On October 28, members of the AMCF Women’s Giving Circle gathered online for Decision Day 2026, the moment in each cycle when our finalists step forward and make their case directly to the women who will decide where the Circle’s collective gifts go.
This is the Circle’s fourth cycle. Members have raised more than $16,600 so far this year, and five finalists, chosen by members in the first round of voting, each had five minutes to present and five minutes to answer questions. They presented in alphabetical order. Watch the full recording below, or read on for what we heard.
Afrikana Corporation: Halal Food Without Erasure
Afrikana runs a culturally responsive halal food pantry in New York City, open six days a week across all five boroughs, serving families, seniors, children, and neighbors facing food insecurity. Its founder and executive director explained that conversations about halal food in the city have too often treated it as an ethnic category rather than a religious one, leaving Black Muslims out.
Afrikana goes beyond groceries, offering weekly help with benefits enrollment, workforce services, and Medicaid assistance, and it has run a Ramadan meal program for newly arrived immigrant families for three years. Its food and locations are donated, and its work runs on volunteers, more than 300 of them confirmed this month alone. What it cannot get donated are the garbage bags and gloves the health department requires. A grant would cover that cost, a little under $9,000 a year, and help the pantry consider an invitation to expand to Philadelphia.
Art and Wilderness Institute: Stewardship as Faith in Action
The Art and Wilderness Institute (AWI) is a women-founded, women-led organization in Southern California that brings together environmental education, community building, and stewardship. Over seven years, AWI has reached more than 3,500 students, with youth who start as toddlers and grow into leaders: painting coastal stewardship murals, planting a garden at the Islamic Center of San Diego, and helping restore land after the Altadena fires.
In the Q&A, AWI described how it brings generations together, with youth leading hikes for a retirement community and elders sharing what they know of the land. Demand for AWI’s programs is outpacing its staff. A grant would fund a part-time instructor to bring its healing nature programs to a new community in San Diego for a year.
DFW Refugee Outreach Services: Room for Hope to Grow
DFW Refugee Outreach Services supports refugee families in North Texas. The director of its Hope Kitchen program, who also serves on its board, shared how a home-based catering effort, started about six years ago with refugee women who loved to cook, helped many in the original group move from low-income housing to owning their own homes.
Its newest effort, the Hope Boutique, grew out of a sewing program. Its skilled artisans have already held four pop-up shops in a month, but seven women and their children currently share one crowded room. With $7,000, the organization could move into a larger suite with dedicated workspace, child care, and a well-being room, and begin paying the artisans for their work.
Ikram Foundation for Empowerment of Muslim Women: Education That Rebuilds Families
Since 2014, the Ikram Foundation has invested in more than 250 households led by Muslim women who are widowed, divorced, or low-income, paying tuition for degree and vocational programs directly to schools. Grants of $2,000 to $4,000 can open the door to a career. Among 19 women who came to Ikram with no income, collective earnings now exceed $700,000.
Ikram works nationally. Its intake process, built with caseworkers at partner organizations, makes sure each woman has the stability she needs to finish her program. Because a family foundation covers Ikram’s overhead, 100 percent of donations go directly to education. Ikram expects this grant to help educate at least 16 more women.
Islamic Library Association: Seeing Ourselves on the Shelf
The Islamic Library Association works to make sure no Muslim child, teen, or adult searches a library and cannot find themselves. Its founder, a librarian, described how the American Library Association has more than 115 groups representing different communities, but none dedicated to Muslims.
The association launched Broadview, a quarterly review of books by and about Muslims, at the 2026 American Library Association conference in Chicago, and it is in year two of a four-year process toward affiliation with the national organization. Its work has been personally funded by its founder so far. A grant of $8,500 would take the association to the 2027 conference in New Orleans to build partnerships and national visibility.
Beyond the Vote
Every finalist reminded us that collective giving is about more than money. As one member said during the Q&A, it is the five T’s: time, talent, treasure, testimony, and ties. Only three organizations will receive funding this cycle, but every one of them, and every one of our nominees, is doing work worth knowing and supporting.
Voting members: voting is open through the end of the day on November 8. Watch your email for the ballot link. The three grantees will be announced on December 5.
Not a voting member yet? Join the Women’s Giving Circle or upgrade to voting membership, and the choice can be partly yours.
Explore every nominee. Meet all of the 2026 nominees, share their stories, and consider adding one more organization to your giving this year.
Nonprofits: join us on November 10 for Grow Your Nonprofit’s Reach, a free introduction to the AMCF Nonprofit Directory, where donors can discover your work.