From women’s foundations to the Girl Scouts, there are tens of thousands of organizations in the United States dedicated to serving women and girls. As perceptions of gender continue to change rapidly — among younger generations particularly — what are the implications for these organizations?
Many leaders of these groups have approached Reimagine Gender wondering exactly that. They ask: how should we evolve in this new world of gender? How can we be as gender-inclusive as possible while still addressing the needs that are core to our purpose? Do we need to evolve at all?
We wish we had an easy answer! As more and more people see gender as a spectrum, rather than a binary, there’s no one-size-fits all way for single-sex organizations to adapt to this new reality. That said, the following recommendations can help you think through the right approach for your organization. (Note that we’ve focused this content on organizations serving women and girls; the same principles can be applied for those serving men and boys.)
Speak the language
Start by developing a strong understanding of what gender is (and isn’t). Hone your gender lens. There are a lot of misconceptions out there, so it’s important that you’re making informed, educated decisions. Our popular, interactive E-learning Course can help you get there!
Dive into your mission, keeping your gender lens front and center
What is it, exactly, that your organization is trying to do? Start by answering that, and see where your newfound understanding of gender will take you, making sure to identify how you may be using gender as a proxy for other things. From what we’ve seen, your journey may lead you to one of these outcomes:
- Broadening your audience to include any person who identifies as a woman or girl
- Expanding your audience to include all who are marginalized because of the gender
- Narrowing your audience to a more specific subset
- Changing or evolving your audience
- Keeping your audience as is
There’s no right or wrong answer here. Let’s take a look at how you might arrive at some of these decisions.
Broadening your audience
The Girl Scouts exists to “be the premiere leadership organization for girls in the country.” The organization is dedicated to serving girls and made the decision to be intentional about what that means: “If the child is recognized by the family and school/community as a girl and lives culturally as a girl, then Girl Scouts is an organization that can serve her in a setting that is both emotionally and physically safe.”
Expanding your audience
Lesbians Who Tech, an organization advocating for broader gender inclusion in the technology industry, expanded its audience to align with the problem it’s trying to solve: the underrepresentation of queer women, gender expansive, and trans individuals in and around tech. The organization did decide to keep its original name, but has been intentionally inclusive in its ancillary language.
Narrowing your audience
Perhaps your organization speaks broadly about supporting women and girls, but most of your programs and funding go to people who live in poverty and face gender discrimination. Or maybe in analyzing funding impact over the last several years you see that you’ve most effectively supported programming for girls interested in STEM. This is a chance to reevaluate how you’re talking about who you serve, and perhaps narrow in on a more specific subset of the community you work with.
Changing or evolving your audience
Many organizations supporting women and girls are focused on “gender equality.” While there’s no doubt that women and girls face discrimination because of their gender, gender discrimination impacts others as well. So, this begs the question… when you’re talking about gender inequity, are you looking to serve women and girls specifically, or do you want to support anyone facing discrimination because of their gender? The answer may cause you to reconsider how you’re defining your audience.
No change
Perhaps you decide that your organization will not make any changes in mission, messaging or programming. There’s no judgment here, and this approach may make sense for your organization. But we’d caution you to avoid making this decision without first doing the work to understand how evolving understandings of gender will impact your short and long-term objectives. To keep all organizational stakeholders engaged, be sure to communicate your definition of who you serve, the work you want to support, and the rationale for your approach in order to avoid assumptions or misconceptions. Arrive here with intentionality and share whatever information you think is appropriate for stakeholders to remain engaged.
Do the work
Gender is complex, and the decision of how to evolve your organization (or not) certainly isn’t straightforward or easy. But it’s necessary. As our culture continues to undergo a reimagining of gender, you can bet that your donors, employees, and beneficiaries are going to look to you for answers. Going through this process will help you focus your energy, increase your impact, and set you up for a strong future.
