Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center selected as one of 16 national organizations for Move to End Violence

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Move to End Violence will strengthen the national movement to address root causes of violence against women and girls in the USA.

Last week, the NoVo Foundation of New York kicked off its Move to End Violence Initiative, a groundbreaking, 10 – year, $80 million initiative designed to strengthen the movement to END violence against women and girls in the United States. The program is designed as a series of five cohorts, each with a two-year cycle. Over the life of the initiative, Move to End Violence will engage over 100 individuals and as many organizations, establishing a powerful infrastructure of sophisticated leaders and organizations to lead this effort. NoVo’s strategy is to invest in building capacity in the field and cultivating innovative leaders and organizations working for social change. Sixteen national leaders and organizations were selected for the pilot group , including two from Minnesota. The Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center of Minneapolis, and Casa de Esperanza in St. Paul were both honored to be selected by the NoVo Foundation as core members of the first group.

“The opportunity to network with other leaders in the field and influence a national dialogue on ending violence is very exciting”, said Suzanne Koepplinger, Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center. “We are honored to be part of this initiative to end the on-going victimization of women and children in our country”.

The first cohort group was selected from a pool of over 140 applicants. During the two year pilot, these leaders and organizations will engage in movement building work, transformative leadership development, social skills trainings and organizational development. Additionally, each organization receives a significant grant from the NoVo Foundation.

The overall goal of Move to End Violence is to strengthen the capacity of individuals and organizations to carry out work to end violence against girls and women in the United States. “For too long, this movement lacked the funding necessary to commit sufficient time and energy to addressing root causes, “ said Jackie Payne, a consultant to NoVo and the director of the initiative, “Because of NoVo’s extraordinary commitment, Move to End Violence will fill that void by strategically investing in a movement’s capacity to end violence against women and girls”.

About the NoVo Foundation
The NoVo Foundation’s mission is to foster a transformation in global society from a culture of domination and exploitation to one of equality and partnership. To accomplish this, they unlock the potential of girls and women to be powerful agents of change and help children grow into caring adults skilled at working cooperatively with each other.

Jennifer and Peter Buffett are the NoVo Foundation’s founders and co-chairs.  Jennifer also serves as President of the foundation.  In 2006 Peter’s father – Warren Buffett – pledged shares valued at one billion dollars to the foundation.  As they determined where NoVo would focus these resources, Jennifer and Peter felt strongly about entering a field that was both under-resourced and had significant potential for impact. They saw that girls and women in particular are undervalued and mistreated – but hold untapped potential for creating positive, lasting change in the world.

The NoVo Foundation focuses on the advancement of women and girls around the world, motivated by the belief that investing in girls and women will help achieve the larger goal of transforming a world out of balance – bringing about real and lasting change for women, men, girls, and boys.

NoVo’s initiatives include: Ending Violence Against Girls and Women, Empowering Adolescent Girls, and Social and Emotional Learning.  The Initiative to End Violence Against Girls and Women supports work in the following three areas: ending sex trafficking in the United States and overseas; strengthening the movement to end violence against girls and women in the United States, including child sexual abuse; and ending violence against girls and women in conflict affected countries.

About the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center
The Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center is a 27 year old non-profit community organization in Minneapolis, MN. The agency’s mission is to empower American Indian women and families to exercise their cultural values and integrity, and to achieve sustainable life ways, while advocating for justice and equity”. To carry out this mission, MIWRC provides a comprehensive set of strength-based, culturally grounded services to the American Indian community.

Core service areas include accredited early learning, supportive and emergency housing, a library and training center, family stabilization, healing from gender violence and other traumas, and a co-occurring disorder treatment program.

MIWRC’s vision is to be focused and collaborative leaders in building intergenerational hope, health, cultural prosperity and education for American Indian families.

Contact:
At NoVo Foundation: Pamela Shifman, Director, Initiatives for Women and Girls
917-601-4170
www.novofoundation.org

At Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center: Suzanne Koepplinger, Executive Director
612-728-2008
skoepplinger@miwrc.org
www.miwrc.org