Sturdivant’s new role at the Ms. Foundation marks a notable transition for a longtime U.S. feminist funder. She will take the helm of the organization that describes itself as the first national philanthropy run by and for women, succeeding Teresa Younger as president and CEO, the foundation announced during its annual New York City gala.
In prepared remarks shared ahead of the announcement, Younger said the foundation is “not in crisis,” and that it is “ready for what’s to come” with Sturdivant in charge. Younger also pointed to the foundation’s financial footing during her tenure, saying the organization built a $100 million-plus endowment and centered women and girls of color.
Speaking after the gala, Sturdivant said it is rare for a Black woman to follow another Black woman as leader of a major nonprofit, and she said it is even rarer for that organization to be financially healthy. With that footing, she described a chance to grow the foundation’s circle of supporters—people who view gender justice as a central mission for their giving.
Sturdivant said she wants to support marginalized groups “unapologetically” while inviting others to join the fight for economic equality and bodily autonomy. She added that the coalition-building work must include “all hands on deck” as women face what she called “this perfect form of instability.”
Sturdivant comes to the Ms. Foundation from The League, a nonprofit she founded to inspire civic engagement through culture. She also credited the influence of past Ms. Foundation president Marie Wilson, including Wilson’s role in launching “Take Our Daughters to Work” day to boost adolescent girls’ self-esteem, and the work Sturdivant said she did alongside Wilson on the White House Project, another nonprofit aimed at advancing women’s leadership across sectors.
Sturdivant said narrative change has become more necessary as conservative movements seek to prohibit funding for diversity, equity and inclusion. She said she sees the Ms. Foundation as a legacy institution—founded in 1973 and described as having weathered “many cultural shifts”—positioned to engage a newer generation of feminists through modern storytelling.
At Tuesday’s gala, the foundation honored Blair Imani, a historian and creator whose viral web series “Smarter in Seconds” provides short-form education on race and gender issues, according to Sturdivant’s account of the program. Sturdivant said “They are leading the culture” and that the foundation can take cues from those kinds of voices.
As she considered how to shape the foundation’s grantmaking, Sturdivant said she is looking at ways to increase support around equal pay, family leave and childcare—issues she said she championed as co-founder of the Make it Work Campaign, a three-year effort to improve women’s economic lives in the United States.
Sturdivant also tied the foundation’s priorities to broader labor and public-opinion trends described in the reporting she referenced: men’s earnings rising faster than women’s and a gender wage gap that has widened for two consecutive years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, along with an AP-NORC poll that she said found most working women view themselves as disadvantaged when it comes to earning competitive wages. She said the foundation under her leadership will pursue what she described as helping people lead lives where they are not only surviving but thriving, feeling safe and secure.
During her tenure at the Ms. Foundation, Younger said the organization’s endowment and focus on women and girls of color helped it sustain its work as leadership changes. Sturdivant, in outlining her plans, said she aims to build on that foundation by expanding who sees gender justice as their charge and by adapting the foundation’s strategy to a changing political and cultural landscape.