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Announcing the 2026 Dignity Award winner

Education, Safety and wellbeing

Announcing the 2026 Dignity Award winner

Established in 2020, the Robert D. Stillman Dignity Award honors community-based organizations responding to the risks and challenges that affect the wellbeing of children and young people. The award recognizes organizations advancing the dignity of children and youth by providing critical support, creating pathways to opportunity, and building communities where young people can feel safe, valued, and empowered. The award was established in honor of former GFC Board Chair Bob Stillman.

Esther Aoko

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Stories that stay with us: our favorite stories for Women’s Month

Stories that stay with us: our favorite stories for Women’s Month

This Women’s Month, I asked my colleagues at Global Fund for Children to share books, films, and stories about women that stayed with them long after they experienced them. The recommendations they shared are a celebration of compassion, belonging, resilience, identity, and the many ways women show up for themselves and for others. I hope you enjoy exploring them, and that they inspire you as much as they inspired me.



Esther Aoko

Turning Environmental Stories into Children’s Books with Spark Funding

Climate resilience

Huong’s story: Turning environmental stories into children’s books with Spark Funding

"GFC’s Spark Fund gave me stability. It gave me community. It gave me the confidence to act without fear of uncertainty. Today, I am not trying to change society in one sweeping gesture. I am helping children step lightly into the world with curiosity, care, and courage about climate. And that, I believe, is how change truly begins."



Quynh Huong

Youth Voices at the Table: YLC Reflections from GFC’s Africa Team Retreat

Youth power

Youth Voices at the Table: Reflections from GFC's Africa Team Retreat

Youth Leadership Council members Nagawa, Michael, and Chidinma joined Global Fund for Children’s Africa team in Kenya to explore how youth perspectives can actively shape regional strategy—beyond consultation and into action.


Finding Strength Through Creative Expression: Ali’s Story with YOH

Safety and wellbeing

Finding strength through creative expression: Ali’s story with YOH

With few spaces where he felt understood, Ali kept much of his pain to himself. YOH exists precisely for young people like Ali. YOH was created to support marginalized and at-risk children and young people through activities that build skills, confidence and positive life pathways.


Narrative Practices in Educational and Community Work

Narrative Practices in Educational and Community Work

Global Fund for Children partnered with the Tsikbal Collective in Mérida, Yucatán, to host a Narrative Practices workshop with youth and community-based partners. Through storytelling and deep listening, participants discovered how everyday narratives can strengthen trust, education, and community connections.



Tsikbal Collective Narrative Practices

Prácticas Narrativas en el quehacer educativo y comunitario

Prácticas Narrativas en el quehacer educativo y comunitario

El Global Fund for Children se asoció con el Colectivo Tsikbal en Mérida, Yucatán, para realizar un taller de Prácticas Narrativas con jóvenes y organizaciones comunitarias. A través de la narración de historias y la escucha profunda, las y los participantes descubrieron cómo las narrativas cotidianas pueden fortalecer la confianza, la educación y los lazos comunitarios.



Colectiva Tsikbal Prácticas Narrativas

Hope, Joy, and Complexity in Honduras

Education

Hope, Joy, and Complexity in Honduras

Global Fund for Children’s Co-CEO, John Hecklinger, reflects on a recent visit to Honduras, where partners in the Supporting Early Education and Development (SEED) initiative are tackling profound challenges to early childhood development with courage, collaboration, and community-led solutions.



John Hecklinger

From Political Backlash to Program Cuts: Why Safety Must Be a Philanthropic Priority
Close-up of a person’s hands holding intertwined blue and yellow pipe cleaners, with handwritten notes about stakeholder voices, risk management, and communication visible in the background.

From Political Backlash to Program Cuts: Why Safety Must Be a Philanthropic Priority

Nonprofits and funders in the U.S. are facing shrinking resources, rising mistrust, and growing calls for accountability. Yet too often, safety is treated as an afterthought rather than a core responsibility. This blog from the Funder Safeguarding Collaborative and Global Fund for Children makes the case for why safeguarding must be central to philanthropy—and highlights concrete actions funders can take to prevent harm, build trust, and uphold dignity across the sector.



Steina Bjorgvinsdottir, Executive Director of Funder Safeguarding Collaborative (FSC), and John Hecklinger, Co-CEO of Global Fund for Children (GFC)

La ternura como horizonte
Portada del manual de masculinidades sanas con un colibrí en colores vivos.

Gender justice

La ternura como horizonte: ¿Cómo promover masculinidades sanas con niños y jóvenes?

“La Ternura como Horizonte” explora el enfoque transformador de GFC para fomentar masculinidades sanas y diversas en niños y jóvenes. A través del modelo compasivo de las “3 R” – Reconocer, Relacionar, Revolucionar –, esta caja de herramientas participativa utiliza métodos creativos y lúdicos para despertar la conciencia emocional, cuestionar normas dañinas y promover la sanación y la acción colectiva.



Rodrigo Barraza

Tenderness as a Horizon
Portada del manual de masculinidades sanas con un colibrí en colores vivos.

Gender justice

Tenderness as a Horizon: How can we foster healthy masculinities with boys and young men?

“Tenderness as a Horizon” explores GFC's transformative approach to fostering healthy masculinities among boys and young men. Through the compassionate “3 Rs” model – Recognition, Relating, Revolutionizing – this participatory toolkit uses creative, playful methods to spark emotional awareness, challenge harmful norms, and inspire collective healing and action.



Rodrigo Barraza

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