Sister Song
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14
"Up" is the number of experts who agree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in the
field. "Down" is the number of experts who disagree that the nonprofit has had the most impact in field.
Headquarters Location: Atlanta, GA
Founded: 1997
Mission: The Collective was formed in 1997 and initially funded by the Ford Foundation to educate women of color and policy makers on reproductive and sexual health and rights, and to work towards the access of health services, information and resources that are culturally and linguistically appropriate. We achieve these goals through public policy work, advocacy, service delivery and health education within our communities on the local, national and international levels.
Tags:
national, women's reproductive health, reproductive justice, mentorship, community organizing, advocacy, 2010
Summary
Stories
Expert Reviews
Leadership
From the Nonprofit
Leadership
Loretta Ross.
A founding member of SisterSong, Loretta Ross became National Coordinator in 2005. In 2004, Loretta was National Co-Director of the April 25, 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C., the largest protest march in U.S. history with more than one million participants. From 1996-2004, she was the Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education…
See full bio.
Financial Data
Overhead Ratio:
22.44%
Total Revenue:
$563,678
From the Nonprofit
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Contact Info
Address:
1237 Ralph D Abernathy Blvd SW
Atlanta, GA 30310, USA
Twitter:
Story:
What is the story behind Sister Song?
Sixteen grassroots women of color organizations sharing the same operational values came together in 1997 to advocate for a vision of reproductive justice. Their vision is for the complete physical, mental, spiritual, political, social, and economic well-being of women and girls. Sister Song believes that they have the right and responsibility to represent themselves and their communities, and the equally compelling need to advance the perspectives of women of color. They believe – and their successes bear this out – that they can do more collectively than they can do individually.
Headquartered in Atlanta, SisterSong’s unique coalition of women of is qualified for and dedicated to this vital work. They are a blend of both young and experienced activists, academic and community scholars, and grassroots and national organizations. SisterSong is the only national coalition in the U.S. of women of color organizations working to ensure reproductive justice for communities of color.
(Read more at: http://www.sistersong.net/documents/media_kit.pdf)
Expert Reviews of Sister Song
Evidence of Impact Summary:
Sister Song is credited for decades of service in promoting reproductive justice. Beyond their core activities, the organization is praised for the influences and resources they have provided other nonprofits in the space.See expert comments.
Organization Strengths Summary:
The group’s Executive Director received massive praise from almost every expert respondent.See expert comments.
Areas for Improvement Summary:
Most opportunities for improvement involve building capacity or expanding programming. Experts also note funding as a concern in light of the down economy.See expert comments.
Expert Comments: Evidence of Impact
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Impact |
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They are successful in shifting the discussion and broadening the feminism to include women of color. They have been successful in collaborating with others on public policy work. | ||
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Sister Song is the only national organization that has effectively brought together women of color organizations from around the country to develop an analysis of how the environment impacts reproductive health and justice. This analysis is critical for providing a bridge between two movements that share common goals but have traditionally failed to partner effectively together. | ||
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They are a central player in developing the reproductive justice movement through its coalition building and by organizing two major national conferences and membership meetings which draw a wide array of groups. Most recently, the organization took a leadership role in the campaign to successfully defeat an anti-abortion bill in the Georgia legislature (SB 529, the "OB/GYN Criminalization and Racial Discrimination Act"). | ||
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They provide national outreach. | ||
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They are the leading group speaking on behalf of women of color and reproductive justice. | ||
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Sister Song is a high impact women of color reproductive justice organization. Their first major accomplishment is that it is the longest surviving national women of color collective in history. It has been at the forefront of training and transforming the movement around the reproductive justice framework. With that, it has been instrumental in helping other organizations integrate this framework into the work of their organizations. Sister Song has a deep understanding of the necessity of placing women of color at the center of the movement in order to realize long-term victories around reproductive health and rights. I believe they are one of our number one leaders in movement building. | ||
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They are great at reaching and activating women of color - and others - on critical reproductive justice issues (the recent crisis in Georgia is a good example). They have a grassroots approach to organizing and an emphasis on long term movement-building. | ||
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Sister Song has been a champion for reproductive rights and choice for over two decades. | ||
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They are building a movement for reproductive health, rights and justice, led by women of color. Sister Song has brought more women into the movement, educated women, and others about the concept of reproductive justice and has helped smaller organizations grow and thrive. | ||
