OPPORTUNITY & EQUALITY FOR ALL IMPACT COLLECTIVE
Fighting for Workers’ Rights & Gender Justice
Opportunity & Equality supports grassroots groups who are fighting for workers’ rights and gender justice. As a result of COVID-19, we pivoted to using an industry-focused lens to support frontline workers most affected by the pandemic.
Equal Rights Advocates worked to drive policy reform to protect essential workers, expand access to child care and paid leave, and promote income equality.
Mobilizing & Organizing
In the face of COVID-19, our Impact Collective pivoted to support frontline workers most affected by the pandemic and most at risk. We supported “Know Your Rights” trainings, collaborative cross-industry organizing efforts for agriculture, retail, and domestic workers.
Advocating for Policy Change
WDN continued to provide funding for an innovative Policy Hub, which we co-created with Equal Rights Advocates in 2019. In 2020, the Hub remained a critical resource for organizations across the country, expanding to include policy and advocacy resources focused on domestic violence and COVID-specific worker protections. With access to these resources, we saw victories at the state and national level in securing paid time off, childcare, and fair wages—victories made possible by the efforts of thousands of workers across sectors.
Reproductive Justice
With new abortion restrictions throughout the country and employers withholding access to birth control, we faced an unprecedented need to secure the right to healthcare in all forms. Our Impact Collective funded a hotline for women to self-manage miscarriage and abortion, and provided critical seed funding for the creation of a groundbreaking reproductive justice legal defense fund, designed to help protect and defend women facing legal ramifications for their abortions.
2020 Grantees
Agriculture ($60,000)
• Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Domestic & Retail ($250,000)
• North Carolina Domestic Workers Alliance
• Pennsylvania Domestic Workers Alliance
•
United for Respect
National Policy ($300,000)
• Equal Rights Advocates
• National Women's Law Center
Reproductive Justice ($540,000)
• If/When/How Legal Defense Fund
• Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline
Total funding includes grants approved by a Steering Committee as well as additional restricted contributions from members designated for specific grantees in this portfolio.
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT
Pennsylvania Domestic Workers Alliance
After a year of organizing and mobilizing, the Pennsylvania chapter of the Domestic Workers Alliance passed the historic Philadelphia Workers Bill of Rights, which requires employers of domestic workers to provide their employees with a contract, paid time off, and other protections. In our second year of funding, WDN further supported PA Domestic Workers Alliance in their work to secure a mayoral COVID relief fund—one of the first of its kind in the country which helps to ensure funds for domestic workers who didn’t receive federal pandemic aid.
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT
Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline
The Miscarriage & Abortion Hotline was established to support those who are self-managing their miscarriage or abortion. This confidential hotline is staffed by volunteer physicians who answer questions via text or phone using a secure connection. During a time when abortion access was under attack, our funding helped pay for basic operations and Spanish language website translation, expand to 24/7 service, and increase volunteer numbers.