Grantmaking
Women Building Up funds grassroots efforts organized by and for directly impacted women, girls, and gender-expansive people — locally, nationally, and internationally — and works to grow the total resources flowing to those closest to the work. To date, Women Building Up has delivered $2M in our first year of grantmaking.
Our First Year of Grantmaking, By the Numbers:
We funded 25 organizations, including grassroots organizations and funding intermediaries. Intermediaries in turn made grants to an additional 12 organizations.
About 90% of our grant dollars went to BIPOC-led organizations.
65% of our grant dollars went to organizations led by formerly incarcerated cis and trans women.
More than 40% of our grant dollars went to organizations focused specifically on girls impacted by carceral systems.
95% of our funding was provided through General Operating Grants.
We also granted out $75,000 for critical time-sensitive financial support.
And $25,000 in community sponsorships for events and programs that are integral for organizational health and sustainability.
For our first year, the majority of our grants were directed at organizations operating locally in NY. We also funded globally in locations spanning from Guyana to Kenya.
Grantee Spotlight •
Grantee Spotlight •
We are incredibly grateful to support the amazing work of our first round of grantees.
One New York group provided safe housing for seven women and gender expansive folks coming home after incarceration.
Another sustained economic empowerment programs for formerly incarcerated women, from guaranteed income to workforce training in the health and transportation sectors.
Three of our grantees re-granted to support the work of smaller community-based grassroots efforts located across the country.
We supported leadership development opportunities for women and gender-expansive folks who push this work forward.
This is just a taste of what we are supporting! As we keep moving with our grantees and partners, expect more about their work, at the speed of life: a pace set by those closest to the problems and solutions.
The Task At Hand
We are immensely proud of our partners and our grantmaking work thus far. And, we know that our work as a resource provider remains as critical as ever.
Our grantmaking stands against two crises facing our movement: the carceral systems that continue to devastate our communities and philanthropy’s catastrophic disinvestment from criminal justice reform.
The Prison Policy Initiative reports that a staggering 1 million women live in carceral conditions in the United States alone. Among this population, women and girls of color suffer most. The stakes are clear: women, girls, and gender-expansive folks need support.
We know that funding women has a greater impact than the dollar amount. Women disproportionately carry caregiving responsibilities in families and communities because that's how caregiving labor is currently distributed. Resourcing women means resourcing the people and networks that depend on them: children, parents, siblings, neighbors, and the informal support systems that show up when formal systems don't.
For our core community, women directly impacted by carceral systems, this multiplier is sharper still. Grassroots organizations led by system-impacted women aren't just serving individuals. They're rebuilding the networks that incarceration deliberately severs: family ties, housing stability, employment pathways, community trust. A grant to one of these organizations funds a leader who is often simultaneously a mother, a neighbor, an advocate, and a first point of contact for others coming home.
This is why WBU prioritizes unrestricted, general operating support: the return isn't confined to a single program outcome. It ripples through the networks these leaders already hold together.
What’s Ahead
In 2026, we will be inviting organizations to apply for funding from WBU. In 2027, We will launch an open grants cycle to accept proposals from any grassroots organizations aligned with our long-term grants strategy. The strategy will be shared when it is finalized, as will funding criteria. Stay tuned for more details in early 2027!