Third Wave Foundation

Third Wave News and Announcements

The Next Generation of Women Leaders Speak Out

The Next Generation of Women Leaders Speak Out, a forum on young women’s leadership hosted by NCRW’s The Real Deal, has just been launched! NCRW looks forward to including your voice in our future forums. In the meantime, please share the link with your networks!

Two election victories!

In this most recent election, two Third Wave grantees were effective in transforming their communities at the local and state levels. Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR) was part of a coalition that included Planned Parenthood – Rocky Mountains, which defeated Amendment 48, a fetal personhood ballot initiative in the 2008 Colorado state election. Amendment 48 would would have jeopardized women’s health, outlawed all abortions in Colorado even in the cases of rape and incest, and eliminated some forms of birth control that can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus. A great deal of their success came from utilizing more culturally appropriate framing for the Latino community to understand the far sweeping impact of fetal personhood on whole families, not just the fetus, and building critical bridges to labor and racial justice movements.

In California, Khmer Girls in Action (KGA) worked in Long Beach to engage voters to defeat Proposition 4, which would have required youth under 18 years of age to inform their parents before having an abortion, unless she was willing to accuse her parents of abuse. As part of their voter engagement strategy, KGA created a YouTube video entitled “Say No to Prop. 4: Protect Teen Health Safety.” Their work was critical as one of very few groups organizing in the Cambodian community. KGA was also part of the amendment’s previous defeat in the 2006 state election.

Young reproductive health and justice activists see these attacks on reproductive and sexual rights for what they are – as manifestations of larger fears about the composition of the U.S. and a desire to further marginalize oppressed groups, such as women, sexual minorities, immigrants, and people of color.

NO on Prop 4 in California!

From our grant partners at Khmer Girls in Action:

Tomorrow is the election and we at KGA are urging you to vote! KGA has been working hard to get the Long Beach community to vote NO on 4! This past month, we have been door-knocking each Saturday to make sure that our targets, registered Asian voters between the ages of 18-35, support teen health and safety.

By voting NO on Prop 4 you will be giving a voice to those of us who can’t vote.

If Prop 4 passes, it will put the health and safety of teens at risk of seeking dangerous alternatives because we would have limited access to confidential, safe and quality medical care.

Please watch our commercial on YouTube and continue to support by forwarding to your family, friends and networks.

Thank You for Your Support!

Sincerely,
Khmer Girls in Action

Exciting News from Third Wave!

Colleagues and Comrades,

We here at Third Wave hope this letter finds you well. There are changes happening within the Third Wave family and we would like to take this opportunity to share this news with you.

At the end of this year, our Executive Director, Monique Mehta, will be stepping down from her role at Third Wave. Monique will remain Executive Director through December 15, 2008, and will continue to provide support to Third Wave during the initial transition period.

For the past three and a half years, Monique has led Third Wave’s exponential growth. Internally, she has been pivotal in increasing our capacity to attract and secure major and longer-term donors; she has formalized governance and key operational structures; and she has collaborated with staff to bring vitality and innovation to Third Wave’s work. Externally, Monique has helped us represent Third Wave’s vision, values, and practices in philanthropic arenas not traditionally supportive of young women and transgender leadership. Her contributions have been invaluable.

Organizational transitions can bring moments of enormous opportunity. We consider this a time to truly examine how we “walk our talk” and invest in our movements’ leaders. Thus, we are honored to announce Mia Herndon, current Program Director at Third Wave, will transition into the Executive Director position as of January 2009.

Mia has been a visionary and stalwart leader of Third Wave for the past seven years, and will bring both strength and strategy as the organization’s new leader. Over the last three and a half years, Monique and Mia have worked very closely together to lead Third Wave through the celebration of our ten-year anniversary in 2006, the launch of a new website, and processes to deepen how intentional we are in our work. As Program Director, Mia has been able to increase our grantmaking by over 1400%. We feel confident that with Mia as Executive Director we are poised to further expand and deepen our support of feminist youth leaders over the next five to ten years.

