37 Israeli nonprofit organizations representing Jewish, Arab Israeli, Druze and Bedouin women to receive funding; grants focus on socioeconomic opportunity, gender equality, minority rights and violence prevention for women.
Tel Aviv, September 4, 2018 – Today The Genesis Prize Foundation and the Morris Kahn Foundation announced winners of the Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality grant initiative. A total of thirty-seven Israeli women’s rights organizations serving women from all of Israel’s ethnic and religious groups will receive $1 million in Genesis Prize grants.
Grants are funded by the $1 million annual Genesis Prize award, doubled to $2 million in 2018 by a prominent Israeli philanthropist Morris Kahn. Grant recommendations were reviewed and endorsed by an advisory committee that included the inaugural Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Addressing the winning grantees by video, Justice Ginsburg said: “I am so pleased and proud of contributions that will be made to organizations that are doing great things to improve the lives of women and girls, and particularly of bringing together different communities – Arab Israelis, Jews, Bedouins – all Israeli women. I think women can contribute a great deal to achieving, someday, a lasting peace.”
A matching grants initiative is under way in North America, with grantees to be announced in winter 2019. Together, the two programs are expected to deliver up to $3 million in new funding to this field in 2018-20, depending on the volume of matching grants attracted by North American Jewish organizations.
“Our joint initiative with the Genesis Prize is inspired by the inaugural Genesis Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” said Morris Kahn. “Her award and visit to Israel in July helped and inspired many organizations and individuals to pursue gender equality for women in Israel. We are forever grateful to Ruth Bader Ginsburg for her vision, inspiration and a lifetime of work dedicated to pursuing justice for women and various minority groups that have suffered from institutional discrimination and were held back from realizing their true potential.”
Following the announcement of the competition in Israel, a record number of more than 220 applications from Israeli NGOs were received in two weeks, reflecting an enthusiastic commitment to gender equality among Israel’s civil society, as well as a strong demand for funding in this sector.
A full list of thirty-seven winning organizations and their projects that will receive funding in 2018-20 can be found here.
“I am very pleased that grants announced today cover all geographies, all social strata, and all ethnic and religious groups in Israel, including Jews, Arabs, Christians, Druze and Bedouin,” said Deputy CEO of the Genesis Prize Foundation Sana Britavsky. “This is a systemic, across-the-board effort to support the women’s movement in Israel over the next two years. We are very grateful to Justice Ginsburg for her inspiration and advice and to Morris Kahn for his friendship and partnership.”
Background on The Genesis Prize Foundation’s Women’s Empowerment and Equality Grants
In May 2018, The Genesis Prize Foundation invited Israel-based women’s NGOs to submit applications for grants in the following areas:
- Socio-Economic Participation and Opportunity for women
- Creating Gender Equality, particularly around marriage and divorce
- The Rights and Status of Women from Minority Groups
- Empowering Women to Resist Violence
Selected statistics
- 226 applications received; 86 progressed to the second round; 37 NGOs to receive funding.
- Of these, approximately 30% are serving Jewish women, 30% serving Arab, Bedouin and Druze women and 10% in the LGBT community. Seventy-five percent of the programs will fund nationwide activity, with the remaining grants focusing on regional programs in the North and South of Israel, as well as in East Jerusalem.