OSF to invest $50 million in civic engagement for women, youth
The Open Society Foundations (OSF) has announced a $50 million investment in support of nonpartisan civic engagement among women and young people.
The funding will provide scaled support to women’s and youth organizations, including those focused on engaging Black women and younger women of color. Efforts include building the capacity of women’s groups and enhancing their ability to lead, engage, advocate, and litigate on relevant issues. In addition, grants will bolster organizations engaging young voters, including advocacy efforts on issues such as voting rights, gun safety, reproductive freedom, LGBTQI+ rights, and climate change.
This investment is in addition to a recently announced $25 million commitment to establish the Women’s Political Leadership Fund. The fund is part of a five-year, $100 million commitment OSF made in 2021.
“This investment comes at a key moment in our history, when women and young people are central to protecting and, critically, to reimagining, our democracy,” said Open Society-U.S. executive director Laleh Ispahani. “This investment in further building the capacity of a selected set of organizations and supporting women leaders enables these critical partners to do bolder advocacy, more litigation, and to more fully engage on a range of issues on a nonpartisan basis. Their engagement offers us the best opportunity to deliver a democracy that is a better version of itself.”
(Photo credit: Getty Images/SeventyFour)
