Updates

By: Maz Kessler, Founder, Catapult

What do Beyoncé and Catapult have in common? Yes, it’s true, in addition to founding Catapult, I’m also a musician. But the real answer is that a number of incredible women, including Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Salma Hayek-Pinault, are taking the lead on a new global initiative: CHIME FOR CHANGE. Founded by Gucci, and powered by Catapult. Read more...

After debuting on the International Day of the Girl in October 2012, Catapult has been recognized as a top-tier tool for social good. Catapult, a crowd-funding platform for girls and women and a project of Women Deliver, has more than 70 projects representing nearly forty countries. Check out the impact Catapult is having on the lives of girls and women. Read more...

By: Rati Bishnoi, Catapult

Until the end of January, Catapult—the first-ever crowdfunding platform for projects advancing the lives of girls and women—is partnering with Johnson & Johnson to match donations to seven proven projects that are helping improve the lives of girls and women and to continue the fight against gender inequality in 2013. Read more...

By: Jill Sheffield with Maz Kessler; Originally posted on Huffington Post

When I was 27 years old, I met a young mother who became one of my greatest inspirations and left a lasting impression on my life.

I was an idealistic young volunteer at a family planning clinic in Nairobi, Kenya. One morning, a woman my own age walked in asking for contraceptives. She carried a newborn baby on her front, and another, older baby on her back. She told me that she had already been pregnant 11 times, but only had six living children.

I was immediately struck by the fact that although we were the same age, I had so many choices that she did not. Back then, Kenya, like so many other countries, required a woman to have her husband's signature in order to access contraceptives. Read more...

By: Tanya Cothran; Originally posted on WhyDev

Action. Transparency. User feedback. Equality. These words kept popping up as I talked with Maz Kessler, founder and creative director of Catapult, about her new crowd-funding platform. Catapult, which went live in beta form on October 11, is dedicated to promoting equality for women and girls by giving women and girl-focused organizations a place to campaign online. Read more...

By: Gary Darmstadt; Originally posted on Impatient Optimists

"What can I do to get involved?"

My colleagues and I hear this often from people who want to do something to help women and girls around the world to have healthy and productive lives. Women should have a skilled birth attendant during delivery, girls should get all the nutritious foods they need to be healthy, and young women have the right to have access to family planning information, services, and contraceptives so they are empowered to plan their families and space their pregnancies. Read more...

By: Jill Sheffield; Originally posted on Impatient Optimists

Today, we celebrate the first-ever International Day of the Girl to honor girls around the world and advocate for their rights. Girls and women are the backbone of healthy, productive families, communities, and nations. Their unpaid labor amounts to one-third of global GDP, and they operate the majority of small farms. Simply put, when girls and women survive, the world thrives. Read more...

By: Melinda Gates; Originally posted on Impatient Optimists

Lately, I have been reflecting on the ingenuity and commitment I witness in the women and girls I meet during my learning trips to the developing world. That’s because today, October 11, 2012, marks the first-ever United Nations International Day of the Girl. And it's about time. When I travel to developing countries, I try to meet as many girls as possible. I am simultaneously inspired by their boundless potential and often frustrated by how much of that potential is locked up by inequity. When I speak to people in developed countries, they often ask me, How can I help? Read more...

As the world celebrates the first International Day of the Girl Child, Women Deliver Launches Catapult Crowdfunding Platform

• United Nations chooses child marriage as theme for International Day of the Girl Child
• Activities planned around the world to highlight urgent need for action
• Women Deliver launches Catapult – the first online funding platform solely dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women.

On the inaugural International Day of the Girl Child, Women Deliver calls for urgent action to address child marriage worldwide. Every day globally, 25,000 girls are robbed of their childhood.  Read more...