A philanthropic drive to aid Black women is gaining momentum

The needs of Black women and girls have become a focus of philanthropic efforts as major donors seek to narrow a racial wealth gap and address chronic funding disparities for groups that serve minority women.

This week's guilty verdicts for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer whose murder of George Floyd sparked global protests against racial inequity, could lend momentum to initiatives from the Ford Foundation, Goldman Sachs and a group of activists and philanthropic leaders. Collectively, they're seeking to increase funding to organizations for Black girls and feminists and to enhance economic opportunities for Black women.

Goldman Sachs plans to tailor its investments to education and workforce advancement, among other needs. Two other funds are still assessing how they will disseminate their grants.

Statistics show that organizations for Black women have been disproportionately neglected by foundations. In 2017, one of the latest years for which comprehensive data is available, less than 1% of the $67 billion that foundations contributed went to organizations that specifically target minority women and girls, according to a report from the Ms Foundation for Women and the consulting group Strength in Numbers. Less than $15 million was specified as benefiting Black women and girls.

Those findings helped launch the Black Girl Freedom Fund, established in September by eight Black women in philanthropy and activism, including Tarana Burke, who is credited with starting the Me Too movement. Its first campaign is 1Billion4BlackGirls, which calls for $1 billion in contributions earmarked for Black girls over the next decade.

Co-founder Monique Morris, who also leads the philanthropic organization Grantmakers for Girls of Color, says it wants to have the $1 billion in contributions come from across the...