Grow Partnership Opens Charitable Giving Pathway for Rockstar Woman Movement’s $200,000 Build With Us Initiative
As new research shows organizations dedicated to women and girls receive just over 2% of U.S. charitable giving, this partnership invites intentional investment into a proven model for advancing women’s leadership and whole-person care.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. | October 12, 2026 — Grow and the Rockstar Woman Movement have announced a fiscal sponsor partnership creating a pathway for tax-deductible gifts to support the movement’s charitable initiatives. The announcement launches Build With Us, a $200,000 philanthropic initiative to expand leadership access and strengthen the people and systems behind the movement’s year-round Content + Community + Care framework.
The partnership comes as new national research highlights how little charitable giving reaches organizations dedicated to women and girls. According to the Women & Girls Index 2026, released October 8 by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, these organizations received just over 2% of total U.S. charitable giving in 2024.
Put simply, for every $100 donated nationwide, about $2 went to organizations focused on women and girls.
Their leadership produces visible wins. The weight they carry is less often acknowledged. The women of the Rockstar Woman Movement lead businesses, institutions, families, and communities. Often the first and the only, they pioneer without a roadmap and become the blueprint for others. The new partnership with Grow opens a charitable giving pathway to strengthen the support around these women so they can lead with longevity.
Founded by Shannon Cohen in 2019, the Rockstar Woman Movement has touched more than 7,000 lives through its signature approach of Content + Community + Care. The women it serves are a force in their businesses, workplaces, families, and communities. But even women who are a force need to be replenished. Investing in this movement strengthens the support around her so she can lead with longevity.
“Traditional professional networking spaces often focus on who a woman is at work. We invest in who she is as a whole person because the mantles of leadership she carries are interconnected,” said Shannon Cohen, Founder and CEO of the Rockstar Woman Movement. “Our signature framework of Content + Community + Care brings a holistic approach to her personal and professional development. That approach has fueled seven years of growth. Now, Build With Us invites our community to strengthen the staffing and systems behind the movement so we can serve her well as we grow.”
Expanding Access Through Partnership
Grow will serve as fiscal sponsor for the movement’s charitable initiatives, receiving and administering charitable contributions under the agreement. Individuals, businesses, foundations, and community partners can make eligible tax-deductible gifts through Grow to support this work.
The collaboration will also provide clients of Grow’s Women’s Business Center with access to select Rockstar Woman leadership development experiences and create opportunities for shared community engagement.
“Supporting women’s success means investing in both their opportunities and the support around them,” said Milinda Ysasi, CEO of Grow. “The Rockstar Woman Movement brings leadership development, connection, and whole-person care together. Through this partnership, we can help expand access to those experiences while strengthening the foundation that makes them possible.”
Build With Us: Strengthening the Infrastructure Behind the Impact
The $200,000 initiative will support staffing, operational systems, and sustainable delivery of the movement’s charitable work. These investments will help maintain dependable year-round engagement and expand access for women who encounter barriers to participation.
Philanthropic support will advance three areas:
Whole-Person Leadership Development:
Curating access to thought leaders, industry experts, vision field trips, and timely conversations that broaden perspectives, sharpen decision-making, and strengthen women’s ability to navigate change. These learning experiences connect professional growth with personal well-being, recognizing that sustained leadership requires both.
Leadership Access and Opportunity:
Supporting paid internships for college students, often those who are the first in their families to attend college, while helping keep high-caliber, year-round membership affordable for professional women of every age and stage. Philanthropic investment helps ensure the full cost of delivering Content +Community + Care does not fall on members alone.
Research and Public Education:
Insights about women leaders’ experiences, needs, and contributions that inform public understanding and community investment.
The 24-month fiscal sponsorship period will allow the movement to strengthen its systems, evaluate philanthropic engagement, and determine a sustainable structure for its long-term future.
“The impact is already happening,” Cohen said. “For seven years, we’ve built a growing movement serving thousands of women. We have created measurable community impact, cultivated trusted relationships, and earned the confidence of national brands and organizations. We have done all of this without the philanthropic infrastructure that many organizations begin with. We are not asking prospective donors to take a risk on an untested idea. This is an opportunity to ask: What becomes possible when philanthropy invests in a proven movement that needs a charitable container to fully activate the next chapter of reach and impact?”
An Invitation to Build With Us
The Rockstar Woman Movement will convene community supporters, business leaders, and prospective philanthropic partners for a Build With Us campaign kickoff on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Grand Rapids.
To learn more about the initiative and charitable giving through Grow, visit
www.rockstar-woman.com
About the Rockstar Woman Movement
Founded by Shannon Cohen, the Rockstar Woman Movement is a year-round leadership and community ecosystem for women who lead, serve, and create change in transformational ways. Through a signature framework of Content + Community + Care, the movement creates spaces for connection, clarity, capacity building, and whole-person leadership development. Its community is multiracial, multiethnic, intergenerational, and interdisciplinary.
About Grow
Grow is a West Michigan nonprofit organization supporting entrepreneurs through education, resources, access to capital, and business development opportunities. Through its Women’s Business Center and related initiatives, Grow strengthens businesses and expands economic opportunity throughout the region.
Media Contacts
Rockstar Woman Movement
Shannon Cohen, CEO
shannon@shannoncohen.com
616-730-3377
www.rockstar-woman.com
Grow
Milinda Ysasi, CEO
mysasi@growbusiness.org
616-617-9755
https://growbusiness.org/
