I am a philanthropic advisor and coach, and I've been working to advance gender equity for over 25 years. My work has bounced me across five continents and I have seen firsthand that aligning our values with our economic power—the businesses where we spend our money, and the nonprofits we donate to —is a powerful and radical act of social change.
I became an advisor because so many people asked me, "Radha, you've worked all over the world, which nonprofit should I give to?" It's not a one-size-fits-all answer, of course, and I absolutely love helping people to think deeply about how they wanted to show up in the world for the people, communities and causes that matter most to them.
For too long, philanthropy has not lived up to its potential. At times, it has done only incremental good when much more is possible, and at its worst, it has caused harm by hoarding stolen resources, using charity as reputation-laundering, and forcing nonprofits to jump through unnecessary hoops. Today, we have an opportunity to make philanthropy transformative, to knock down unnecessary silos between funders and nonprofit movement leaders, to heal historical harm, and to work together to build a world where everyone can thrive together.
My Story.
As someone who spent much of my early life bouncing between the US and India, I saw quickly what my life could have been like if I had been born a girl in just about any other country in the world, without the privilege of white skin, and I have spent my life working to help women who have historically been marginalized get the rights and resources they need to thrive.
I started my career in micro-credit (as the first full-time employee of the largest MFI in India), providing micro-loans to women living in poverty who were considered “unbankable" and invisible. I thought this was the quickest way to get money into the hands of women, but quickly saw that a loan to help a woman start a business so she could be self sufficient wasn't always helpful if she didn't have property rights—a physical place to start said business. So I co-founded the LandesaCenter for Women’s Land Rights.
We worked to change laws that gave women equal rights, hearing pushback from governments such as, “How can property own property?” I saw that for rights to be real, we needed to go beyond changing laws--we needed to change the culture. So I took on a new role as a grantmaker, providing funding to brilliant but under-resourced local leaders in communities all over the world working to improve justice in their countries. But I was told repeatedly these local leaders were "too risky” to fund.
I started Radha Friedman Consulting because I was tired of being told by mainstream philanthropy to “let the men worry about the finances” while I watched less than 2% of funding go to organizations supporting women and girls, and less than 1% go to women of color and people who are LGBTQ--the very people who have led most social change movements. So I created a space to do things differently.
I am here to be your connector, your thought partner, and your guide.
If you are ready for a feminist philanthropy revolution, then you're in the right place. We ride at midnight!
My Collaborators
Jessi Luckett
She/Her
Jessi is the founder of Kouri-Vini, a BIPOC-led consulting firm with over two decades of experience building and implementing programs around gender justice, race equity, LGBTQ+ rights, and disability rights.
Rosa Peralta-Landin
She/Her/Ella
Rosa directs equity and impact at the Satterberg Foundation, where she leads an all-BIPOC team in trust-based philanthropy. Rosa's experience in juvenile justice, education, and access to healthcare for Latinx communities, and her lived experience as an undocumented farm worker, informs her work in philanthropy.
Fleur Larsen
She/Her
Fleur is a facilitatorspecializing in racial equity and gatekeeping for white women. Fleur provides coaching and facilitation for groups, companies, foundations, and leaders on issues of equity, diversity and inclusion (DEI), implicit bias, power and privilege dynamics, and characteristics of white dominant culture.
The Uplift Agency
For corporate projects, or large multi-lateral projects (such as the United Nations), I often partner with The Uplift Agency, a woman-led firm that helps brand to do their greatest good through environmental, human rights, social impact, and ESG practices.
Radha Friedman is an international best-selling author and a philanthropic advisor and coach for leaders in nonprofits and foundations. She is on a mission to encourage investing in under-represented voices--especially women and girls of color, women with disabilities, and women who are LGBTQ or gender expansive.
Radha has helped some of the largest foundations in the world, including advising the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on their gender equality strategy and the Clinton Global Initiative’s Network on Women & Girls Economic Empowerment. Her work has engaged Nobel Prize laureates including the Dalai Lama, Shirin Ebadi, and Mary Robinson, as well as luminaries such as Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sakena Yakoobi and Ai WeiWei.
Radha has also helped to co-found several award-winning initiatives such as the Landesa Center for Women’s Land Rights (winner of the largest humanitarian prize in the world) and the She Matters Foundation (supporting women refugees). She has been named a fellow by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, American Express Foundation, Independent Sector, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, and the Global Women’s Leadership Network. Radha has been featured in Forbes, The Guardian, Alliance and Foreign Policy Magazine. She is the author of Fundraising Without Burnout: Radically Reimagining Philathropy Transform Your Impact. (Difference Press, 2023)
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CERTIFICATIONS
Master of Arts, International Development Studies, DePaul University
Master of Science, Public Service Administration, DePaul University
Post-Graduate Certificate in Cross-Sector Partnerships, Cambridge University
Bachelor of Arts, South Asian Studies, Antioch College
Certified Coach, Transformation Academy, International Academy of Life Coaching & Entrepreneurship
