Teresa Younger, outgoing CEO of Ms Foundation, reflects on the pursuit of equality

As Teresa Younger prepares to step down as CEO of the Ms. Foundation this June, she reflects on a transformative decade leading America’s first national women’s philanthropy through seismic social and political shifts. Her tenure, which spanned the #MeToo movement and the reversal of federal abortion protections, now concludes during Donald Trump’s second term.

“We are currently not in the best shape,” Younger candidly told The Associated Press regarding the foundation’s pursuit of political equality. Despite this assessment, she remains steadfast in her convictions. “I believe feminism is still alive and well. In fact, it has been the one thing that has been the preservation of democracy and our constitutional rights in some way over the past 12 years.”

Under Younger’s leadership, the Ms. Foundation confronted domestic abuse in professional sports, expanded investments in grassroots organizations across the South and Midwest, and raised over $100 million for its endowment. Perhaps most significantly, in 2018, the foundation pivoted strategically to direct resources specifically toward girls and women of color.

This strategic realignment carried special resonance under Younger’s guidance as a Black and Indigenous woman. “The institution was explicit in our strategic plan to say that we want to center women and girls of color as a point of inclusion, not exclusion,” she explained. “And now we are sitting in a spot where quote-unquote DEI is looked at as bad. And we refuse to accept that.”

The foundation’s 2020 report, “Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less,” revealed troubling disparities in philanthropic funding. It showed that charitable foundations granted merely $356 million to women and girls of color in 2017—less than 0.05% of all foundation grants distributed the following year.

Beyond highlighting this stark underfunding, the report exposed fundamental misalignments between funders and organizations led by women of color. While many such nonprofits operate holistically—providing direct services like childcare alongside advocacy work—foundations often compartmentalize their funding by population, strategy, or issue area, creating significant challenges for these organizations.

The report advocates for more flexible, long-term funding approaches, better alignment with grantee strategies, increased solicitation of feedback, and support for intermediary organizations with strong connections to these communities.

This approach embodies the historical role of women’s funds and the Ms. Foundation within philanthropy—supporting grassroots groups serving marginalized populations while pioneering funding methodologies that larger institutions eventually adopt as best practices.

The Ms. Foundation, established in 1973 by Gloria Steinem, Patricia Carbine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, and Marlo Thomas, was the first national funder dedicated to supporting women’s groups and feminist movements. Other women’s funds emerged throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including the Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), co-founded by Sunny Fischer and Lucia Woods Lindley.

Fischer recalls how these early women’s funds approached their work differently than mainstream social service organizations. “There were new groups that were trying to help women where they were, to really understand what was going on in the home and to try to give women choices about what they could do if they were in an abusive situation,” she said.

In 2023, the Ms. Foundation announced a transformative $50 million bequest from Woods Lindley’s estate—the largest gift in its history—which comprised nearly half of the foundation’s $106 million endowment.

Despite such significant contributions, women’s funds control relatively modest assets compared to major philanthropic institutions. Melinda French Gates stands as a notable exception, having committed billions to benefit women and girls globally.

According to the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University, the proportion of overall philanthropic support directed toward women and girls has increased from 1.59% in 2012 to 2.04% in 2023, with a peak of 2.18% in 2022. “The vast majority of philanthropic dollars are going to the general population and based on need rather than identity,” notes Jacqueline Ackerman, the institute’s director.

As the Ms. Foundation prepares to announce Younger’s successor this spring, she expressed confidence that the organization will benefit from new leadership while looking back at her tenure with pride and emotion.

“I want to look back and see somebody who’s built on what I’ve been able to do and take it to the next level,” Younger said. “And I will sit back with pride in what they are able to accomplish.”