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Warm Greetings from the Global Fund for Women!
We are still feeling the hope and sense of possibility generated by the extraordinary 20th Anniversary Gala held on June 5th, 2008. On behalf of the Board and Staff of
the Global Fund for Women, I extend my heartfelt  gratitude to all of you who joined us in New York City. The sold-out event had 700 people in attendance and successfully raised a total of $2 million to support women’s rights advocates around the globe!
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We are grateful to our talented staff both in San Francisco and in our newly opened New York office for their inspiring work on this event. We hope those of you on the east coast will have the pleasure of getting to know Sarah Costa, our New York Representative and Director of Special Projects.
The Gala was filled with inspiring moments of courage, hope, and generosity. Leaders from the fields of social justice, politics, business, the arts, and media were in the room. Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland, and a Co-Chair of the event, delayed a flight to South Africa in order to open the evening with a personal greeting to her Excellency, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Emcee Ann Curry expressed her commitment to women’s empowerment as she described her own recent experience meeting women in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Six passionate and experienced grantee partners joined us to share in the celebration and a newly developed Global Fund for Women video told their stories of determination and how they are making a difference in their communities. Gayle King of Oprah Magazine was immersed in conversation with grantee activist, Leymah Gbowee, who led Liberian women in their peaceful resistance to civil war!
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first democratically elected woman President in Africa, spoke eloquently about how the support of grassroots Liberian women like Leymah and others had ensured the success of her campaign. She re-affirmed her own commitment to create a just and peaceful society where women have a voice, make decisions, and all citizens live free from poverty and violence.
Amina Mama, Chair of the Global Fund board of directors, reminded us that it was not enough to celebrate our past, and that we must prepare to achieve the audacious goals the Global Fund has set for itself in the next five years as we seek to more than double the resources for women’s rights groups and movements around the globe.
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, shared his appreciation with us in a video acceptance speech and was joined by the senior women of the firm in their shared tribute to the work of the Global Fund. It was truly a celebration of the entire network of the Global Fund for Women!
We chose to kick off our 20th Anniversary celebrations in New York as a way to bring more national attention to the work of the Global Fund for Women! We knew that this would mean many of our supporters in other parts of the country, particularly in our home base of Northern California, would be unable to join us in person.
Similarly, we knew many sister women’s funds and grantee partners were unable to participate in a fundraiser gala. For those of you who could not attend the gala, I want to acknovwledge your commitment to our work and your solidarity with us over the years.
We do hope to organize other anniversary events over the coming year, both in the Bay Area in California and as part of a joint celebration at the AWID Forum on Movements to be held in South Africa in November 2008. We look forward to another successful 20 years in supporting women’s leadership for change!
With warm wishes,
Kavita N. Ramdas — President & CEO
Abigail Disney, Dina Dublon & Mary Robinson — Gala Co-Chairs
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