A Roadmap for Women to Create Real Change
2/29/2024 8:25 PM
As women living in 2024, you stand on the shoulders of generations of fierce, unrelenting women who marched, organized, and shouted for our rights. They paved the way for the opportunity many of us now have - the freedom to vote, work, control our bodies, and step into positions of leadership.
But the fight is far from over. Turn on the news, scroll through social media, or just walk down the street and you’ll see examples everywhere of inequality, cruelty, and suffering continuing in our communities. Mothers unable to afford childcare. Sisters lacking maternity leave. Daughters denied reproductive healthcare. Victims of assault and human trafficking silenced and shamed. Animals abused and neglected. Our environment polluted and destroyed. On and on the injustices go.
As women, when we see these inequities, often our instinct is to want to help. To uplift others. To nurture our communities and safeguard the vulnerable. But the problems seem so big, systemic, and out of our control, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed before we even begin.
That’s why we need each other. Together, we can transform empathy into empowerment. By supporting established organizations already doing the work, volunteering, donating, advocating and educating ourselves on the issues, we turn our good intentions into meaningful action.
Keep reading for an in-depth guide on where we as women can focus our efforts, insights on collaborative activism, and tangible ways you can get involved even with a packed schedule. I promise - whatever unique talents and free time you have to contribute, you can make a difference.
While this list is by no means complete, it should provide some valuable guidance to begin a journey of participation in social crusades that matter!
Championing Women’s Rights and Political Participation
The starting point for creating national change is ensuring women have an equal seat - and voice - at the tables where decisions are made.
Organizations focused on championing women’s rights and boosting political participation are leading the charge to break down the final barriers holding women back from achieving full equity. They provide voter education, mobilize volunteers, support female candidates financially, and lobby for policies like paid family leave and reproductive rights.
Here are some of the heavyweight national women’s rights and empowerment organizations you can get involved with:
Nonpartisan Trailblazers:
League of Women Voters - https://www.lwv.org/
What they do: Provide educational resources and tools for women focused on voting rights, healthcare access, environmental protection and more. Host debates and forums to inform voters.
Get Involved By: Becoming a member. Volunteering to register voters or monitor polling stations. Attending local educational events. Donating to support their programs.
Supermajority - https://supermajority.com/
What they do: Train and mobilize women activists to become leaders capable of furthering women’s rights causes. Founded by famous figures like Alicia Garza, co-creator of Black Lives Matter.
Get Involved By: Joining their email list and attending virtual events. Volunteering to lead community organizing efforts. Contributing skills like graphic design or writing. Donating to their training programs.
Political Game-Changers Supporting Female Candidates:
EMILY’s List - https://emilyslist.org/
What they do: Help elect pro-choice Democratic women into office. Provide funding, training and recruitment support at local, state and national levels. Have helped elect over 150 women to Congress alone!
Get Involved By: If you’re a Democratic woman interested in running for office, apply for their programs! Otherwise volunteer, intern or fundraise for endorsed candidates in your state.
She Should Run - https://www.sheshouldrun.org/
What they do: Provides network and resources for women considering a run for public office. Virtual incubator programs, panels with elected leaders and growth tools.
Get Involved By: Join their email list and get inspired by resources. Take their eligibility quiz to gauge your readiness. Volunteer to mentor interested candidates.
VoteRunLead - https://voterunlead.org/
What they do: Specifically focuses on helping women of diverse backgrounds run for state and local offices. Offers intensive online and in-person trainings and continual support.
Get Involved By: Apply to participate in training programs if interested in seeking office. Otherwise help fund scholarships for low-income women’s participation or volunteer as a mentor.
Higher Heights for America - https://www.higherheightsforamericapac.org/
What they do: Supports and advocates for Black women’s political leadership. Mobilizes and educates voters, endorses candidates and shapes policy agendas focused on economic justice, healthcare and more.
Get Involved By: Join their sister circles, book clubs and leadership trainings. Volunteer to write postcards or text for endorsed campaigns. Follow on social and amplify content. Donate to their PAC.