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They have truly been leaders around reproductive justice and have brought together diverse communities and organizations to raise awareness and advocate for reproductive justice. | ||
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The establishment of Sister Song is one of the most important developments in the movement in the past two decades. This organization is a platform for voices that have been long excluded from efforts to ensure the reproductive health and rights of women. The organization has also been a platform for developing the reproductive justice framework, which recognizes directly how the intersection of other equalities interacts with reproductive health. | ||
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The Sister Song Collective represents the largest national network of women of color organizations and individuals working for reproductive justice in communities of color in the US. It is a major portal through which individuals and organizations enter the reproductive justice field. | ||
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Sister Song has emerged as a forceful voice for women of color and reproductive justice. Its advocacy in opposition to the bogus "abortion is genocide" campaign has been eloquent and persuasive. | ||
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I'm not sure they have as high an impact as they could. They represent community based organizations with very limited resources so very hard to have a core base of funding. That said, we need to hear the voices they represent as the leaders of the movement in the future - which will be younger and more diverse. Sister Song is a training ground for the future. | ||
Expert Comments: Organization Strengths
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Leadership |
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Loretta Ross, their leader, is very dynamic. I think of them as the mother of the Reproductive Justice movement. | ||
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Their Executive Director is a thought leader and brings many years of experience in the field. She knows the players in the field and has a sharp analysis of how to translate issues for different audiences. | ||
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Loretta Ross, the national coordinator, is a visionary and charismatic leader, widely known and respected in the U.S. and internationally. She is also a bridge builder between the more traditional reproductive rights/choice groups, and those situated in the reproductive justice movement. For example, she was the co-director of the 2004 March for Women's Lives in Washington D.C. which drew one million participants. In addition to being the largest reproductive rights event, it was the most diverse. Ross is also intentionally building second tier leadership which enables the organization to be well-run and managed now as well as to be positioned for leadership changes in the future. | ||
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Sister Song has played a very effective role in being leading organization of color to speak out against Atlanta billboards anti-abortion campaign and other attempts to link abortion to "genocide" in African-American community. Given the high representation of women of color as abortion recipients, it is essential to have a group of this caliber countering these overtures to the African-American community. | ||
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Sister Song has stellar leadership. Loretta Ross (National Coordinator), Serena Garcia (Communications), Heidi Williamson (National Advocacy Coordinator), as well as some of the other staff are extremely high functioning. Loretta brings a vision to the work that is grounded in strategy thinking. Serena brings sharp, creating communication skills that have taken Sister Song and its strategic communications to a whole new level. Heidi, as a young activists, it quickly carving out her niche' to be a strong women of color policy expert. Not only are they leading Sister Song on a direction of concrete growth, but they are also serving as role models for other activists in the RJ movement. | ||
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Loretta Ross is visionary, articulate, and inspiring; she draws talented younger women to the organization. Sister Song works collaboratively with other organizations, drawing from these relationships to strengthen the position of women of color in public debates and conversations. | ||
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This organization has strong leadership and has a multicultural network. | ||
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Loretta Ross, the national coordinator is one of the field's jewels. She's a brilliant writer, thinker, and strategist. Their communications are very good; the print newsletter is attractive and the e-communications are timely and useful. | ||
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Sister Song has been successful in connecting with groups of women that have been long excluded for these issues. It is an organization that has the benefit of having strong grassroots leadership. | ||
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The leadership is strong. | ||
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It has visionary leadership and provides a space of women of color. They are good conveners. | ||
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Their leader (Loretta Ross) is inspirational and has attracted many talented younger women to the organization. Their newsletter is good. Sister Song has a presence in many events and forums and thus serves as a role model for many younger women of color. They are particularly good at deconstructing destructive media messages. | ||
Awareness |
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They do an excellent job of bringing attention to issues for women of color in US in language which resonates with a range of constituencies which can be credited to leadership. | ||
Leadership & Program Design |
