December 8, 2021

Tired Of Dancing To Their Song: An Assessment of the Indigenous Women’s Reproductive Justice Funding Landscape

The Ms. Foundation for Women’s Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less report revealed a dearth of philanthropic dollars for Indigenous women and girls. Less than 3% of the more than $350 million in foundation funding was allocated for this group, which has enormous ramifications especially when it comes to reproductive justice.

Pocket Change set the stage for larger conversations and initiatives that addresses the historically low levels of philanthropic investment in Indigenous women and girls – examining the needs of Indigenous communities, with Indigenous leaders, to understand how such funding discrepancies are a direct byproduct of colonization and institutional systems and how to shift the philanthropic paradigm to one that prioritizes Native communities.

In our convenings with Indigenous women, what emerged as funding priority was the lack of quality health care and that the limits placed on Native women’s reproductive choices are directly tied to colonization. Instead of being relegated to a secondary issue, Indigenous Women’s Reproductive Justice must be put front and center and made part of a fully inclusive conversation.

This assessment, informed by an Indigenous Women’s Council, discusses how funders’ priorities are not aligned with the needs of the very people who are most lacking reproductive justice and shares their recommended actions to advance reproductive justice in Indigenous communities.