Global Impact for International Women's Day: Avery Dennison Foundation and Women Win Champion Economic Opportunities for Girls and Women

Global Communications Team

March 13, 2024

As we celebrated International Women’s Day, Avery Dennison Foundation (ADF) is proud to share the work of its grantee partner, Women Win. Women Win is a global women’s fund guided by the vision of a future where girls and women, in all of their diversities, can exercise their rights.

Women Win’s vision and work align with ADF’s Secure Livelihoods pillar, which supports causes that increase access to economic opportunities for marginalized populations.

ADF awarded Women Win a $250,000 grant to support two programs focused on innovative approaches to the economic resilience of girls and women. The Financial Resilience & Economic Empowerment (FREE) Fund aids youth-led and women-led community-based organizations that support adolescent girls and young women at a grassroots level to increase economic opportunities for themselves or other women in their community. The FREE STEM Fund focuses on narrowing the gender gap in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields by investing in initiatives that use intersectional approaches to empower girls, women, transgender and non-binary people as changemakers in the STEM sector.

Yvonne Henry, director of brands at Women Win, shared, “Thanks to this grant, we supported 19 previously FREE-funded grantees with renewal funding focused on increasing the long-term sustainability of their projects and strengthening their organizational capacity. In addition, the grant has supported the FREE and FREE STEM Fund’s ongoing learning and innovation in evolving our models of shared governance and participatory grant-making, as well as further developing a grantee accompaniment strategy with our current cohorts of 19 FREE and 27 FREE STEM grantees.”

As a result, the ADF grant has positively impacted the people and communities supported through the FREE-funds. Henry added, “We have witnessed individuals starting successful businesses, getting accepted into prestigious institutions, and winning awards with their entrepreneurial endeavors. Beyond this, grantees have shared a lot about the important, often less visible, work they have done and how this has had a lasting impact on changing gender norms and boosting the confidence of girls and women to pursue economic opportunities.”

Left to right: FREE-Fund grantees Girls Rock in STEM, India; Young Africa Women Initiatives, Kenya

For example, three FREE-funded grantees in Nigeria are seeing a positive impact. Girls Leading Africa reports that young women participants are now enrolling in and completing high school as a direct result of the program. The Girl Child Values Support Initiative’s STEMinist for Social Good initiative received 256 applicants for a program initially aimed at recruiting 50 young women. The Street Project Foundation used its renewal grant to adapt its Digital Amazons program to be more inclusive of women with disabilities and involve more women in the program.

In Kyrgyzstan, the Kyrgyz Space Program shared that a participant has been accepted into Stanford University for a Bachelor's program in Aerospace Engineering. She is one of the first women in Kyrgyzstan to have been admitted into a prestigious university program in this field. Community Women Enterprise Network in Uganda celebrated three entrepreneurship boot camp participants who have received awards for their enterprises.

ADF is proud to support Women Win, a women’s fund expanding global impact by entrusting grantees to strengthen economic opportunity and livelihoods for girls and women in their communities.

FREE-STEM Fund grantee Mujeres en Tecnología, Argentina

I am a living testament to the power of investing in talent and potential. After the transformative Digital Amazon Training, they connected me with an incredible opportunity as a Video Editor Intern at Hustle Africa, a Digital Marketing Media Company. This training became the pivotal stepping stone in my career, propelling me to new heights of success. My skills flourished, my confidence soared, and the world became my canvas to create captivating stories.

— Street Project Foundation participant (Nigeria)
SPF uses creative arts as a tool to facilitate opportunities for youth employment,
social mobilization and cross-cultural dialogue

I am profoundly thankful for the opportunity this grant has afforded me to attain financial independence. Following the comprehensive welding training, I took the initiative to volunteer in a local workshop near my residence. Now, individuals actively seek me out for custom-made items, creating a steady income stream I am actively saving. This endeavor is not just a personal goal; it's a commitment to supporting my fellow LBQ womxn who, like me, often encounter challenges in securing formal education and meaningful employment.

— FREE Fund grantee participant (Tanzania)

The beneficiary's journey reflects not only the individual success story but also the project's broader impact in fostering entrepreneurship and self-sustainability within the LBQ womxn community. This narrative highlights the profound ripple effect of the grant, not just as a financial boost but as a catalyst for long-term change within the LBQ womxn community in Tanzania. The vision of opening a workshop to support peers signifies the multiplier effect of empowering individuals to become agents of change within their own communities. Thanks to this project, a newfound hope for the future is palpable, reinforcing the significance of sustained support for initiatives promoting economic empowerment and resilience.

— Irene* FREE Fund Project leader (Tanzania)

*Irene is a pseudonym to protect the identity of the grantee due to safety issues faced by LGBTQIA+ people in Tanzania and many parts of the world

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Global Impact for International Women's Day: Avery Dennison Foundation and Women Win Champion Economic Opportunities for Girls and Women

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