Together, we can end childhood sexual violence for good.

Dear colleagues,

We are writing to introduce the Safe Childhoods Initiative, a new resource mobilization initiative for the childhood sexual violence sector. Although the overall landscape for addressing childhood sexual violence is shifting in promising ways, we continue to face a difficult truth: the current level of philanthropic funding does not match the scale and urgency of the problem. A coalition of hundreds of stakeholders set forth a vision and roadmap for our sector that highlighted the need for profound changes to the CSV funding landscape. A more diverse and better resourced funding environment that matches our sector’s ambition can help drive meaningful progress on ending childhood sexual violence. 

Working in partnership with committed funders and stakeholders, Safe Childhoods aims to help transform the funding landscape for childhood sexual violence prevention, healing and justice. Safe Childhoods will be working with both existing and new donors to increase funding for the childhood sexual violence sector, but will not be a grant making entity itself. Our goal is to ensure that organizations, networks and movements have the funding they need to support meaningful and lasting reductions in harm, so that children everywhere can grow up safe, free from violence, and able to thrive. 

Many stakeholders have long advocated for the idea of sector-wide resource mobilization, and their collective efforts helped pave the way for the Safe Childhoods Initiative. The Safe Childhoods’ founding donors, including Carlson Family Foundation, Indigo Trust, Oak Foundation, Porticus, Phillips Foundation, Segal Philanthropies, and World Childhood Foundation, each have a long track record of supporting the field. The Safe Childhoods Initiative is guided by the principals, trustees, and senior staff of these founding donors. We thank them for their vision, trust and continued commitment to safe and joyful childhoods. 

For the past year, Safe Childhoods has been in a learning and testing phase, trying to understand what it takes to build a collaborative, donor-facing initiative that attracts new funders, hosts serious conversations about prevention, and moves resources into an under-resourced field. We are deeply grateful to the colleagues from the CSV ecosystem and beyond who shared their time, expertise and wisdom during our inception phase and we are committed to expanding our engagement as we continue to grow over the next few years.  

We still have a lot to figure out in 2026. We won’t have all the answers, but we commit to transparency and learning as we move forward. We invite you to join us for the first Safe Childhoods webinar on March 11, 2026 where we will expand on our approach to donor engagement and resource mobilization and share our ideas about how we plan to stay grounded in the realities of the field. In the meantime, we have prepared a FAQ document that attempts to answer some of the questions we’ve heard over the past few months. 

If you would like to join our mailing list or you have additional questions about the Safe Childhoods Initiative, please fill out this form on our website. You can also email info@safechildhoods.org with your questions and follow us on LinkedIn. 

In solidarity, 

The SCI Team