funding will be awarded to advance gender equality and women’s leadership through tangible actions as well as to generate, curate, and disseminate research and learning on how to advance gender equality. To that end, at least 10 percent of the funds raised will be awarded to feminist and women’s rights groups and movements.

Initial grants have been awarded in support of efforts to address major barriers to gender equality, including gender-based violence, maternal health, gender inclusive education, and women’s leadership. Recipients include ARMMAN, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, GQUAL/CEGIL, International Association of Women Judges, Nossas Cidades, Partnership For Economic Policy, and Red ALAS/Universidad Torcuato di Tella.

To date, financial contributions to the fund have totaled more than $320 million, with initial funding partners including Cartier Philanthropy, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Melinda French Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Kate James and Hans Bishop, MacKenzie Scott & Dan Jewett, Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Elizabeth Sheehan, Target Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation.

“To make progress on gender equality, we need systemic change in the structures, laws, and policies and processes of government, in how markets function, and how social norms are shaped and enforced,” said Co-Impact founder and CEO Olivia Leland. “The mission of the Gender Fund is to deliver on the ambition of a world where systems and societies are just and inclusive, and where all women have the opportunity to exercise power, agency, and leadership at all levels.”

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