Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s foundation recently withdrew funding from the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, citing its zero-tolerance policy on hate speech via PEOPLE.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Archewell Foundation, founded in 2020 as a vehicle for their philanthropic endeavors, will no longer fund the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, a community group endeavoring to empower Muslim women and girls through education, leadership, outreach and wellness programming.
As per the tax filings obtained by PEOPLE, Archewell awarded the group a $27,960 grant in 2023 as part of its Welcome Project, an initiative that supports programming for women recently resettled from Afghanistan.
On April 17th, the coalition’s founder and executive director, Janan Najeeb, released a statement expressing “deep disappointment” over the decision, noting that the funding had supported the group’s Afghan Women’s Sewing Circle and Support Group.
PEOPLE reported that Archewell cut ties with the coalition after Najeeb published a February 2024 op-ed in the Wisconsin Muslim Journal that included the phrase, “From the Sea to the River“ in its title, which echoes the contentious phrase, “from the river to the sea.”
In September, Najeeb also spoke at an event in support of a Milwaukee mural created by her brother that merged a Star of David with a swastika. The Milwaukee Women’s Coalition later endorsed the mural on social media.
It’s understood that the Archewell Foundation has a zero tolerance for hate speech of any kind. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s charitable organization celebrates different perspectives and backgrounds but draws a line at hateful words, action or propaganda.
That stance was underscored in an April 9th letter from Archewell to Najeeb, which the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition later shared publicly as part of its online fundraiser.
“We have recently been notified of an online opinion piece you wrote that goes against the values of The Archewell Foundation,” began the letter addressed to Najeeb.
“As a foundation, we celebrate different perspectives and backgrounds, but we have zero tolerance for hateful words, actions, or propaganda. When we started The Welcome Project, we did so to support Afghan women in finding community, and we are proud of the work we have done to support women in Milwaukee. We remain committed to fostering partnerships that reflect and reinforce the values our foundation stands for,” it said.
“We will be removing MMWC from our network effective as of today. At this time, the foundation will be making no additional grants to the MMWC.”
