Meet Latanya Mapp Frett | President and CEO of Global Fund for Women

We had the good fortune of connecting with Latanya Mapp Frett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Latanya, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Global Fund for Women funds bold gender justice movements to create meaningful change that will last beyond our lifetimes. Since our founding we’ve funded over 5,000 organizations in 176 countries. Over the course of 30+ years, Global Fund for Women has supported feminist movements and grassroots organizers to end civil wars, get female Presidents elected, and secure laws giving new protection to millions.

Recently we’ve doubled down on funding gender justice movements. Research shows that broad-based social movements are one of the most effective mechanisms to create long-term social transformation.  Movements – like Ni Una Menos, The Movement for Black Lives, #MeToo  –need funding and resources to strengthen and sustain their powerful grassroots organizing.  So, that’s where we step in: we fund gender justice organizations to create lasting change.  We aim to provide general operating support grants, which is unrestricted, flexible money, to cover the real costs of social justice work. These are multi-year grants so that groups can plan long-term. And instead of dictating priorities, we follow grantee partners’ leadership, supporting them in addressing needs, opportunities, and challenges as they arise, on their own terms.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I have lived and worked in more than 15 countries in four continents and partnered with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), United Nations (UN) agencies, governments, foundations and so many more to advance gender justice and social equality around the world. In every single one of these countries and organizations, there was what I call an “everyday feminist” who befriended me, taught me, and helped me learn and find my own power.

Today I serve as President and CEO of Global Fund of Women; sit on the boards of Oxfam, Management Sciences for Health, and others; and serve on various committees and high-level international commissions. From my unique vantage point over the decades, I know the power of the everyday feminist to create change in our world. On my very first day in my role at Global Fund for Women, I signed off on production of the Emmy-nominated series Fundamental [https://fundamental-film.com] – and I knew there was a unique power our organization had to elevate the work of feminists around the world.

Everyday feminists represent their communities in struggles for justice, equality, and transformational social change using their voice and other personal resources. They are relatable and perfectly imperfect in a way that makes them human. They are not the once in a generation, lightening-in-a-bottle charismatic leader. Rather, they are mostly ordinary women with extraordinary passion and commitment working toward lasting transformational change. They are the ones who show up, push forward, and who get the hard stuff done.

I believe so deeply in the work of these everyday feminists, I wrote a book about what they do and how to support them. It’s called The Everyday Feminist [https://everydayfeministbook.com].

In the book, I write about Innocent, who owned a braiding salon in Nairobi’s outskirts. Her store offerings went beyond beauty stylings and products — she connected new refugees to immigration lawyers, helped women access medical care, including contraceptives, and gave counseling to women in situations of violence.

Innocent is an everyday feminist.

You’ll read about more everyday feminists and the movements they lead throughout the book. I invite readers to explore not only the monumental impact of the everyday feminist, but the opportunities to champion and support them in their drive to usher in the most profound social impact we’ve seen in modern history.

It’s time to stop making them struggle for support and resources. In just the last several years the world has faced a global pandemic that exacerbated health and safety inequities. We’ve experienced the deadliest natural disasters in history, many due to the climate crisis, and are watching growing inequality impact both social and economic development. We need to do more than just see everyday feminists if we are going to change the world we live in for our children and their children – we need to support them, resource them, and stand alongside them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love Vinovore Women Winemakers in Eagle Rock! Hilltop Coffee is definitely a favorite cafe. And our favorite Black-owned bookstores are Malik Books and Reparations Club

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My grandmother. She once told me when I was in middle school doing a report on the equal rights amendment in the US that she was no “feminist.” She explained that they were white, educated, rich women who could afford to worry about just their gender. Even then, I knew that my grandmother with her 5th grade education, did more for her beloved community than almost all of those I read about in my schoolbooks.
She taught me that you don’t have to identify as a feminist to be a feminist – and that has truly shaped how I view my work in the world.

Website: https://www.globalfundforwomen.org

Instagram: @globalfundwomen

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/latanyamappfrett/

Twitter: @LatanyaFrett