• The Fight for Our Bodies, Our Lives, Our Future

    Dulce Juarez Aguilar, director of special initiatives at Groundswell Action Fund, calls attention to the escalating attacks on bodily autonomy, including restrictions on abortion, trans rights and immigrant dignity. She underscores how grassroots organizers—especially women of color and gender-expansive leaders—are driving the fight for reproductive justice and democracy. Through a new partnership with Ms. magazine, Groundswell is spotlighting these frontline changemakers and investing in a future where everyone can live free, joyful lives.

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

In Norfolk, Va., Parents and Community Members Took Children’s Education and Safety Into Their Own Hands

by Monét Johnson, lead organizer for New Virginia Majority’s Norfolk chapter Carl Poole, Norfolk campaign coordinator for New Virginia Majority

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

Disrupting Intimidation: How Texas Hotel Workers Are Shaking Up the Industry 

by Dayana Cruz Estudillo, communications associate at Workers Defense Project

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

‘We Take Care of Each Other’: Building Community in a Brutal Political Moment

by Oakley Rae Phoenix, program director, The Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

Immigrant and First-Generation Women Are Changing What Leadership Looks Like in America

by Ghida Dagher, president, New American Leaders and New American Leaders Action Fund

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

A Call to the Muslim Community: Fighting for Reproductive Justice Is in Line With Our Faith

by Sahar Pirzada Nadiah Mohajir, HEART

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

How We Can Turn Away From Medicalized Birth Culture and Reset the U.S. Birth Care System

by Leseliey Welch, CEO of Birth Center Equity

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

The Blueprint Reclaimed: Why America Needs More Black Midwives

by Meka Kpoh, founder of Black Birth Justice

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

This Hispanic Heritage Month, We Honor Immigrant Families by Fighting for Healthcare Justice

by Lupe M. Rodríguez, executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

State Courts Hold the Power to Free Us Or Erase Us

by Mercedes Fulbright, director of electoral justice programs at re:power and Sandra Castro Solís, program coordinator for re:power’s State Courts on the Power Map program

Array ( [0] => Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary [1] => In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space [2] => Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’ [3] => So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy [4] => Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair )

Birth Control Fear-Mongering Prevents Women From Achieving Informed Bodily Autonomy

by Rosa Valderrama, board member at Broward Women's Emergency Fund (BWEF), a local abortion fund

Reimagining Justice: The Urgent Need for Native Women in the Judiciary

by Mica Standing Soldier, national program manager at Advance Native Political Leadership

In Montana, Native Women Are Reshaping Politics and Reclaiming Civic Space

by Ronnie Jo Horse, executive director for several Western Native Voice organizations

Democracy, Divestment and the Power to Choose Liberation: On Cultivating ‘the Menopausal Multiverse’

by Omisade Burney-Scott, creator of The Black Girls’ Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM)

So Goes Texas, So Goes Democracy

by Terrysa Guerra, co-executive director of United for Respect

Knowing Our Neighbors: A Crucial First Step to Organizing in Times of Despair

by Carlin Rushing and Jade Brooks, co-directors of Southerners on New Ground (SONG)

We know that reproductive justice is about more than abortion access.

Groundswell Fund

We need to be ready for the storms to come this year—the literal rain and wind, as well as those that are brewing to threaten our state and national political system. Our democracy depends on our preparation—and community engagement.

Carlin Rushing and Jade Brooks, co-directors of Southerners on New Ground (SONG)

'I can feel the oppression.' Those were the words I muttered while taking a deep breath as I arrived at the Austin airport one year ago. The state’s restrictive laws on individual freedoms felt heavy in the air–an affront to what I always upheld as true Texas values.

Terrysa Guerra, first-generation college graduate from Los Fresnos, Texas

We continue to challenge ourselves to ask: 'What kinds of worlds can we create to support all menopausal journeys in a way that is broad, inclusive and liberating'?

Omisade Burney-Scott, founder of The Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM)

I have spent my entire writing life trying to make sure that the white gaze was not the dominant one in any of my books.

Toni Morrison

I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am Black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people.

Shirley Chisolm

Amid political uncertainty, Native American women in Montana are leading social justice movements and shaping public policy. Historically marginalized in policymaking, Native voices are now gaining equitable representation at the state level, driving impactful change.

Ronnie Jo Horse, citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation and descendant of the Northern Cheyenne Nation

When most people picture a judge—someone shaping laws, setting legal precedents, and upholding justice—who do they see? More often than not, a white man.

Mica Standing Soldier (Oglala Lakota), national program manager at Advance Native Political Leadership

Texas Gov. Abbott often brags that Texas is a blueprint for the rest of the country. Indeed. So goes Texas, so goes democracy.

Terrysa Guerra, first-generation college graduate from Los Fresnos, Texas

In many ways the first step is to realize that the gender you have always thought of as innate or natural because of the body you were born into—gender you have always thought of as innate or natural because of the body you were born into—is actually constructed.

Brown Boi Project

Doula care is a proven method of improving birth outcomes, and community-based models are especially effective at supporting better health outcomes, more positive birth experiences, and cost-effective care in communities of color and other marginalized communities.

Chanel L. Porchia-Albert, founder and CEO of Ancient Song Doula

Knowing our neighbors. It may sound simple but it is an essential ingredient to a functioning democracy—and more important now than ever.

Carlin Rushing and Jade Brooks, co-directors of Southerners on New Ground (SONG)

Our work has always been about creating space for the voices and experiences of those often left at the margins—Black women, genderqueer, nonbinary, and trans people—and offering a vision of menopause that is not just inclusive but liberatory.

Omisade Burney-Scott, founder of The Black Girls' Guide to Surviving Menopause (BGG2SM)

In this political moment, many of us don’t fully understand the energy that is happening on the ground. But Groundswell does because it has a long-term relationship with base organizations. A partnership with Groundswell can help any funder to be more impactful.

Guillermo Quinteros, senior fellow and director of the IRG Hub at Amalgamated Foundation

In a world defined by increasing isolation, whether on account of social media or prolonged impact of the pandemic, it is sometimes easy to forget the power of a face-to-face conversation. Organizing is inherently personal—which, in turn, is deeply political.

Carlin Rushing and Jade Brooks, co-directors of Southerners on New Ground (SONG)

Supporting Native women as judicial candidates and amplifying their voices will transform the judicial system into one that reflects, acknowledges and prioritizes the complexities of Native American identities in this country.

Mica Standing Soldier (Oglala Lakota), national program manager at Advance Native Political Leadership

Ms. Studios

This Episode: Narratives of Resistance: Women of Color and the Fight for Democracy (With Yamani Yansá Hernandez)

In this episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin, Yamani Hernandez—CEO of the Groundswell Fund—joins Goodwin to discuss her journey from grassroots organizing to philanthropy, and what it means to fund reproductive, racial and gender justice through an intersectional lens. The conversation explores the critical role of narrative in shaping democracy, the urgent need to center women of color in democracy work, and the significance of resourcing communities often left out of traditional political frameworks. Together, they reflect on the new Ms. Magazine and Groundswell collaboration, emphasizing that there can be no true democracy without gender equity. Yamani Yansá Hernandez also shares her grounded vision for the future: survival, mutual aid, and deeper local connections as a form of resistance and hope.

Women & Democracy is our collaborative series, spearheaded by Ms. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR PARTNERSHIPS AND STRATEGY, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf. Each quarter Ms. will publish a new microsite, together with a dedicated partner, that focuses on key issues impacting full and fair representation in our democracy.