Impactful Political Advocacy Groups:
Planned Parenthood Action Fund - https://www.plannedparenthoodaction.org/
What they do: Focuses squarely on protecting reproductive rights and healthcare access through backing pro-choice candidates, advocating for legislation expanding access in the states, and rallying supporter mobilization.
Get Involved By: Volunteering at local health centers to escort patients. Phone banking during elections. Attending rallies and raising awareness on social media. Donating to their advocacy fund.
National Organization for Women - https://now.org/
What they do: Tackles the full spectrum of feminist issues including economic justice, LGBTQIA+ rights and racial equity alongside abortion access and violence against women through lobbying, grassroots organizing and legal advocacy.
Get Involved By: Joining your local chapter. Volunteering to support specific issue-based campaigns. Contributing skills like legal research, graphic design or event planning from afar. Keeping up with and sharing action alerts.
MomsRising - https://www.momsrising.org/
What they do: Centered on justice for mothers, women and families. Focuses on concerns like paid leave, adequate healthcare, childcare access and labor protections. Combined grassroots and digital organizing strategy.
Get Involved By: Sharing your personal stories and experiences as part of their storybank. Joining email list and participating in petition drives and letter campaigns to decision-makers.
Ignite National - https://ignitenational.org/
What they do: Identifies and trains high school and college-aged young women to become politically active on campuses and in communities, developing our future generation of female changemakers and candidates.
Get Involved By: If you’re a young women, apply to participate and be matched with a mentor! Otherwise volunteer to mentor promising future leaders in your area.
So whether you’re interested in breaking into politics yourself someday, or just helping elect and support those feminist voices we desperately need championing women’s rights in office, there are fantastic organizations providing the structured programs and pathways for us to maximize our impact.
Expanding Our Impact By Addressing Intersectional Issues
The reality is - women’s rights issues do not exist in a vacuum. They intersect with racial justice, economic equity, immigration reform, LGBTQIA+ rights, environmental protection and more. Not only that, but improving conditions and opportunities for women in general means tackling universal humanitarian concerns like animal welfare, ending sexual exploitation and providing pathways out of cycles of violence.
The barrier to engaging can feel even higher with these big societal issues. The policy proposals required to truly transform systems can seem complex, and the amount of suffering happening outside our immediate circles numbing.
But just like with women’s rights, established organizations have already done the legwork for us when it comes to turning empathy into impact. By volunteering, donating, educating ourselves on efforts already underway and simply raising awareness of these broader causes among our networks, we allow passionate experts to put our good intentions into motion in bigger and more strategic ways.
Here’s a highlight of some of the most effective national groups addressing the above concerns:
Animal Welfare Warriors:
The Humane Society of the United States - https://www.humanesociety.org/
What they do: Uses public education, corporate engagement, rescue operations and legal advocacy to fight against animal cruelty and create meaningful protections. Focus on farm animals, wildlife, animals in captivity and more.
Get Involved By: Donating to support their rescue operations and undercover investigations. Contacting companies to advocate for better welfare policies. Volunteering at fundraising walks/events. Fostering pets to support overcrowded shelters.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) - https://www.peta.org/
What they do: Radical activism organization focused squarely on promoting animal rights and ending speciesism. Known for their daring protests and active corporate engagement pushing companies to enact more ethical policies.
Get Involved By: Volunteering to organize local demonstrations. Contacting brands about changing unethical policies. Sharing articles and alerts from their social channels to boost reach. Donating to their youth outreach programs.
Climate Warriors:
350.org - https://350.org/us-homepage/
What they do: Leading organization building momentum for bold climate solutions focused on stopping future fossil fuel projects, holding corporations accountable and advocating for equitable policy change rather than individual consumer lifestyle change.
Get Involved By: Join worldwide days of action and attend local events. Use their online resources to directly lobby your representatives for equitable climate policy. Amplify their factual social media posts countering misinformation.
The Sierra Club - https://www.sierraclub.org/
What they do: Protects wild places and biodiversity while transforming our energy systems away from fossil fuels towards 100% renewable energy. Focuses on engaging outdoor enthusiasts to advocate for policy change more than direct action.
Get Involved By: Join one of their many outdoors outings to build advocacy skills. Volunteer to knock doors and engage community members on campaigns. Donate to their legal funds holding polluting corporations accountable.
