Vital Voices Global Partnership

Formation	March 1, 1999; 26 years ago (1999-03-01)[3]
Founders	Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Melanne Verveer, Theresa Loar, Donna McLarty, Alyse Nelson, Mary Daley Yerrick
Tax ID no.	52-2151557[4]
Legal status	501(c)(3)nonprofit organization[5]
Headquarters	1509 16th Street NW Washington, D.C. 20036
Location	Washington, D.C.
Chair	Kate James[1]
Vice Chair	Gerry Laybourne[1]
President,Chief Executive Officer	Alyse Nelson[2]
Revenue	$12,385,050[4] (2015)
Expenses	$10,446,819[4] (2015)
Employees	50[4] (2020)
Volunteers	150[4] (2015)
Website	www.vitalvoices.org

Vital Voices Global Partnership is an American international,501(c)(3),^[5]non-profit,non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights. The organization is headquartered inWashington, D.C.

The nonprofit Vital Voices Global Partnership grew out of the U.S. government's Vital Voices Democracy Initiative. The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative was established in 1997 byFirst Lady of the United StatesHillary Rodham Clinton andU.S. Secretary of StateMadeleine Albright, following theUnited NationsFourth World Conference on Women inBeijing to promote the advancement of women as aU.S. foreign policy goal.^[6] The first Vital Voices Democracy Initiative conference was held in 1997 in Vienna, and hosted by U.S. Ambassador to AustriaSwanee Hunt.^[7]

The Vital Voices Democracy Initiative led to the creation of Vital Voices Global Partnership as a nonprofit non-governmental organization (NGO) in March 1999.

Former Hillary Clinton aide and chief of staffMelanne Verveer is co-founder of the global partnership and its board chair emeritus.^[8] Other co-founders wereAlyse Nelson (current President of Vital Voices Global Partnership),^[9] Donna McLarty, Mary Yerrick, and Theresa Loar.^[10] Loar was the founding President of the Vital Voices Global Partnership^[11] and also served as Director of the Vital Voices Democracy Initiative at the U.S. Department of State, the Senior Coordinator for International Women's' Issues at the U.S. Department of State^[12] and Director of the President's Interagency Council on Women.^[13]

Besides Clinton, honorary chairs include current and former U.S. SenatorsKay Bailey Hutchison andNancy Kassebaum Baker.^[8]

Funding has come from a variety of sources, including individual donations; corporate sponsors such asExxonMobil,^[14]Standard Chartered Bank, andBank of America; foundations such as the Avon Foundation for Women and Humanity United.^[15]

In 2002 Vital Voices was asked by First LadyLaura Bush to drive the effort to supply school uniforms to the many girls returning to school for the first time following theU.S. led overthrow of theTaliban inAfghanistan.^[16]

In May 2022, Vital Voices opened its new global headquarters at 1509 16th Street, NW, in Washington, D.C.^[17]

Vital Voices' website states that its mission is "to identify, invest in, and bring visibility to extraordinary women around the world by unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities."^[18]

Vital Voices works in Africa, Asia,Eurasia,Latin America, and the Caribbean and theMiddle East andNorth Africa, focusing on the business, political, and civil society sectors. The organization regularly hosts international forums, capacity-building workshops, and training seminars for women.^[19]

Vital Voices’ Human Rights program currently focuses on combatinghuman trafficking and other forms of violence against women and girls.^[20]

Vital Voices hosts the annualGlobal Leadership Awards, honoring women leaders working in the areas of human rights, economic empowerment, or political reform. The 2009 ceremony was described as that year's "Most Inspirational Event" in Washington, D.C., in an article inWashington Life Magazine.^[21] Its most recent laureates in 2023 includeAva DuVernay,Inna Braverman, Hellen Lunkuse,Sara Minkara andEnass Muzamel.^[22]

In 2022 Vital Voices andReliance Foundation launched^[23] the WomenLead India fellowship to support 50 women in India, who are working in the areas ofwomen rights, economic empowerment in India.^[24]

50 women were selected by the Vital Voices and Reliance Foundation in 2022^[24] for the fellowship, including Shridevi Mogilinee,^[25] Revathi Radhakrishnan, andShilpi Singh.^[25][26]

Male members of the solidarity council include the actorDavid Schwimmer, athleteDon McPherson, filmmakerJackson Katz and Democratic politicianMike Rawlings.^[27]

• For Freedoms
• Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
• Women, Life, Freedom
• Nicole Joseph-Chin

• Official website
• "Four Ways to Help Iranian Women Today".Vital Voices. Retrieved2022-11-09.

• International women's organizations
• Women's rights organizations
• Organizations that combat human trafficking
• Charities based in Washington, D.C.
• Organizations established in 1999
• 1999 establishments in the United States

• Webarchive template wayback links
• CS1 Hindi-language sources (hi)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Pages using infobox mapframe with missing coordinates