Jess Houssian has focused her career on the intersections of gender equality, philanthropy, and social change, imagining and co-creating spaces for innovation and collaboration that shift power and resources to feminist movements around the world.
Jess is now an Advisor to the Equality Fund, where she served from 2019-2024 Co-CEO. The Equality Fund is an innovative model for sustainable investment in global feminist movements. Leveraging an unprecedented contribution of CAD 300 million from the Government of Canada, the Equality Fund unites gender-lens investing, bold government funding, and powerful, multi-sector philanthropy to unlock new capital for women’s rights organizations and movements. With collaboration from leaders in every sector, the Equality Fund expects to activate over CAD 1 billion for gender equality, making it the largest self-sustaining fund for gender equality in the world.
Previously, Jess served as Executive Director of Women Moving Millions, a global community of women philanthropists who invest boldly with a gender lens. Jess holds a B.A. in Women & Gender Studies (Bates College) and an M.Sc. in Fundraising & Grantmaking (New York University), and currently serves as co-chair of The Houssian Foundation.