WomenStrong International and the Advancing Girls Fund at Tides Foundation Launch $10M Abundance Collective for Girls & Women
New co-investment fund supports women- and girl-led organizations to pivot to new ways of financing their work as traditional aid decreases; launches with “Defunded & Thriving,” a six-week online series amplifying leaders’ insights and experiences.
[October 6, 2026] WomenStrong International and the Advancing Girls Fund at Tides Foundation, together with partnering founding investors, today announced the Abundance Collective for Girls & Women, a $10 million co-investment fund that helps girls’ and women’s organizations move to new models of funding their work. The founders are inviting other philanthropists to join as co-investors.
The need is urgent. In a 2025 UN Report, 90 percent of women’s and girls’ organizations reported funding cuts, and nearly half are at risk of closing. These organizations already face decades of chronic underfunding and a growing backlash against women’s rights. As traditional aid recedes and some philanthropic giving is shifting, women and girl leaders are not waiting around. They are pioneering new ways to fund their work.
“We’ve seen firsthand what happens when you fund girls and young women of color to lead, and the Abundance Collective builds on that same conviction: a co-investment fund helping girl and women leaders pivot to new ways to fund their work,” said Shauné Zunzanyika, Senior Director, Advancing Girls Fund at Tides Foundation.
The Collective is designed to help organizations thrive, not just survive. It offers flexible, multiyear funding; support for innovative financing and organizational resilience; and a peer Learning Lab where leaders learn directly from one another.
“Too often, the people furthest from a crisis hold the power to decide how it should be solved. This initiative flips that model by putting resources, flexibility, and decision-making power in the hands of local leaders who know what their communities need and can pivot quickly,” said Dr. Chisina Kapungu, Executive Director, WomenStrong International.
The Collective launches alongside Defunded & Thriving, a six-part online Learning Journey hosted by Emmy- and Peabody-winning journalist Stephanie Busari. The episodes feature grassroots leaders, technology and finance experts, philanthropists, and Indigenous knowledge-keepers from Guatemala to the U.S. to Zambia, exploring how new approaches to funding are changing who shapes the work and where resources flow. Episodes begin October 6th. Register/watch at womenstrongjourney.org.
About the Advancing Girls Fund at Tides Foundation
The Advancing Girls Fund supports adolescent girls and young women of color and their allies, investing in spaces where they can learn, play, dream, and become powerful movement leaders. Since 2021, with core grantmaking support from NoVo, the Tides Advancing Girls Fund has committed more than $125 million to more than 185 grantee partners across the United States and the Global South. https://www.tides.org/funds-initiatives/advancing-girls-fund/
About WomenStrong International
WomenStrong International moves money, power, and resources to women-led organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Women leaders shape WomenStrong’s model and approach, which provides flexible, multiyear, unrestricted funding; tailored organizational strengthening support; and access to a Learning Lab that connects women leaders across countries and movements. www.womenstrong.
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Contact: Michelle Lambert, [email protected], 202-549-3710
