When a Black Woman Is Fed Up…
She Does Something about It!
It all started in 2017. LaTosha Brown, co-founder of the nationally celebrated voting rights group, Black Voters Matter, stumbled upon a report penned by the Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative confirming that Black women and girls receive less than one percent of the $4.8 billion in philanthropic investments in the South. Stunned by the statistics, LaTosha felt the call of action and set out, with passionate intent, to change the narrative of “less than” by disrupting the industry philanthropy and causing the end result to be “greater than!”
Southern Black Girls Was Born!
Now dedicated to funding the dreams of Black girls and women in the south, LaTosha knew she couldn’t do this work alone. So, she called upon three philanthropic powerhouses, who like LaTosha, embodied the soul of activism and held deep roots in movement-building – Felicia Lucky (BlackBelt Community Foundation), Alice Jenkins (Fund for Southern Communities) and Margo Miller (Appalachian Community Fund). With the addition of LaTosha’s TruthSpeaks Innovation Foundation, the collective joined as anchor institutions, and together they formed the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium (Southern Black Girls).
On a Mission to Fund the Dreams of Black Women and Girls in the South!
In 2017, the work began. Committed to LaTosha’s vision, the anchors vowed to align as disruptors in grant-making and shift the giving landscape to the attention of Black girl/Black woman-centered philanthropy. They understood the assignment and recognized their critical role in not only centering and creating solutions for those most impacted by deep-seated injustices, but also creating access to capital, resources and unlimited seats at the tables of opportunity. Piece by passionate piece, they positioned Southern Black Girls as a catalyst to fundraise and provide greater resources toward underfunded, Black women-led organizations that, intentionally, support and empower Black girls and women in the south.
Fueled by the possibilities, they made it their mission to raise $100 million over the next decade to financially empower the goals of Black girls and women – a mission they were audacious enough to make happen.
Joy is our Journey
To date, the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium has already awarded $3.7 million to 221 Black women-led organizations and 504 girls across 13 southern states – Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia! Not only is Southern Black Girls making tremendous strides in fulfilling their mission, they’re also expanding!
In July 2022, LaTosha appointed Malikah Berry Rogers as the first-ever executive director to govern the work of the organization as well as its expansion. In the same year, the Southern Black Girls hosted a few signature events that were specifically designed to create space and opportunities for those they serve. They were the inaugural Joy Is Our Journey Dream Bus Tour and the Black Girls Dream Conference.
Today, the work of the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium is becoming more recognized. Through strategic partnerships with the likes of Comic Relief US and their Red Nose Day initiative as well as Roc Nation and Megan Thee Stallion’s Pete and Thomas Foundation, Southern Black Girls is able to show up in greater ways to do greater work. They have also amplified the voice of the organization through advocacy and speaking out against the various social, civic and cultural injustices that impact Black girls and women.
If You Can Change the Life of a Black Girl, You Change the World!
The Southern Black Girls believe that “if you change the life of a Black girl, you change the world.” That quote, which is consistently declared by Visionary Founder, LaTosha Brown, is a truth that is proven by the work and impact of Southern Black Girls.
For more information on the Southern Black Girls and Women’s Consortium,
visit www.SouthernBlackGirls.org, or follow @SouthernBlackGirls on
Our Founding Anchoring Organization
The Appalachian Community Fund (ACF) funds and encourages grassroots social change in Central Appalachia (East Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and West Virginia). ACF works to build a sustainable base of resources to support community-led organizations seeking to overcome and address the underlying cause of poverty and oppression. ACF awards grants to community-based organizations working for social, economic, racial and environmental justice. Since 1987, ACF has granted over $6.5 million dollars to more than 300 grassroots organizations working on social change in Central Appalachia.
Alabama‘s Black Belt stretches across the middle of the state from Mississippi almost to the Georgia line. Rich in human, religious, geographic and political diversity, the Black Belt got its name from the region’s rich, dark soil. It is also home to the highest percentage of African Americans in Alabama. Founded in 2004 with the idea that those living and working in the Black Belt best knew the area’s challenges and opportunities, the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) actively puts needed resources into the region that make a lasting impact.
TruthSpeaks Innovation Foundation is a social impact foundation committed to providing critical business and organizational infrastructure support to Black girls and women across the global south. Black girls and women are the backbone of the nation. Yet, they are often overlooked, underestimated, and underinvested in. With the largest concentration of Black girls and women residing in twelve states throughout the South, TruthSpeaks Innovation Foundation will center our work on providing them with leadership, social, and financial investment.
The Fund for Southern Communities (FSC/the Fund) supports and unites organizations and donors working to create just and sustainable communities that are free of oppression and that embrace and celebrate all people. Through grantmaking and related activities the Fund fosters social change initiated by community-based groups in Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina. Since it began in 1981, FSC has awarded thousands of grants, totaling over $7 million to groups around the nation and internationally. FSC works with small, grassroots organizations that often are isolated from the larger movement networks and rely on individual volunteers – people directly affected by the injustices they are addressing. Grantee partners serve approximately 20,000 people each year.
Our Partners