Women Win

What Women Win does

Women Win (Stichting Women Win) is a Netherlands-registered non-profit foundation founded in 2006 in Amsterdam by Astrid Aafjes and Maria Bobenrieth, with a parallel US entity (Women Win Foundation, Inc.). It operates as a global multi-dimensional women's fund that invests in and supports a portfolio of re-grantees, including non-traditional actors, and brokers unusual partnerships between women's rights organizations, corporate stakeholders, and other women's funds. Its work is structured around three integrated brands: GRLS (sports and play-based empowerment for adolescent girls and young women), Win-Win Strategies (cross-sector partnerships advancing women's economic resilience in supply chains including floriculture, garment, and tea sectors), and Ignita (feminist hosting infrastructure and pooled funding for activists and movements).

The organization delivers its services through an implementing partner network spanning more than 100 countries, alongside digital platforms including the Women Win Learning Lab (on Thinkific), the Learning Playground, and the Gender-Responsive Due Diligence Platform. Methodologies include participatory grantmaking tools, the Drawing the Line Tool, and play-based participatory design processes. Together with partners, Women Win reports impacting over 4 million girls and women since 2007.

Women Win's business model is non-commercial: revenue is generated through grants, donations, fiscal hosting fees, and consultancy services rather than product pricing. In 2019, it re-granted over €2.5 million to 56 partners in 36 countries. Key institutional relationships include the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Standard Chartered Bank (Goal programme, 2011-2018, reaching 480,000+ adolescent girls), UNICEF, ICRW, Equileap, and the Ethical Tea Partnership, with cross-sector corporate engagement funded through programmes such as Building Bridges for Women's Economic Empowerment.

Name

Women Win

Legal name

Stichting Women Win

Website

https://womenwin.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Women Win is a Netherlands-based non-profit women's fund operating across 100+ countries through three brands (GRLS, Win-Win Strategies, Ignita), providing re-granting, fiscal hosting, and cross-sector partnerships to advance girls' and women's rights, reaching over 4 million beneficiaries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Women's Fund and Gender Equity Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Gender Equality & Women’s Rights Advocacy (BPAGAFAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE), Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Gender Lens / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Funds (FSANAJAM)

Keywords

• Women's rights philanthropy
• Gender equity programs
• Girls sports empowerment
• Grant management services
• Feminist infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

Amsterdam

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Grant Management and Re-granting: Women Win manages grants, funds, and programmes. They provide re-granting services to local implementing partners and grassroots organisations advancing girls' and women's rights globally.
2. Fiscal Hosting Services: Ignita brand provides safe and responsive infrastructure to resource initiatives, activists and movements. They offer fiscal hosting to extend legal and tax-exempt status to emerging organizations.
3. Consultancy Services: Win-Win Strategies provides consultancy services to companies and organizations looking to implement gender-responsive approaches and cross-sector partnerships.
4. Capacity Strengthening and Workshops: Women Win offers workshops and capacity strengthening programmes for implementing partners and organizations working on gender equity.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Women Win is a global multi-dimensional women's fund that advances girls' and women's rights through three integrated program brands: GRLS (sport and play-based empowerment for adolescent girls), Win-Win Strategies (cross-sector partnerships and gender-responsive supply chains), and Ignita (feminist hosting, pooled funding, and movement infrastructure). It provides grant management, re-granting, fiscal hosting, capacity-strengthening workshops, partnership brokering, and consultancy services to grassroots organizations, women's funds, corporate partners, and activists across more than 100 countries.

Product overview

Women Win is a global multi-dimensional women's fund that advances girls' and women's rights through three main branded programme areas: GRLS (sports and play-based empowerment for adolescent girls), Win-Win Strategies (cross-sector partnerships for women's economic resilience), and Ignita (feminist infrastructure for activists and movements). The organisation also operates complementary digital platforms including the Women Win Learning Lab (on Thinkific) for capacity building courses, the Learning Playground for open-source resources, and the Gender-Responsive Due Diligence Platform for supply chain gender lens tools. Together these offerings form a cohesive portfolio supporting grant management, re-granting, fiscal hosting, capacity strengthening, and consultancy services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• GRLS: Advances the playing field that empowers adolescent girls and young women through sport and play, strengthening leadership skills so they can exercise their rights.
• Win-Win Strategies
• Ignita

Products and services

• GRLS A branded program that advances girls' rights through sports and play, empowering adolescent girls and young women to exercise their rights through athletics, leadership development, and life-skills programming delivered via implementing partner grassroots organizations in 100+ countries.
• Win-Win Strategies Builds cross-sector partnerships between women's rights organizations and corporate stakeholders using participatory design and play-based implementation, with a focus on gender-responsive supply chains (floriculture, garment, tea sectors), participatory grantmaking, and women's economic resilience.
• Ignita Provides safe and responsive infrastructure to resource initiatives, activists and movements driving change, including feminist hosting that extends legal and tax-exempt status, pooled funding mechanisms, and a learning hub for the movements.
• Women Win Learning Lab An open-source online learning environment providing formal and informal capacity-building courses for peer-to-peer and funder-grantee learning exchanges, covering gender-responsive procurement, play-based methodology, and corporate engagement.
• Learning Playground

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 4 million girls and women impacted across 100+ countries
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.

