Strategy
Decisions around gender and reproductive equity depend on state lawmakers and executives as well as state courts. The Gender Equity Action Fund responds to this reality through both short-term tactical support and multi-year investments to develop long-term power to end gender, reproductive, and racial inequities, with a focus on two core strategies.
Focus Areas
State Strategies for Power
We invest in power-building programs at the state level, led by local leaders and organizations, particularly those representing Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities working on voter mobilization and policy change strategies. We support those on the frontlines whose missions align with our vision for gender, reproductive, and racial equity and advance progressive policies and help build influence and power.
Campaign for Gender Equity in State Courts
We identify opportunities to establish a nonpartisan judiciary that supports gender, reproductive, and racial equity. We fund proactive legal and advocacy efforts to advance this strategy—via state courts, ballot measures, state constitutions and more—all while educating voters about their impact and promoting civic engagement in state supreme court elections. Through our efforts, we support the development of a pipeline of judges and government-appointed nominees, ready to serve.
This map identifies states in which GEAF supported impact from 2019 through 2022.
Impact
Since 2019, GEAF has supported organizations across 11 states with grants ranging from $50,000 and up to $1 million; their efforts are creating near-term success that build toward longer-term strategies and power.
In 2020, our grantee partners shifted the balance of power in the New Mexico State Legislature which helped advocates pass legislation in 2021 to overturn a dormant 1969 ban on most abortion procedures, ensuring access to abortion in a post-Roe landscape. They launched a first-of-its-kind national Judicial Candidate Training, a comprehensive program for jurists seeking judgeships in 2021. This training helps build a diverse pipeline of judges to increase representation in courts including for women. In 2022, grantee partners led the effort to defeat the first ballot measure after Roe fell that would have removed the right to abortion from the Kansas state constitution.