Announcing the 2026 Black Women Give Back Honorees!
Announcing the 2026 Black Women Give Back Honorees!
I have some good news to share. I spent part of this year, as a member of the Selection Committee, helping choose the 2026 Black Women Give Back List, and it went public today! This year's theme is Weaving Abundance: Black Women as Architects of Collective Joy.
Voice. Vision. Value., an organization celebrating, elevating, and documenting the impact of Black women in the philanthropic sector, announced the 2026 honorees of the Black Women Give Back List, an initiative that uniquely showcases the impactful contributions of Black women philanthropists. Created in partnership with Black Philanthropy Month (BPM) and The Women Invested to Save the Earth (WISE) Fund, Black Women Give Back amplifies ten (10) outstanding philanthropists who are making an impact for Black women and girls throughout the world.
Reading these nominations reminded me of my Mom. A first-generation college graduate in her family. A registered nurse who rose to become a c-suite executive in my hometown regional hospital serving southwestern Michigan. She gave of her time, talent, and treasure and she never called it philanthropy.
Ten Black women from around the world, honored for how they give — their time, what they know how to do, their money at whatever scale, their story, and their people. Ten women, chosen from more than thirty nominations across the diaspora. What made the reading hard is also what makes the list worth something: we were weighing five different currencies against each other — time, talent, treasure, testimony and ties — and there is no formula that ranks an hour against a dollar against an introduction.
The 2026 honorees are below and I encourage you to read every one of these profiles. If you are a funder, look at your own portfolio and ask who you have been missing.
Mila Henry
Ekene Okonkwo
Honorees were selected by a committee of eleven Black women funders and organizers, with a deliberate eye for work that has never had a platform equal to its impact. I am honored and humbled to have been invited to participate. Standing side-by side the brilliant women asked to make hard decisions, with this year’s honorees, and with Ada Williams Prince and Toya Randall who energetically led us through the process reinforces my commitment to using my voice and influence toward new approaches in the distribution of philanthropic dollars.
Today you now know 10 very good reasons help move money where it makes the biggest impact. Congratulations to this year’s Black Women Give Back Honorees!