On Thursday, crowdfunding platform Catapult announced the appointment of Janet M. Morgan as its first CEO. Morgan joins Catapult during a strategic growth phase focused on scaling the organization for greater impact on gender equality.
Since its launch in 2012, Catapult has mobilized funds and support for hundreds of community level projects directly impacting more than 1.7 million girls and women. Projects focus on key gender justice issues, including girls’ education, reproductive rights, gender violence and child marriage.
Maz Kessler, founder of Catapult, stated:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Jan as CEO. Her skills and experience building cross-sector partnerships and securing funds for social justice issues will exponentially increase our collective impact for gender equality worldwide.”
Previously serving as president of Restore the Earth Foundation and CSRwire, Morgan is a problem solver and has lead complex projects for dozens of organizations including Lighthouse International, UN Friends of the World Food Program and American Express.
By 2018, Catapult’s goal is to reach more than five million girls and women. To ensure the organization meets this target, Morgan is hoping to strengthen the board and focus on building Catapult’s model with a sustainable business plan.
Morgan noted:
“We all understand traditional philanthropy urgently needs disruption. Why aren’t we leveraging more of the funds available, putting them to work creatively and immediately to achieve gender equality The Catapult platform does just that. Our technology and partner-driven approach taps local expertise and women’s funds to identify the best organizations on the ground.
“This impact-centric design enables corporations, donors, foundations, donor advised funds, governments and the public to directly support highly vetted projects. Real change is possible when public-private partnerships join with millions of global citizens to solve the problems that matter most to them – and the impact is transparent.”
