We are so proud of everything we accomplished together to advance gender equity in 2023. We grew our global network in Brazil, India, the U.S., and Kenya this year, and Rise Up Leaders continued to positively impact the lives of millions of women, girls, and gender-nonconforming people. With your support, Rise Up Leaders achieved incredible wins in education, health care, and economic opportunity around the world. Here’s a look at 10 of this year’s highlights.
1. RISE UP LAUNCHES ADVOCACY TRAINING IN SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL
This year kicked off with a burst of excitement – in January, Rise Up officially launched its first Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator training in São Paulo, Brazil. Following the training, Brazil leaders applied and were selected for competitive grant funding from Rise Up to create support networks and protections for gender-based violence survivors, uplift young women’s leadership and economic opportunity for women, and champion girls in STEM education, among other critical gender equity issues.
2. GLOBAL TEAM SUPPORT FOR RISE UP LEADERS IN INDIA
In February, Rise Up launched our second Leadership and Advocacy Accelerator training for 22 new leaders in Delhi, India. Vidhu Prabha, Rise Up’s Country Lead in India, is a key member of our global team who provides essential support, guidance, and insight for these local leaders. In this short video, Vidhu shares how her experience growing up in India led her to this work and how Rise Up Leaders in the country–including a growing number of male allies–are creating meaningful, lasting change.
3. BUILDING FEMINIST POWER ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Rise Up celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 with “Building Feminist Power”, a virtual event featuring feminist gender equity leaders from Nigeria, India, and the U.S. We were thrilled to co-host the event with the Women’s Funding Network.
4. LEADERSHIP COUNCIL MEMBERS VISIT RISE UP IN GUATEMALA
Rise Up’s Leadership Council consists of 27 gender justice champions who contribute their time, expertise, and resources to support Rise Up. A group of seven current and prospective Leadership Council members had the opportunity to see Rise Up’s work first-hand during an immersive trip in March to Guatemala with our Founder and Executive Director, Dr. Denise R. Dunning.
5. TRANSFORMING TECH WITH BLACK GIRLS CODE
In June, Rise Up and Black Girls CODE co-hosted Transforming Tech, a virtual event that spotlighted leaders from India, South Africa, and the U.S. who are actively supporting women and girls by creating new tech career pathways for economic success. In-demand tech skills lead to sought after jobs with higher pay and, we know that when women thrive financially, entire communities prosper.
6. NEW RISE UP LEADERS IN CALIFORNIA
Rise Up grew its global network to include 23 visionary local leaders in California this June. The new Rise Up Leaders demonstrated unwavering passion and commitment to improving gender equity in areas such as sexual and reproductive health and rights, criminal justice reform, youth engagement, maternal health, economic opportunity, transgender rights, and more.
7. RISE UP GLOBAL LEADERS ATTEND WOMEN DELIVER 2023
Women Deliver is the largest global conference on the health, rights, and well-being of women and girls. This July, the conference was held in Kigali, Rwanda and members of the Rise Up global team attended with a powerful delegation of Rise Up Leaders from Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Guatemala.
8. RISE UP AT FEMINIST FUNDED ‘23
At the Women’s Funding Network’s Feminist Funded ‘23 conference in September, Rise Up hosted a panel discussion with leading experts, philanthropists, and advocates on the findings from Rise Up’s 2022 external evaluation conducted by Dalberg Advisors. The discussion focused on the importance of listening to local leaders in philanthropy. You can watch the full panel recording here.
9. “HEAR OUR VOICES” RISE UP ANNUAL GALA
This October, Rise Up held our annual Gala, themed “Hear Our Voices” featuring global feminist icon Gloria Steinem who spoke alongside visionary Rise Up Leaders: Joyce Msomi from South Africa, Onyemma C. Obiekea from California, and Vikram Srivastava from India. The event raised more than $240,000 that will go directly toward advancing gender equity globally.
10. 2023 RISE UP KENYA LEADERS
Finally, we welcomed a cohort of 25 new Rise Up Leaders in Kenya last month focused on improving girls’ access to education. These new Kenya leaders join Rise Up’s growing global network and will advance transformational change in their organizations and communities, and champion stronger national and local laws, programs, and policies for women and girls.
To stay up-to-date on everything happening with Rise Up around the world, follow us on Instagram, X, LinkedIn, and Facebook. We look forward to connecting in 2024!