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) - https://www.worldwildlife.org/
What they do: Largest international conservation organization, focused on protecting endangered species and habitats through public education, policy advocacy, and hands-on field work with local communities to find sustainable ecosystem management solutions.
Get Involved By: Adopting an animal such as a tiger, elephant or panda to fund their protection projects. Contacting your representatives when key environmental policy is being debated. Spreading awareness on social media about their current conservation campaigns. Donating funds for field equipment needed by their conservation teams worldwide. Volunteering skills like graphic design, writing or translation.
Human Rights Warriors:
Polaris Project - https://polarisproject.org/
What they do: Focuses specifically on identifying trafficking networks and supporting victims through crisis response, shelter access, legal services, training for communities and pushing for anti-trafficking policies.
Get Involved By: Donating to their victim support services funds. Volunteering with local anti-trafficking organizations doing prevention education and placing hotline ads. Sharing factual information on social media to dispel trafficking myths.
ECPAT-USA - https://ecpat.org/about-us/
What they do: Specializes within human trafficking work to specifically combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry. Focuses their efforts on awareness, coalition building, advocacy for protective legislation and corporate responsibility.
Get Involved By: If you work in the travel industry, using their resources to train staff to spot trafficking. Contact your elected representatives when key pieces of child protection legislation are up for debate. Volunteer with local child advocacy centers.
Ending Violence Warriors:
National Coalition Against Domestic Violence - https://ncadv.org/
What they do: Acts as an “umbrella” coordinating body for grassroots domestic violence programs across the country. Focused on providing funding and resources for direct service providers, pushing for state and federal policy change, and public education campaigns reaching affected communities.
Get Involved By: Donating directly to your local domestic violence shelters and volunteer centers. If eligible and interested in leadership, apply for openings on their national or local-level Boards of Directors. Follow social channels and share posts drawing attention to key abuse issues and legislation.
Childhelp - https://www.childhelp.org/
What they do: Targets supporting victims of child abuse through crisis support, advocacy services and prevention resources. Trains community members and professionals to properly identify and report signs of abuse.
Get Involved By: Becoming a volunteer crisis counselor answering their national hotline. Fundraising for back-to-school drives and holiday toy efforts supporting affected children. Using their resources to advocate for stronger laws and policies protecting vulnerable youth.
The Power Of Our Collective Voice and Action
While this guide highlights specifically women’s rights and politically-focused organizations, along with groups organizing around urgent societal concerns adjacent to women’s interests, it’s far from exhaustive.
Hundreds of extraordinary groups exist at national, state and local community levels coordinating efforts to create a more just and equitable society. And they don’t operate in isolation - behind the scenes partnerships, listservs and networks multiply their collective impact astronomically.
Our power as women comes from joining these coordinated efforts already in motion using the unique talents and capacities we each possess.
Just imagine - a passionate nurse volunteering a couple hours a month at a women’s health clinic. A teacher integrating key facts about human trafficking into her curriculum, reaching hundreds of students. A retired accountant offering pro-bono budgeting support for a local women’s shelter. A young graphic designer creating shareable social media content for environmental groups on the weekends. A single mom writing a personal letter about her childcare challenges to her representative.
These are just a handful of examples, but already that’s doctors able to spend more one-on-one time with patients needing compassionate care... thousands of informed young people better prepared to join the fight against exploitation... struggling nonprofits able to stretch budgets to save lives... facts drowning out internet misinformation and deception... and real stories capturing the hearts of policymakers.
Our voices multiplied by action. Our empathy transformed into real change.
Sisters, I hope this guide has sparked your passion and shown that no matter how packed our schedules or how disempowered we may feel in other areas of life, we can make a tangible difference by supporting established organizations already creating ripples towards the vision of equality we hold.
We stand now at a potential turning point in history for women’s rights and societal progress more broadly. But momentum depends completely on each of us choosing to engage rather than observe.
Together, we can reshape the future for our daughters. For vulnerable communities relying on our compassion. And for the better version of our nation we know lies ahead if only we dare to demand it.
I’ll leave you with the famous words of cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead. Though said fifty years ago, her call to action resonates just as urgently today:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.” Now...who’s ready to lead the way?