Rise Fund

The WMG Rise Fund is a member-only benefit that provides financial support for professional development opportunities that concretely help members enhance their career growth. Funded by the Women’s Media Group Educational Foundation, the Rise Fund invites applications once a year in the fall.

2026 Recipients

Lina AbiRafeh has spent her 30+-year career dedicated to women’s issues as a humanitarian aid worker and women’s rights activist around the globe. She is now beginning to clarify and design her next chapter of feminist leadership—one that blends advocacy, writing, speaking, and creative production so that she can reach wider audiences through storytelling, public scholarship, publishing, podcasts, etc. The Rise Fund granted Lina $2,000 for 1:1 career coaching to help with this transition and to develop an actionable plan for her advisory firm, Better4Women.

Sara Ader is a self-employed writer and editor who specializes in projects related to financial news and research. She is exploring long-form fiction as she navigates the impact of AI on freelance writing, Sara is working on a fictionalized account of the life and career of an extended family member, who was a highly regarded jewelry designer and sculptor in 1930s-40s New York City. Sara will use a $500 Rise Fund grant to visit Manhattan from her home near Boston to aid in her research so that she can immerse herself in the neighborhoods where the artist lived and worked and to view some of his art on display in New York museums.

Kelley Allen is an experienced publishing business strategist who is looking to put her MBA expertise to work in the nonprofit arena. She is working on a business plan to design an innovative platform that connects digital reading to measurable social impact. To further this goal, the Rise Fund granted Kelley $515 to fine-tune her project management skills via a one-year membership in the Project Management Institute and participation in PMI’s Project Management Basics course.

Georgia McBride, a WMG Board member, is self-employed as a book publisher and literary agent who has facilitated more than 600 deals for rights worldwide. She has begun to expand her company’s expertise into licensing and selling content for film and television. Georgia has seen value in consulting with a seasoned media consultant who can help her validate and test both short- and long-term goals, guide her next steps to ensure personal reflection alongside career growth, and provide feedback on individual projects she can sell. Georgia received a Rise Fund grant of $1,800 to support her continued 1:1 personal and career development coaching.

Sofia Perez has extensive experience working for nonprofits and other independent organizations active in climate initiatives and sustainable development. As an award-winning journalist, she has reported on topics dealing with an array of issues focused on the environment. Sofia received a Rise Fund grant in the amount of $1,615 to enable her to attend the Climatebase Fellowship, a 12-week intensive “climate-centric accelerator” program, which will help her more broadly and effectively apply storytelling skills in service of climate literacy.

As the CEO of her own company, Perfect Pitch Group, author, public speaker, and media personality Precious Williams works with companies and nonprofits to develop training programs that enhance employee skills and confidence, leading to successful project funding and speaking engagements. Precious received a $950 Rise Fund grant to write and create The 40 Year + Glow Up Experience Playbook, which will capture her career advice and life lessons about how women can “disrupt the narrative around their second act to truly understand the gift of their experience, embrace this journey, let go of the weight of others’ expectations, and have real audacity.”

2025 Recipients

Bennett Cerf, the legendary co-founder of Random House, is getting the full biography treatment by Gayle Feldman, a longtime WMG member and self-employed journalist and author. Her deeply researched book about this key figure in the history of American book publishing will be published next fall. Gayle received $500 to help her develop a website to promote the book. See Gayle's updated website here!

Britta Lokting will be traveling to California to do important hands-on research for an article she sold as an independent journalist to The Nation. Her Rise Fund grant of $700 is in support of her travel expenses.

Sangeeta Mehta is a self-employed independent development editor, who recognizes the importance of learning about the helpful role that artificial intelligence tools can play in the editing process. She received $400 to attend an "AI for Editors" live online training course.

Deborah Mortimer is the founder and owner of Leap Forward Publishing, LLC, an independent hybrid publisher that develops books that focus on diversity, inclusion, and representation. With $400 in assistance from the Rise Fund, she will attend the Independent Book Publisher Association University in St. Paul, Minnesota, to expand her publishing knowledge and network.

After a career in corporate media, Courtney Reimer recently founded her own creative podcast strategy company called Sounds Great. To establish herself as a thought leader in the podcast world, Courtney will be speaking at a variety of conferences this year. Courtney's Rise Fund grant of $500 will be put towards fees for a public speaking coach to help her prepare for these growth opportunities.