Third Wave has grown in capacity, scope, and network of grantee partners during Monique’s tenure. Passing the torch to Mia will ensure continuity while also inviting fresh energy and perspective to enhance these developments. We are highly fortunate to have been afforded ample notice and planning time for Monique’s departure. This has allowed Third Wave’s board and staff to begin a thoughtful transition process which will both support the outgoing Director and strengthen internal processes and structures to sustain Mia’s leadership.

We strongly value everything Monique has brought to Third Wave, both personally and professionally, and hope you will join us in celebrating her talents and contributions.

As we transition into new leadership, we ask you to consider supporting Third Wave’s continued development as an innovator in the field of feminist philanthropy. We are thrilled that Mia will be taking on this new role, and invite you to join us in investing in her as an emerging leader. Your financial support will help us to ensure a smooth and productive transition. Throughout this period and beyond, Third Wave will continue to build its legacy of strategic grant-making and advocacy to sustain the vision and reality of feminist youth leadership in our communities. As always, we welcome your partnership and any inquiries regarding our work, vision, or the transition itself. Please feel free to contact all board and staff at info@thirdwavefoundation.org and Monique at monique@thirdwavefoundation.org.

In Community,
Third Wave Staff and Board of Directors

Join the Third Wave Team!

Third Wave is seeking a Development and Communications Director to join our team. Find out more about the job’s specifics here!

Mia Herndon on GRITtv!

Third Wave’s Program Director Mia Herndon appeared on a panel with Lisa Witter of Fenton Communications and Rebecca Traister of Salon.com on GRITtv to discuss the 2008 presidential election and talked about major issues that impact women throughout the nation. She also discussed how feminism, race, and class are all playing behind-the-scenes roles in the Democratic Party’s campaign.

Learn more about Reproductive Justice Issues in Part 2 of the Reproductive Justice Briefing Book!

Third Wave is proud to have supported the Pro-Choice Public Education Project’s original production of the Reproductive Justice Briefing Book as well as the website work on it, and we’re excited to announce that a second part just came out! Access it here.

From the PEP website:

“PEP takes a holistic approach to looking at reproductive health care and how women’s real life experiences affect their ability to make healthy decisions about our bodies, sexuality and reproduction for ourselves, our families and our communities.

In these pages, you will find perspectives on a wide range of reproductive justice issues, from new reproductive technologies to teen parents to the impact of government policies on access to health care.”

Everyday Philanthropy

What is the quadratic equation? Was the teddy bear really named after Teddy Roosevelt? Why did Isabella have that pot of basil? Help out Third Wave while you search for these answers – and anything else – online. Goodsearch is an internet search engine with a philanthropic mission. Powered by Yahoo!, each time you search through Goodsearch, the charity of your choice receives a contribution from Goodsearch – if you select Third Wave Foundation, you can help out Third Wave and sate your curiosity from the comfort of your chair.

You can now also Goodshop on Third Wave’s behalf. Access a store’s online site through the Goodshop website and an average of 3% (depending on the merchant) of your purchase amount will go to Third Wave at no additional cost to you. Make your holiday shopping a double gift!

We’re a Facebook Cause!

If you’re on Facebook, add us as a cause here. This is a great way to show your support of Third Wave and introduce us to your entire network. Recruit your Facebook friends to join our Cause! To learn more about Facebook Causes, click here.

National Week of Action for Reproductive Justice

During the week of April 16, youth across the nation launched our first National Week of Action for Reproductive Justice! Members of the Reproductive Justice Network, a national coalition supported by the Third Wave Foundation, hosted a variety of activities – from trainings, to speak outs, to advocacy days – to reach other youth, service providers, and policy makers about reproductive justice.

Check out some of the events that happened and hook up with these groups!

Take a look at and post a response to our Youtube video! Click here to watch it!