Women for Women International

What Women for Women International does

Women for Women International is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1993 and headquartered in Washington, DC, that delivers a year-long social and economic empowerment program to women survivors of war and conflict. The organization serves the most marginalized women in conflict-affected countries through its signature Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program, a 12-month curriculum covering vocational training, business skills, health and wellbeing education, human rights awareness, and formation of Village Savings and Loans Associations. Program delivery occurs through country offices in 14 active countries including Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, and South Sudan, with a Conflict Response Fund extending rapid emergency support to additional crisis zones such as Syria, Ukraine, Sudan, and Myanmar. Since inception the organization has reached 616,184 women and girls cumulatively, including 36,897 in 2024 alone.

The organization's revenue model centers on individual donor fundraising through the Stand With Her monthly giving program, which offers two tiers — Sister Supporter at $35/month matching donors with an individual woman, and Classroom Supporter at $20/month funding classrooms of 25 women. Additional revenue streams include direct mail fundraising managed by Faircom New York, corporate and foundation partnerships, government grants (including Dutch Government FLOW funding), and alternative giving channels such as cryptocurrency, Zakat, Donor Advised Funds, gifts of stock, and legacy giving. The organization employs 501-1,000 staff across its US headquarters, UK and Germany offices, and country offices in conflict-affected regions, with no proprietary technology platform — operations rely on conventional digital fundraising, direct mail, events, and grassroots advocacy including the #SheDares campaign and What Makes Us Stronger podcast.

Women for Women International is led by Global CEO Thelma Ekiyor (appointed October 2025), succeeding prior leadership and coinciding with a Strategy 2030 organizational refresh. As of June 2026 the organization is closing its Afghanistan Country Office after nearly 25 years of operation and shifting to a local partner support model. The organization's competitive position is anchored by three decades of embedded community presence, a standardized classroom-based delivery model, and an evidence base including the From Asking to Action consultation that reached 6,500 women across 14+ conflict-affected contexts in partnership with 54 women's rights organizations.

Name

Women for Women International

Legal name

Women for Women International

Website

https://womenforwomen.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Women for Women International is a nonprofit founded in 1993 that delivers a year-long social and economic empowerment program to women survivors of war across 14 active conflict-affected countries, funded primarily through monthly individual donations, direct mail, and institutional partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Humanitarian Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (62431), Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights (BPADAGAF), Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD), Gender Equality, Inclusion & Social Protection Programs (BPADABAK)

Keywords

• Women's empowerment programs
• Humanitarian aid services
• Conflict recovery training
• Vocational skills training
• Nonprofit donor programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Revenue generated from individual donors making one-time or recurring donations through the organization's website and Stand With Her monthly giving program. Donors can support individual women ($35/month) or classrooms ($20/month).
2. Direct Mail Fundraising: Revenue generated through direct mail campaigns led by Faircom New York, including support for major fundraising moments and rapid-response appeals.
3. Corporate and Foundation Partnerships: Funding from government, corporate, and foundation partnerships as mentioned in the Ways to Give section.
4. Alternative Giving Methods: Revenue from cryptocurrency donations, Zakat giving, Donor Advised Funds, gifts of stock, wire transfers, and legacy giving.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Women for Women International delivers a year-long training program called Stronger Women, Stronger Nations that equips women survivors of war and conflict with vocational skills (tailoring, brickmaking, agriculture), business skills (bookkeeping, budgeting, literacy), health and wellbeing education, and human rights knowledge. The organization also runs the Stand With Her monthly donor program that matches individual supporters with women participants, and a portfolio of complementary programs including the Change Agents advocacy initiative, Graduate Support, Men's Engagement, Adolescent Girls Program, and a Conflict Response Fund for emergencies in additional crisis-affected geographies.

