About Betsy
I’m a donor organizer, grantmaker, and writer. When I was 21, I fell in love with resourcing feminist movements and I haven’t looked back since. Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked with public and private foundations to move more and better resources to movements advancing gender, racial, economic, and climate justice across the globe.
I am an experienced donor organizer, who loves bringing folks together to dream and scheme about what’s possible when we pool our talents and resources. I believe we do our best work in relationship and in joy and I strive to create spaces and places that allow us to step into our power together. I approach constraints in philanthropy not as insurmountable barriers, but as challenges that we can overcome when we leverage our creativity, relationships, and collective power.
In 2024, I launched Betsy Hoody Consulting practice. I partner with public and private foundations, feminist funds, movement organizations, and individual leaders and program staff. I work on a range of projects, but usually am supporting leaders to put their values into (grantmaking) practice, navigate philanthropy, and find creative ways of funding movements.
Since 2024, Betsy has served as the principal consultant at Betsy Hoody Consulting. From 2013 - 2024, Betsy worked at Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, where she managed grantmaking focused on strengthening feminist movements and the gender justice funding ecosystem. Prior to joining Wellspring in 2013, Betsy worked for four years at the Global Fund for Women, supporting feminist activists in Europe and Central Asia. As a Fulbright Community Service Fellow, Betsy spent a year in Russia working with women’s rights organizations responding to gender-based violence. Betsy has served as the Steering Committee Co-Chair for Gender Funders CoLab, a founding member of the Advisory Committee for FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund, and a founding Steering Committee member for Fenomenal Funds. Betsy received a BA in Political Science and Russian Civilization from the University of Chicago, and an MPA from Princeton University. She is currently based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.