FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 1, 2020
Press Contact:
Bilen Mesfin Packwood, bilen@change-llc.com
NEW YORK—The Black Girl Freedom Fund, an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color that aims to mobilize $1 billion over the next 10 years in Black girls and young women, today revealed a new logo designed by teenage artist, Caitlynn Holland.
“When I was asked to draw an image, I was extremely excited to showcase my images and skills for an organization that is centered around Black girls like me,” Caitlynn said. “I am very proud of how it turned out and that it’s my own drawings. I think that it’s such a great honor. To me, the Black Girl Freedom Fund means investing in young Black girls and recognizing us in a world that always overlooks and underestimates us.”
For the new logo, Caitlynn drew various images for consideration. Black Girl Freedom Fund then worked with Diana Nguyen, a Bay Area raised, New York-based digital activist, youth worker and storyteller, to bring the logo to life. The logo features five drawings of Black girls in vibrant gold, orange, purple and white, showing gestures of strength and power. The new logo was unveiled today across Black Girl Freedom Fund’s social media channels and website.
“We are so grateful to Caitlynn for lending her brilliance to this important initiative,” said Dr. Monique W. Morris, Executive Director of Grantmakers for Girls of Color. “We have designed the Black Girl Freedom Fund to ensure Black girls have decision-making power in our grantmaking, and will continue to create opportunities for Black girls to play an active role in the fund.”
The Black Girl Freedom Fund was launched on September 15 with an open letter and a social media campaign (1Billion4BlackGirls.org, #1Billion4BlackGirls) to mobilize investments “in the brain trust, innovation, health, safety, education, research, and joy of Black girls and their families.” Co-leading this effort are:
- Dr. Morris, Executive Director, Grantmakers for Girls of Color, and author/filmmaker of PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
- LaTosha Brown, Founder, Black Girls Dream Fund–organized by the Southern Black Girls & Women’s Consortium
- Tarana Burke, Founder, The ‘me too.’ Movement
- Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center
- Joanne N. Smith, Founding President and CEO, Girls for Gender Equity
- Salamishah Tillet and Scheherazade Tillet, Founders, A Long Walk Home
- Teresa Younger, President and CEO, Ms. Foundation for Women
The Black Girl Freedom Fund will support work that advances the wellbeing of Black girls and their families, including work that centers and advances the power of Black girls through organizing, asset mapping, capacity-building of non-Black led organizations to better respond to Black girls organizations led by Black women and girls, and legal advocacy and narrative work to shift structural violence enacted against Black girls.
The Black Girl Freedom Fund includes important efforts like the Black Girls Dream Fund, a 10-year fundraising initiative launched by the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium (SBGWC) to raise $100 million to financially empower the goals of Southern Black girls and women in the United States.
According to the Ms. Foundation landmark study on philanthropy, women and girls of color account for 0.5% of $66.9 billion by foundations, totaling just $5.48 per woman and girl of color in the United States.
About the Black Girl Freedom Fund:
The Black Girl Freedom Fund is an initiative of Grantmakers for Girls of Color (G4GC), a fiscally-sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Learn more about the Black Girl Freedom Fund: 1Billion4BlackGirls.org.