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They're one of the only organizations we can turn to for reproductive justice issues as they pertain to black women (though I know Sister Song is more diverse than that). Also, I think Loretta is a visionary, great presence, great speaker, and a great person; she calls out the big players and lays it on the line for us. | ||
Program Design |
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To me, Sister Song was really a pioneer in acknowledging that the reproductive rights movement is not a one size fits all movement. | ||
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It is a strong voice for women of color. The movement needs a solid bridge between communities of color and white activists to maximize our overall strength and impact. Sister Song can be part of that leadership. | ||
Diversity |
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It has successfully brought together a diverse coalition of smaller organizations from around the country into a new and powerful voice for reproductive rights. | ||
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The main strength is the diversity of the members and the issues/voices they bring to the table. | ||
Mission Focus |
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Sister Song is known for spearheading the development of a reproductive justice framework and for being a voice for women of color advocates. More recently, Sister Song has emerged as a voice for mostly African-American women in the South, an important region for political and cultural reasons in the national landscape and one that has traditionally been left out of the national policy spotlight. | ||
Publications & Collaboration |
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They have an incredible insightful newsletter; a great way for women of color from wide range of groups to come together and speak with unity as well as to learn from each other. | ||
Expert Comments: Areas for Improvement
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Other (consultants, journalists, policy makers) (O)
Scalability |
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They need help developing the capacity to start chapters in other locations. | ||
Collaboration |
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Sister Song struggles in maintaining its commitment to develop a process for engaging diverse constituents under its coalition umbrella while also showing impact to funders in traditional ways where relationship-building is not easy to measure while policy wins are. | ||
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They could have more linkage with the other spectrum of reproductive rights such as infant mortality prevention. | ||
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Coordination among members of the collective is a challenge. | ||
Funding |
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They could diversify their funding base. Like so many other small nonprofits, the organization is heavily dependent on foundation grants and needs to build its individual donor program. There is a generational divide in the reproductive justice movement which Sister Song has to bridge. | ||
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I think they are fabulous and they definitely need money to grow. | ||
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Sister Song has all the makings of being not only a leader in movement building but also a leader in policy from the women of color perspective. They understand that there can be no effective policy and advocacy without building the capacity of women of color. That being said, Sister Song could benefit from greater funding to increase its policy staffing capacity. It is also a natural training ground for up and coming activists. It could use more support to intentionally develop a leadership development component for new activists and helping to placing them at women of color organizations. | ||
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They could build their ability to raise more funds and expand their outreach to community organizations in communities of color where they do not yet have allies and collaborators. | ||
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I'm not sure what level of financial stability or strategic planning has been established. | ||
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They need more core support funding! | ||
Clarify Mission |
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Their agenda seems too scattered and their focus is not clear. | ||
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They should further define their role as newer organizations led by women of color emerge as national players in reproductive justice work. | ||
Expand Programming |
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They are based out of Atlanta and it would be great if they could have regional or state affiliates or coordinators. | ||
Communications |
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It would benefit from expanded communications to mainstream outlets. | ||
Diversity |
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Not sure how they represent all women of color. I think they have a good analysis on black women and reproductive justice. Also, they are weak on policy and grassroots organizing. They could improve in both areas to have a greater impact. | ||
Leadership & Collaboration |
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For several years Sister Song has clearly been 'the leader' in reproductive justice. The breakthrough in thinking by Loretta Ross (and others) was essential to move things forward and change thinking in the reproductive rights movement. However, Loretta's territoriality and pride of ownership is now getting in the way of movement unity. Unfortunately it seems she is no longer an effective collaborator, as shown by wholesale departures from the management circle of Sister Song. Finally, Loretta does not seem to be willing to bring forward younger leaders. | ||
Leadership
Loretta Ross
National Coordinator
National Coordinator
From the Nonprofit
The nonprofit has not added any comments yet. If you are a representative of this nonprofit and would like to leave a comment, please email us at
feedback@myphilanthropedia.org
with your request.
