Sara K. Gould

Sara K. Gould, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, is a nationally recognized strategic innovator in philanthropy, a seasoned expert on women’s economic development and civic engagement, and a key leader in the contemporary women’s movement.

Upon joining the Ms. Foundation in 1986, Ms. Gould spearheaded the Collaborative Fund for Women's Economic Development (CFWED), a pioneering grantmaking initiative that has generated more than $10 million in support for organizations assisting low-income women’s entrepreneurship and cooperative business development. CFWED garnered the Foundation a Presidential Award for Excellence in Microfinance in 1999, while the collaborative fund model has been replicated by funders nationwide.

Ms. Gould has co-led key economic justice programs at the Foundation as well. These include the Women and Labor Leadership Fund and New Voices, Proactive Strategies, which addressed the needs of women working in low-wage sectors. Ms. Gould also created the Institute on Women’s Economic EmPOWERment (1998-2006), a training institute for grassroots women leaders on economic justice, civic engagement and political activism.

Since her appointment as President and CEO in 2004, Ms. Gould has continued to emphasize women’s expertise in developing and implementing community-based policy solutions to poverty and other crises. In 2005, she established the Katrina Women’s Response Fund, which has since channeled more than $2 million to groups on the Gulf Coast led primarily by low-income women and women of color who are driving change throughout the region. With over twenty years of experience in the field, Ms. Gould stands as a respected and trusted voice on the challenges and opportunities facing today’s social justice movements. She is a leader in a national discussion about the need to incorporate a strong analysis of gender, race, class, age and sexuality into all progressive movements.

Ms. Gould is a seasoned spokesperson who has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox News, CNBC, National Public Radio, Air America Radio and Pacifica Radio. She has been featured in numerous newspapers nationwide including the Financial Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune; her commentary has been published in online venues such as the Huffington Post and Alternet.

Articles

 * ”Biography”, Accessed January 2007.