The Case for Investing in Women of Color Leaders
Funders and organizations invest in women of color leaders, but rarely in what keeps them leading. Peer infrastructure (coaching, communities of practice, and shared-identity networks) is one of the most overlooked and least funded ways to change that.
Join Fearless for the launch of our new white paper, Shut Out, Set Up, Pushed Out: Breaking the Cycle for Women of Color Leaders in Social Impact, and a live panel on what funders and employers can do differently.
Why this matters
Women of color are essential to social impact, whether they’re working their way up inside large institutions or leading the organizations closest to the communities that need change most. On both paths, the system works against them.
Getting promoted: The gap opens at the first step into management. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 54 Black women and 65 Latinas are, despite asking for promotions at the same rates. At the current pace, parity for women of color in senior leadership is 48 years away.
Leading organizations: Women of color are concentrated in the smallest, least-resourced organizations. In the US, they lead 28% of nonprofits with budgets under $50K, while white men lead 41% of those over $25M. At US-based international development and humanitarian organizations, just 4% of organization heads are women of color.
Staying: Those who reach the top are more likely to inherit organizations in crisis, and more likely to burn out and leave: 55% of women of color executive directors cite burnout as a reason to consider leaving, compared with 37% of their white peers.
This is not a pipeline problem. It’s a design problem, and design problems have design solutions.
What you’ll leave with
✅ The evidence in one framework. How ceilings, emotional taxes, glass cliffs, and funding gaps add up to one reinforcing cycle, the Compounded Ceiling, and why fixing one part at a time keeps failing.
✅ Where the support actually goes. Why women of color are passed over at the first rung, and why their organizations are funded to deliver programs but not to last, receiving only 8% of asset-building funding.
✅ What funders and employers can do. Concrete commitments from each panelist, from how to fund to how to promote and retain.
✅ Early evidence of what works. What Fearless’s community of 60+ members across 25 countries and 6 continents reveals about the support that makes a difference.
✅ The white paper, before it’s public. Registrants receive it first, along with the recording.
Moderator
Kavita Ramdas has spent three decades at the center of global philanthropy for women’s rights. She was President & CEO of Global Fund for Women, led the Ford Foundation’s work in South Asia, and directed the Women’s Rights Program at Open Society Foundations. She is now senior strategic advisor at IPPF and a professor at Mount Holyoke College.
Panelists
Ada Williams Prince is a philanthropy strategist who has spent more than 20 years advancing the power and influence of women and girls of color, globally and in the US. At Pivotal Ventures, she led strategies to invest in Black, Indigenous, and women and girls of color, and she was previously a program officer at the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
Dr. Fatou Wurie is the Founder and CEO of Youterus, Africa’s uterine health company. A former Mo Ibrahim Leadership Fellow at the African Development Bank and Harvard and Oxford-trained, she connects women’s health, public policy, and development finance with the practical work of building organizations that address overlooked needs.
Sandra Ortiz Diaz is a systems change leader and network builder working across Latin America and Europe. She spent more than a decade at the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt, where she served on the executive leadership team and shaped its work in venture philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and the global pro bono movement.
About the author
Maya Hasan is the Founder & CEO of Fearless and Research Director of Holding Power. She's a leadership coach and community organizer with 25+ years of experience across social impact, leading teams at international NGOs in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, South Sudan, the DRC, and beyond. She designed curriculum for the Global Executive Leadership Initiative (UNOPS, LSE, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative), and holds an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS.
This event is for you if...
You fund leadership or equity work and want evidence on what keeps women of color leaders in their roles, or what could have kept the grantee leaders you’ve watched leave
You lead or work in HR at a social impact organization and are losing women of color leaders you worked hard to recruit
You’re a woman of color or woman of the global majority in social impact, and you want language and evidence for what you’ve been navigating
You care about who gets to lead in this sector, and how long they get to stay (everyone is welcome)
What to expect
Welcome (8 min): Why we’re here, and a live poll on the barriers you’ve faced or seen
The findings (15 min): Maya presents the headline research
Live panel (30 min): Moderated by Kavita Ramdas, with perspectives from US philanthropy, women’s health in Africa, and leadership ecosystems across Latin America and Europe
Audience Q&A (15 min): Your questions, submitted at registration or live in the chat
One commitment (3 min): Each panelist names one thing funders and employers should do differently starting tomorrow
Closing (4 min): Next steps and how to stay involved
Get involved
Be part of the next phase. This white paper is the first step. Fearless and our research partners are now designing Holding Power, a global study of women of the global majority leading in social impact. Registrants will be first to hear when it launches, and first invited to take part.
Partner with us. Fearless is building partnerships with funders and organizations committed to helping women of color leaders grow their power. There are three ways in:
Fund the research: Help launch Holding Power.
Invest in programs: Support new curriculum, group coaching, and scholarships for leaders who couldn’t otherwise join.
Bring Fearless to your team: Organizational memberships for the women of color leaders in your organization.
Email hello@fearlessproject.co to start a conversation.
Details
Platform: Zoom
Duration: 75 minutes
Cost: Free and open to all
Can’t join live? Register anyway, and we’ll send you the recording (available for 7 days) and the white paper.
Have a question for the panel? Add it when you register.
Accessibility
Live captions · Slides shared one hour before · Recording with transcript available for 7 days · AI notetakers by request only
Questions or accessibility needs? Email hello@fearlessproject.co
About Fearless
Fearless helps women of color leaders grow their power. We’re a global peer community for women of the global majority in social impact, helping leaders claim the promotion, the pay, and the platform, without burning out or selling out. Through community, curriculum, and coaching, members move from isolation to solidarity, survival to strategy, and approval to authenticity. Today, we’re 60+ members across 25 countries and 6 continents. Fearless also centers gender-diverse people of color and welcomes allies. Learn more at fearlessproject.co