Meet Our Co-Directors
Kiyomi Fujikawa (left) and Ana Conner (right) at Gender Bash 2018, Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Kevin Aranibar.
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At our 2018 annual fundraising event, Gender Bash, we announced new, brilliant leaders taking the helm at Third Wave Fund.
Please meet Ana Conner and Kiyomi Fujikawa! “Kiyomi and Ana have experience, vision, and integrity that builds on the tremendous legacy of Third Wave. They will work towards a model of philanthropy that is worthy of the intersectional feminists who hold all of our movements together and they will keep young women, queer, trans, and gender nonconforming people of color at the core of who we are and what we do.” - Outgoing Executive Director, Rye Young |
There’s no lack of clarity as to why we do the work we do. We do it for survivors of violence, we do it to end criminalization, and we do it for freedom, safety, and justice for all people who suffer under patriarchy, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia.
We also do it because young women, queer, trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people of color are at the forefront of efforts to transform these conditions, but often lack true allies in philanthropy. Ana and Kiyomi will be a true partner because they come from these movements and personally understand what is at stake.
We believe movement leaders and those most impacted by oppression should be at the helm of decision making in philanthropy. Kiyomi is one of the first, if not the only, openly transgender woman to serve in a senior leadership position in the history of institutional philanthropy, and Ana will quite possibly be the youngest philanthropic executive in the U.S.
This shift in leadership comes at a truly exciting time for Third Wave Fund, with the last two years setting new grantmaking records in our history as a fund. Under Rye’s tenure, we celebrated our 20th anniversary as the only activist fund led by and for young women, queer, and trans people of color, re-built from the brink of closure, grew the budget from $83,000 to over $2 million, launched a rapid-response fund which has made grants every month since 2015, launched a fund which makes six-year grants to emerging organizations, and created the Sex Worker Giving Circle, the first sex worker-led fund in the history of U.S. philanthropy.
We also do it because young women, queer, trans, gender non-conforming, and intersex people of color are at the forefront of efforts to transform these conditions, but often lack true allies in philanthropy. Ana and Kiyomi will be a true partner because they come from these movements and personally understand what is at stake.
We believe movement leaders and those most impacted by oppression should be at the helm of decision making in philanthropy. Kiyomi is one of the first, if not the only, openly transgender woman to serve in a senior leadership position in the history of institutional philanthropy, and Ana will quite possibly be the youngest philanthropic executive in the U.S.
This shift in leadership comes at a truly exciting time for Third Wave Fund, with the last two years setting new grantmaking records in our history as a fund. Under Rye’s tenure, we celebrated our 20th anniversary as the only activist fund led by and for young women, queer, and trans people of color, re-built from the brink of closure, grew the budget from $83,000 to over $2 million, launched a rapid-response fund which has made grants every month since 2015, launched a fund which makes six-year grants to emerging organizations, and created the Sex Worker Giving Circle, the first sex worker-led fund in the history of U.S. philanthropy.
“Together, we can have the space to grow into our leadership at Third Wave Fund -- and that’s what is beautiful about a co-director model. A co-directorship embodies collectivity, sustainability and opportunities for growth and co-learning, which are all things that we are committed to.” - Ana Conner & Kiyomi Fujikawa
Ana Conner
A photo of Ana Conner sitting and posing in front of a red brick wall. They have a navy blue blazer on and a flowery button up blouse with a silver chain. They have shoulder length curly black hair.
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Ana Conner (they/she) is a mixed Black queer gender non-conforming young person living in Harlem, NY. They are committed to community building and resourcing movements, particularly those rooted in Black liberation, racial and gender justice, queer and trans liberation, and youth leadership development.
Ana came to this work through organizing with FIERCE, where they brought together queer and trans youth of color across the US to talk about gentrification, policing, and how young people are building a movement to end violence waged against our communities. They became passionate about resourcing organizations and movements while on the fundraising staff at Astraea Foundation, and while participating in the Miss Major Jay Toole Giving Circle. Ana currently sits on the Roots to Freedom Giving Circle planning committee and the Fundraising Committee at the War Resisters League. Before Third Wave Fund, they were the Senior Program Associate for the Transforming Movements Fund and Black-Led Movement Fund at Borealis Philanthropy. Ana loves community gardens, politicking with neighbors, camping, and making their grandma’s famous hot-sauce. Fun Fact: Ana was once a youth organizer with FIERCE, a former Third Wave grantee!
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Kiyomi Fujikawa
A photo of Kiyomi Fujikawa with long brown hair and pink earrings, standing and pictured from the waist up, holding a microphone in one hand and using the other hand to gesture while she talks. They're standing in front of greenery outside.
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Kiyomi Fujikawa (she/her) is a Seattle-based, mixed-race queer trans femme who has been involved with movements to end gender- and state-based violence since 2001. Her political home is with queer and trans communities of color and organizing to prevent and respond to intimate partner violence.
Kiyomi is currently on the board of Groundswell Fund and is a Grantmakers United for Trans Communities (GUTC) Leadership Development Fellow. She was most recently a Senior Program Associate at the Fund for Trans Generations at Borealis Philanthropy, and the Queer Network Program Coordinator at API Chaya. She is also an avid lover of speculative fiction, noodles, astrology (Sag Sun, Cancer Rising, Libra Moon), feelings, and do-it-yourself scavenger hunts. |
To honor this transition, we launched the Sustainable Leadership Fund
This campaign will raise resources to encourage us to be fearless and dream big. This fund not only ensures that our leaders have the tools and resources they need to build power, but also the stability we need to grow our grantmaking which provides both monthly rapid-response and six-year grants to emerging organizations. With your support, transitions do not need to come with instability but can be an opportunity to grow and deepen the work we all believe in.
Ana and Kiyomi will begin as Co-Executive Directors on November 19, 2018. We worked in partnership with Strategies for Social Change to facilitate our Executive Director transition process, in collaboration with an Executive Transition Committee made up of staff and board. Rye will work alongside Ana, Kiyomi, and staff to set them up for success through the end of the year.
Thank you for coming along for this wild and beautiful journey!
Sincerely,
Third Wave Staff & Board
Ana and Kiyomi will begin as Co-Executive Directors on November 19, 2018. We worked in partnership with Strategies for Social Change to facilitate our Executive Director transition process, in collaboration with an Executive Transition Committee made up of staff and board. Rye will work alongside Ana, Kiyomi, and staff to set them up for success through the end of the year.
Thank you for coming along for this wild and beautiful journey!
Sincerely,
Third Wave Staff & Board
Outgoing Director Rye Young "passing the baton" to Third Wave Fund's new Co-Directors, Kiyomi Fujikawa (left) & Ana Conner (right) at Gender Bash 2018, in Brooklyn, NY.
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References:
Read the Executive Transition Announcement from Third Wave's Board Co-Chairs here.
Read the Executive Transition Announcement Letter from Rye Young here.