We will hold 2024 as a special year in our hearts for a long time. Rise Up celebrated our 15th anniversary of creating transformational change for 172 million people worldwide and continued to expand our reach and impact by growing our vibrant network of local leaders across Nigeria, Mexico, India, and the U.S. With your support, Rise Up Leaders achieved lasting, scalable wins in education, health, and economic opportunity, staying true to our founding belief that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution. As we end this milestone year, we’re excited to share 10 highlights from 2024 that showcase the power and passion of Rise Up Leaders and our partners around the world.

1. COMMEMORATING 15 YEARS OF GLOBAL IMPACT

Rise Up’s new 15-year impact report features diverse voices in the global movement for gender equity and justice, including our co-founders, visionary local leaders from Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the U.S., strategic partners, and more. On our blog, we highlighted 15 ways Rise Up is changing the world – from improving adolescent and maternal health care for 400,000 women and girls in Nigeria to strengthening education opportunities for 540,000 girls in India. We closed Rise Up’s 15th anniversary year with a global staff retreat in October where team members from five different countries all came together to celebrate our shared journey and plan for what’s next. 

2. GROWING OUR GLOBAL NETWORK OF VISIONARY LEADERS

In 2024, Rise Up welcomed and provided intensive leadership and advocacy training to 98 new local leaders from Nigeria, Mexico, India, and California. These new leaders and their organizations bring diverse perspectives and expertise to tackling pressing gender justice issues such as strengthening girls’ education, improving reproductive health care access, ending gender-based violence, and realizing new economic opportunities for women, among others. Following the completion of our Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator training program, leaders can apply for competitive grant funding to implement advocacy projects that create lasting, systemic change.

3. INVESTING IN WOMEN ON #IWD2024

This March, we built community and celebrated International Women’s Day with a live conversation on Instagram featuring Rise Up Leader Marília Moreira in Brazil, who is working to improve the support network for women survivors of gender-based violence. We also put a spotlight on five Rise Up Leaders whose intersectional and urgent work demonstrates how supporting women leaders accelerates global progress and creates prosperous economies.

4. RISE UP LEADERS WIN PRESTIGIOUS AWARDS

Rise Up Leaders often receive global recognition for their innovative gender equity and justice work, and this year was no exception. We are proud to highlight the following four leaders and their incredible achievements in 2024. 

Arley Westley (U.S.) received the RFK Human Rights Award for her tireless efforts to uplift LGBTQ+ youth, combat abuses in ICE detention facilities, and expand critical access to immigrant support services in Louisiana.

Memory Banda (Malawi) was honored with the prestigious Justice for Women Award at The Albies, presented by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, for her work to help end child marriage. 

Ashwani Tiwari (India) earned the Ban Ki-moon Award for Women’s Empowerment for his impactful work bringing STEM and entrepreneurship education to thousands of girls in Rajasthan, India. 

Dr. Neelam Punjani (Pakistan/Canada) was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by WXN for empowering children and adolescents through her global research on comprehensive sexuality education.

5. HONORING INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL

Rise Up honored International Day of the Girl this year with, The Power of Girls’ Education and Leadership: A Spotlight on Africa, a virtual event featuring Rise Up Leaders and girl activists working with and for girls in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Sudan. We were also proud to co-author “We’re Women Leaders Answering the Call for Investments in Girls”, an op-ed by Rise Up Executive Director Dr. Denise R. Dunning and Cummins Chair and CEO Jennifer Rumsey. The piece called on fellow leaders in the business, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors to build strong alliances and make greater investments in girls.

6. BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS IN LATIN AMERICA

Through strategic partnerships with foundation and corporate allies, Rise Up creates opportunities for meaningful engagement, shared learning, and collective action in support of our global network of leaders. This October, we hosted Resource Mobilization for Girls and Women in Mexico, a virtual panel for Rise Up Leaders featuring experts from Cummins Inc., Fundación CHANEL, The Summit Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation who explored strategies for effectively mobilizing resources to advance the rights and well-being of girls and women in Mexico and the broader Latin American region.

7. AMPLIFYING HOW ADVOCACY CHANGES THE WORLD

This summer, we published “Advocacy Changing the World for Women and Girls,” a special feature focused on how local leaders are using advocacy to create meaningful change for women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people around the world. Through powerful examples – from Suman Verma securing workplace protections for 690,000 women in India’s informal sector to The Centre for the Study of Adolescence and girl leaders in Kenya guaranteeing the right to sexual and reproductive health services and education for 7 million girls – the piece illustrates why Rise Up’s advocacy model is vital to addressing the world’s greatest gender equity challenges.

8. SHIFTING POWER IN CENTRAL AMERICA

Since Rise Up began in 2009, we have invested in girl-led and girl-centered advocacy in Guatemala and Honduras, strengthening the movement for gender equity across Central America. This year, we are shifting power and decision-making to leaders and advocates based in Guatemala and Honduras who will continue to create lasting and large-scale change for women and girls. At the forefront of this shift are two exceptional leaders: Juany Garcia and Emerita Valdez. Juany and Emerita are Rise Up alumni who have led Rise Up’s work in Central America for over a decade. They both have a deep understanding of local political contexts, lasting relationships with Rise Up Leaders and local organizations, and extensive expertise in girl-centered leadership and advocacy.

9. RISE UP LEADERS ON THE GLOBAL STAGE

In March, Rise Up Leaders, including Ixchel Adolfo from Guatemala, Maame Afon Yelbert-Sai from the U.S., and Amrita Gupta from India, joined fellow activists, policymakers, and civil society organizations at the 68th annual Commission on the Status of Women in New York. This year’s theme was: “Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.” Rise Up Leaders’ contributions highlighted the importance of local leadership in shaping global gender equity strategies.

10. RISE UP FEATURED IN INAUGURAL GIVING LIST WOMEN BOOK

Rise Up was selected from hundreds of organizations to be featured in the inaugural Giving List Women book in 2024, which tells the powerful stories of organizations investing in women and girls locally, nationally, and globally. Our spotlight (page 155) includes Rise Up’s origin story and proven model for creating sustainable change with local leaders around the world. An interview with Rise Up Leader Dr. Jeans Berchmans Uwimana is also featured in The Giving List Women (page 84) and highlights his experience advocating for women’s reproductive health and rights in the Western Province of Rwanda, the importance of male allyship, and his informative video series, Flavours of Family Planning.