Women Enabled International (WEI) team members and advocacy partners during Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CoSP) 2024. Credit: WEI.
At a time when civil society faces a growing crisis of resourcing, Women Enabled International (WEI) is navigating the current moment from a position of strength.
WEI is a singular force in the global human rights landscape; it is the first and only global organization solely focused on advancing human rights at the intersection of gender and disability. The organization was founded in 2012 by a human rights lawyer who saw two glaring gaps: disability was often absent from gender rights spaces and patriarchy was deeply entrenched in disability advocacy spaces.
The organization’s ability to weather uncertainty in 2025 is not by accident. Through years of intentional prioritization and investment in financial and institutional resilience, WEI has built a solid foundation that allows it to support not just its core work, but the broader community of partners and movements it is part of.
“Sustainability is the name of the game,” says Jenny Lindstrom, WEI’s Development Director. “We feel an incredible sense of responsibility—because we’re the only ones doing this work globally.”
For WEI, financial resilience is about more than staying afloat; it means thinking strategically about the decisions it can make today that will ensure the long-term health, safety, and freedom of women with disabilities worldwide.
In 2023, WEI entered Spring’s Financial Innovation and Resilience (FIRE) program at a pivotal moment.
They had recently transitioned from a founder-led model to a formal board structure, and with a new executive director, Maryangel Garcia-Ramos, at the helm, the organization was gaining momentum—but also navigating uncertainty.
Fundraising remained a perennial challenge due to a reliance on a small group of funders and the intersectional nature of their work.
And yet, the timing was right. Along with a new executive director, a new participatory strategic planning process and the addition of a BUILD grant from the Ford Foundation created fertile ground for FIRE learnings to take root.
“Before our first FIRE training in 2017, our main focus was operating in a way where we weren’t getting ahead of ourselves financially,” recalls Si.
By 2023, the organization was ready to take the next step. “FIRE came at the right moment with the right people in play,” says Jenny. “We were open and ready and already thinking along the lines of what the program speaks to.”
Disability Justice March organized by WEI during the AWID Forum. A group of people pose with signs reading "Nothing without us", "Intersectionality" and more. Credit: WEI.
WEI came away from its FIRE experience reflecting on three powerful benefits.
FIRE met WEI at a moment where they could absorb the FIRE content in a way that allowed them to deepen their financial resilience journey. From developing a strategic change management plan to refining their reserves policy, the team found affirmation they were moving in the right direction.
“FIRE gave us structure to the thinking and planning we were already doing,” Si shares. “It helped us solidify things like our reserves policy and gave us the confidence that we were on the right track.”
FIRE supported WEI to shift from a fiscally conservative mindset to a more strategic use of reserves—transforming their approach to sustainability. With a new framework and related guidance, they finalized their reserve policy and began using their funds more intentionally, enabling long-term planning and adaptability.
Being in a cohort with other changemakers created a rare, safe space for candid exchange and to explore new ways of thinking about finances. One activity where participants analyzed the funding landscape encouraged WEI to springboard into more intentional and focused prospecting.
“We looked at our cohort’s funders and asked: what if we called this our prospect list?” recalls Jenny. “What is it that we need to do to position ourselves to be appealing to funders who are on other’s lists and not on our list?”
FIRE supported a shift in the culture within WEI. Finance wasn’t just for one individual or one team—it became a collective priority.
One unexpected outcome of their strengthened internal systems? A game-changing grant.
In early 2024, WEI got the call: they were receiving a $5 million unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott. They were one of several FIRE cohort members to receive this coveted and transformational support.
“Two years ago, we wouldn’t have had such robust answers to their due diligence questions,” says Jenny. But thanks to their years of groundwork, including their participation in FIRE, they were ready.
With the influx of money, WEI used the funds to plant seeds for the future—strategically investing in systems, people, and reserves that would fuel its next phase of growth.
“Those things that once seemed pie-in-the-sky?” says Jenny. “Now we can map them out and sequence them thoughtfully and intentionally over several years. Our organizational maturity has jumped many levels, and everyone wants to be part of building and sustaining the organization”
Now, when WEI shows up at global convenings, they do so with visibility and presence—supported by the ability to ensure inclusive, accessible experiences for their team and partners. “These things couldn’t have happened in the past. That visibility brings more invitations, more participation, and more access,”Jenny says.
WEI team members strategize with other feminists with disabilities at the 2024 Global Disability Summit. Credit: WEI.
WEI is still implementing what they learned through FIRE—and continuing to grow.
They’re growing long-term donor relationships, investing in more research and data collection, and using storytelling as a powerful tool to communicate the complexity of their work.
With projections of a growing and diversified funding base, WEI is pursuing steady, sustainable growth. Moreover, they are working on making the case for greater and sustained investment at the intersection of gender and disability, and guiding funders to promote better access to the resources and support that feminist disabled leaders and their organization need to sustain their work.
“We cannot see our own financial resilience as separate from the resilience of the movements we are part of,” says Jenny. “WEI is a connector, a bridge builder, and scaffolder for others in this space. That means doing more donor advocacy, identifying gaps, working in solidarity, and championing movement resilience.”
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