Author: Lisa Kays

Washington Middle School for Girls gets a little help from friends.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

The Washington Post reports today that the Washington Middle School for Girls received a little sprucing up from about 40 volunteers from Chesapeake Surgical who came in to paint classrooms.

The Washington Middle School for Girls is unique to Washington, D.C. in that there are no other all-girls independent schools in any underprivileged part of the city.  The school was founded to provide a high quality education for young girls who show academic potential, but who are at risk of terminating their education prematurely, and also provides important support to the girl’s parents.  For example, during the course of its first mother/daughter book club, seven of the mothers pursued and completed high school equivalency programs.

Washington Middle School for Girls is also a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation through support by the Rainmakers Giving Circle.  In 2004, the Rainmakers granted funding for the addition of a fourth grade to the school.  In 2005, the Rainmakers provided funding to supply the 4th and 5th grades with supplies, books, teaching materials, and a reading specialist and teaching aid.

The Women’s Foundation is thrilled to see Washington Middle School for Girls receiving the sort of community support exhibited through the volunteer efforts by Chesapeake Surgical, and hopes that this inspires further support among the community for the organizations and strategies that are improving the lives of women and girls.

Congrats to new class of future nonprofit directors–including four Grantee Partner staffers!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

The Women’s Foundation is proud to report that four staff members of Grantee Partners have been selected for the 2008-2009 class of Future Executive Directors sponsored by the Nonprofit Roundtable.

We congratulate each of the leaders selected for this year’s class (and noted that 20 of the 24 are women!).  And we extend a special salute to the following staff members of Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation:

This is the first class of fellows in this program, and The Women’s Foundation salutes these women not only as examples of women’s leadership in our community, but as trailblazers in this new and exciting initiative of the Nonprofit Roundtable as it works to build the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector through leadership development.

Congratulations and good luck to each of this year’s fellows! 

FLY makes fashionable television appearance!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

On Saturday night, Fashion Fusion in Washington, D.C. will bring together the hottest local fashion designers and a fun way to give back to women and girls in our community. 

Proceeds from the event will benefit The Women’s Foundation. 

We, in turn, make grants to great organizations like Facilitating Leadership in Youth (FLY), featured in this ABC9 news piece on the fashion show.  FLY fosters the academic and personal success of young women in Anacostia.  One of their former students, Tawanda, is now a sophomore in college, and is featured in the video. 

You can also read more about the event at Classy Fabulous, a fashion blog co-written by a member of FLY’s staff that covers local fashion and fashion events, and particularly those that benefit women’s causes.  The tagline is Creating Sisterhood through Fashion.

Sounds like the perfect tagline for Fashion Fusion as well, which at its heart hopes to use fashion to bring women together and provide an opportunity for them to give back through their participation to local women and girls.

Which is why their actual tagline is Inspired Giving, Inspired Style.

Fashion, giving, fun.  Certainly an inspiring combination!

How a strategic plan can change a woman's life.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

A strategic plan for a nonprofit can change a woman’s life.

We can prove it.

Computer C.O.R.E. (CORE), which helps low-income adults acquire the computer and life skills they need to pursue career aspirations, received grants in 2006 and 2007 from The Women’s Foundation to support a strategic planning process.

The process helped the organization redirect its mission from one that just provides computer training to one that also focuses on moving CORE students into better jobs—and the other skills needed to meet that goal.

Later in 2007, Donna Harrington received a significant promotion as a result of this planning process and CORE’s new focus.

A single mother and native Washingtonian with a 14-year-old daughter, Donna came to CORE with only a part-time job as a reservationist.  She began attending classes twice a week in July, spending two hours every night along with 11 classmates mastering Microsoft Office.

As a result of the new mission and focus, one hour each night was also devoted to the other skills required to advance a career: resume writing, interviewing and communication.

The investment paid off
Donna’s investment, and CORE’s investment in her, paid off.

Two months after graduation, she was promoted to the position of Transportation Supervisor at Senior Services of Alexandria. She now oversees six employees and the program’s billing.

Janet Barnett, executive director of Senior Services and Donna’s supervisor, says, “Because of Donna’s incredible desire to improve herself, she sought out the skills she needed and gained expertise. The position she holds today used to be held by two staff, but, because of Donna’s computer skills, she is able to efficiently and effectively handle all the tasks.”

The role of The Women’s Foundation
Just like CORE gave Donna a step up in her career, CORE credits The Women’s Foundation with supporting its growth and success over the years—positioning them to help Donna, and students just like her, in an increasingly effective manner.