Product overview

Women for Women International operates as a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of programs focused on supporting women survivors of war and conflict. The core offering is the Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program, a 12-month training initiative that provides vocational skills, business training, health education, and human rights knowledge. This is complemented by the Stand With Her monthly donor program with two tiers: Sister Supporter ($35/month with individual matching) and Classroom Supporter ($20/month for group support). Additional programs include the Change Agents grassroots advocacy initiative, Graduate Support services, Men's Engagement, and an Adolescent Girls Program adapted for teenagers. The organization also operates a Conflict Response Fund for emergency situations and produces the 'What Makes Us Stronger' podcast. All programs are delivered through country offices across 17 conflict-affected nations including Afghanistan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Kosovo, Nigeria, Palestine, Rwanda, and South Sudan.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Stand With Her: Monthly donor community that funds women's participation in the year-long Stronger Women, Stronger Nations program.
• Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program
• Conflict Response Fund
• Change Agents Program
• Graduate Support
• Community Advocacy
• Men's Engagement
• Adolescent Girls Program
• #SheDares
• Ziza Social Investing
• What Makes Us Stronger Podcast

Products and services

• Stronger Women, Stronger Nations Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Average daily income grew from $1.90 at enrollment to $5.29 at graduation (2021 data)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Faircom New York (VeraData Company)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 19 February 2026Women for Women International selected Faircom New York to lead its direct mail fundraising program, including support for major fundraising moments and rapid-response appeals. The partnership will support the growth of Stand With Her, the organization's monthly donor community that funds women's participation in its year-long program. Faircom New York brings integrated fundraising strategy, donor communications, and data-led execution capabilities.
• Nadia's InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to create Solidarity Circles for Yazidi women survivors, supporting their healing process in the aftermath of ISIS genocide. The partnership enabled expansion of programming in the Nineveh Plains region of Iraq.
• Child Bride SolidarityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in South Sudan supported through the Resourcing Change project, which funds Women's Rights Organizations across the globe. Provides menstrual hygiene management and sexual and reproductive health training in schools and distributes menstrual pads.
• Local Women's Rights OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner54 women's rights organizations co-designed and led data collection for the From Asking to Action consultation across 14+ conflict-affected contexts. These organizations are key partners in ensuring women's meaningful participation in policy decisions.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Plan International: INGO with a strong girls' and women's rights focus and active programs in overlapping geographies. Nidhi Dagur, WfWI's Director of Global Communications, previously led marketing at Plan International India, evidencing personnel adjacency and similar donor base.
• Mercy Corps: Large INGO delivering livelihoods, economic empowerment, and women's programs in fragile states (DRC, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan). Comparable target beneficiary profile and similar vocational-skills-plus-savings-group model, though at a far larger organizational scale.
• International Rescue Committee (IRC): One of the largest humanitarian INGOs, serving conflict-affected women through women's protection and empowerment programs across many of the same countries as WfWI (DRC, Iraq, Syria, South Sudan). IRC is a broad incumbent with a much larger budget and wider scope, but its gender-focused programming is a direct comparator.
• UN Women: United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, including in conflict and humanitarian settings. Operates globally across most WfWI geographies through normative and programmatic work; a major institutional counterpart rather than direct fundraiser.
• CARE International: Major INGO with a flagship women's economic empowerment focus (CARE's "She Feeds the World" and VSLAs) and presence in many overlapping conflict-affected geographies. Operates at a much larger scale than WfWI but addresses the same beneficiary segment with similar training and livelihoods models.

Direct peers

• MADRE: US-based feminist INGO partnering with grassroots women-led organizations in conflict and crisis settings. Smaller than WfWI but directly comparable mission, advocacy orientation, and partnership-based delivery model.
• Panzi Foundation: Founded by Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Panzi Foundation serves survivors of sexual violence in DRC with a holistic model combining medical care, psychosocial support, and economic empowerment. Mirrors WfWI's DRC country office approach and survivor-of-conflict beneficiary profile.
• Kvinna till Kvinna (Woman to Woman): Swedish foundation directly funding and partnering with women's rights organizations in conflict-affected regions (DRC, Iraq, Kosovo, Palestine, South Sudan). Operates a nearly identical mission and beneficiary profile to WfWI and even shares the "sister-to-sister" donor framing.

Emerging players

• Women for Afghan Women: US-based nonprofit serving Afghan women and girls, particularly under the post-2021 Taliban context. Highly relevant as WfWI exits Afghanistan; represents the local-partner model WfWI is pivoting toward and likely beneficiary of redirected donor intent.
• Free Yezidi Foundation: Yazidi-led organization serving survivors of ISIS genocide in northern Iraq. Directly comparable to WfWI's KRI programming for Yazidi survivors and a likely local-partner counterpart as WfWI evolves its Iraq delivery model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/womenforwomen
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/WomenforWomenIntl
• Facebookfacebook.com/womenforwomen
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/women-for-women-international
• Instagraminstagram.com/womenforwomen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Women for Women International