Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative directs majority of 2020 giving
to social justice reform and COVID-19 relief efforts for women
December 24, 2020 – New York
In its sixth year of operation, the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative (BJKLI) Foundation, like so many other non-profits during the COVID-19 pandemic, pivoted to remote working and virtual fundraising in 2020.
The glaring economic disparities COVID-19 presented and the tragic events of the summer including the deaths of a number of black men and women further underscored the BJKLI’s mission of taking action and supporting the fight for equal justice. During 2020, BJKLI donated to several community organizations doing critical work to promote racial equality and support the black community, including the Audre Lorde Project, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, and multiple community-based bail funds.
When asked about the importance of combating systemic racism, BJKLI co-founder Billie Jean King stated, “We are at what Malcolm Gladwell calls a ‘tipping point.’ This struggle has been going on since 1619, and while we may have paid attention to it, we have not dealt with it as a nation. We need to do that now. We need to change ourselves and change history.”
The year 2020 also represented a significant milestone in King’s own historic struggle for equality. Fifty years ago on September 23, 1970, Billie Jean and eight other women tennis players – known as the “Original 9” – took a bold leap of faith in order to compete on their own terms, demanding to be paid for their talent and ability. Jane ‘Peaches’ Bartkowicz, Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Billie Jean King, Kerry Melville Reid, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey and Valerie Ziegenfuss joined promoter Gladys Heldman to sign $1 dollar contracts and forever changed the landscape of women’s professional tennis and all of sports.
In recognition of this influential moment in history, and to pay homage to the Original 9, BJKLI joined forces with the Women’s Tennis Association Charities to host a virtual fundraiser, honoring the courageous acts of the nine women who risked their careers in order to pave a better future for women in sports. This event raised more than $1 million in donations which were directed to COVID-19 relief efforts for women, with a focus on women of color.
BJKLI provided funding to organizations supporting BIPOC women and families, trans- and gender non-conforming people, and other global, national and regional efforts including the National Women’s Law Center’s focus on the caregiving crisis, the National Domestic Worker’s Alliance and the New York Women’s Foundation COVID-19 relief efforts.
BJKLI also contributed to the Global Fund for Women, and recognizing the devastating increase in levels of domestic violence globally, to AWAVA, the primary organization for violence against women in Australia whose vision is to ensure that all women and their children are able to live free from all forms of violence and abuse. Supporting an organization in Australia was important to the BJKLI not only because of its imperative work, but also to honor two of the “Original 9” (Kerry Melville Reid and Judy Dalton) who are Australian born.
As BJKLI looks to the future, the organization will continue to stay connected and support organizations focused on women’s recovery in 2021 and ensuring to support LGBTQ+ advocacy and research efforts in addition to advancing pay equity.