• Root CapitalsecondaryStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Marissa Wesely served on the Board of Directors of Root Capital, an agricultural impact investor.
• Standard Chartered BankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011In 2011, Women Win partnered with Standard Chartered Bank to design and implement Goal, a global programme to tackle inequality and promote economic inclusion through sport, play, and life skills education. Between 2006 and 2018, the programme reached more than 480,000 adolescent girls and young women.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2007In 2007, Women Win collaborated with UNICEF, the Australian government, and the NAZ Foundation in India to create protocols and guidelines around child protection, safeguarding, and gender inclusion for adolescent girls in sports programming.
• CBF (Central Bureau on Fundraising)coreOthersWomen Win is registered with and recognized by CBF Netherlands, indicating compliance with fundraising standards in the Netherlands.
• NAZ Foundation IndiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered in 2007 with UNICEF and Australian government to develop safeguarding protocols for adolescent girls in sports programming.
• International Center for Research on Women (ICRW)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted research on Understanding Drivers and Prohibitors of Women Garment Workers Mental Health and Wellbeing in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, funded by lululemon.
• EquileapcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquileap was commissioned by Win-Win Strategies to conduct an assessment of top 100 publicly listed companies in the Netherlands on gender equality indicators. Part of the Building Bridges for Women's Economic Empowerment programme funded by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Workers' Rights WatchsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Women Win to conduct research on women entrepreneurs in Kenya's floriculture sector.
• FIDA-KenyasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Women Win to conduct research on women entrepreneurs in Kenya's floriculture sector.
• Ufadhili TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner conducting research on women workers in Kenya's flower sector and engagement in the floriculture industry.
• ETP (Ethical Tea Partnership)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen Win hosted webinars for ETP members on advancing gender equality in the tea supply chain.
• Kenya Flower CouncilsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-sector partnerships with flower sector companies and industry associations in Kenya.
• Canadian Equality FundsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarissa Wesely served on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Equality Fund.
• Global Fund for WomensecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerMarissa Wesely was formally on the Board of the Global Fund for Women.
• Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value ChainscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen Win and colleagues were key partners in designing and launching the Resilience Fund for Women in Global Value Chains. Marissa Wesely now serves on its Advisory Board.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Global Fund for Women: One of the world's oldest women's funds, providing grants and resources to feminist movements globally. Direct peer to Women Win as a re-granting women's fund with shared governance and participatory grantmaking approaches; Marissa Wesely previously served on its board.
• Mama Cash: Amsterdam-based women's fund (the first international women's fund) that re-grants to women, girls, and trans people's rights organizations globally. Closely comparable as a Netherlands-headquartered feminist re-grantor with shared constituency and funding architecture.
• Equality Fund (formerly Canadian Equality Fund): Canadian-headquartered feminist fund deploying pooled resources to gender justice organizations worldwide. Direct peer in pooled-fund and participatory grantmaking model; Marissa Wesely served on its board.
• FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund: Global fund that resources young feminist-led organizations through participatory grantmaking. Highly comparable as a participatory-grantmaking women's fund serving grassroots movements; potential operational overlap with Women Win's Ignita platform.
• Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights: Rapid-response feminist fund providing fast grants to women and LGBTQI+ human rights defenders. Comparable to Ignita's fiscal hosting and movement-support infrastructure for activists facing acute risk.
• Women's Fund Asia: Regional women's fund supporting feminist movements across South and Southeast Asia. Direct peer operating in several of the same geographies as Women Win; Anisha Chugh (Executive Director) appears in Women Win's management-team roster indicating close organizational ties.

Emerging players

• International Center for Research on Women (ICRW): Global research institute focused on advancing gender equity and women's rights through evidence-based research. Comparable as a partner (Women Win co-conducts garment-worker research with ICRW) and as a research-driven gender-equity organization.
• Nike Foundation: Corporate foundation focused on empowering adolescent girls through sport. Closely tied to Women Win (Nike's Global Director of Community Impact chairs the US board) and directly comparable as a sport-based girls' empowerment platform.
• Women Deliver: Global advocacy organization driving progress on gender equality and the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women. Comparable as a gender-equity advocate and convener, with overlapping donor and partner ecosystems.

Broad incumbents

• Plan International: Large international NGO advancing children's rights and equality for girls across 80+ countries. Broader incumbent in the girls' empowerment space, overlapping with GRLS' adolescent-girl focus but at much larger scale.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Women_Win
• Facebooknl-nl.facebook.com/WomenWin
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/women-win
• Instagraminstagram.com/women_win

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Women Win