And it wasn’t just about the initial funding. In fact, aside from a Leadership Award in 2003, CORE has received funds only to work on their own infrastructure and capacity—not their programs.

The Women’s Foundation is committed to investments like these because funding for operational support is difficult to find, yet crucial to the effectiveness of any nonprofit—particularly small, up-and-coming ones.

Therefore, all Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation are eligible to apply for Open Door Capacity Fund grants to improve their infrastructure, staffing and scope. The support CORE received to conduct their strategic planning process and hire their current executive director came through this fund.

“We are grateful to The Women’s Foundation for their strong support, financially and in expertise, throughout CORE’s development,” says Lynn O’Connell, executive director of Computer C.O.R.E.

The expertise Lynn refers to came following their Leadership Award, which brought CORE into The Women’s Foundation’s Grantee Partner community, where they had access to training, resources and support “beyond the check.”  And even beyond their Open Door grants. 

“The resources—media training, executive roundtables and a leadership retreat—were just what CORE needed to become an established organization in the community,” Lynn says. “The Women’s Foundation really went beyond merely being a funder and became a strong partner with CORE.”

Just as women like Donna need training and skills to open doors to higher salaries and better careers, nonprofits like CORE need training and funding to support their growth.

And their ability to serve our region’s women and girls.

And for them, The Women’s Foundation is proud to be able to open doors through the Open Door Capacity Fund.

June 2008 Open Door Capacity Fund grants: $145,000
10 year Open Door Capacity Fund grant total: $745,000

See where we're investing more than half a million dollars!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

The Women’s Foundation is proud to announce that the board of directors has recently approved grants totaling $645,500 to be invested in the Washington metropolitan area.  This brings our 2008 grantmaking total to more than $1.1 million.

See where and how we’re investing.

Our grants are made with gifts from people throughout our community who—through The Power of Giving Together—make their charitable investments go further by pooling their dollars to make grants that have a significant impact on local nonprofits that are changing the lives of women and girls.

At The Women’s Foundation, we give more, by giving together.

Join in The Power of Giving Together!

Phyllis Caldwell: Charity not a luxury, but a necessity, in tough economic times.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

In the June 20, 2008 edition of the Washington Business Journal, Phyllis Caldwell, president of The Women’s Foundation, addressed the need to give–and to give strategically–in tough economic times. 

"In tough times, it’s easy to convince ourselves that it’s okay to look the other way," Phyllis writes. "The natural instinct is to hold on tight to what we have when all else is falling apart. Who can think about philanthropy in a time like this? Charity seems a luxury. It’s easy to convince ourselves to stop giving or to give less than we would normally the same way we might curtail going out to restaurants.  In fact, the reality is just the opposite. During rocky economic times, it’s even more crucial that we as individuals and businesses support the nonprofits and service organizations helping vulnerable individuals hit hardest by the economic downturn."

Check out the Phyllis’ full op-ed for more on the importance of giving, and how to stretch your philanthropic dollars by giving strategically in tough economic times.

Lisa Kays is Senior Communications and Marketing Officer at Washington Area Women’s Foundation.

Feeling financially strapped? Try giving your money away.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

No, really.  That’s what Kimberly Palmer advises in her column at U.S. News.

"While it may sound like a crazy time to talk about giving money away, with the economic pinch many of us are feeling, it actually might be the perfect time," she writes.  "As Brent Kessel, author of It’s Not About the Money, recently told me in an interview, acts of generosity can help us feel content with what we have. ‘The irony is…you can’t be giving money away and feel like you don’t have enough,’ he says. ‘The act itself changes the message you tell yourself.’

Kimberly cites some smart ways to make your philanthropic dollar go further, including giving circles and the Women Moving Millions campaign.

Not surprisingly, Kimberly’s column starts with an observation from a friend of hers, Lisa Philp, head of philanthropic services at JPMorgan Private Bank, that there was a gender shift happening in her clientele.  Instead of working primarily with men like she used to, her clientele is now two-thirds women.

There are now more women in business.  More women heading family foundations.  More women getting involved in women’s philanthropy at all levels–from giving to their local women’s foundation, to volunteering for organizations serving women and girls, to pooling their resources through giving circles.

"The women’s funding movement has grown by leaps and bounds," Philp says in Kimberly’s column.

Due in no doubt to the satisfaction that is gained from giving with greater impact by giving together–models and structures created largely through the advent of women’s philanthropy.

A rich tradition that doesn’t require a rich bank account to make a big difference.

Navigating egalitarian values and wealth led to pathway of philanthropy and justice.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

Philanthropist Laurie Emrich, a "woman moving millions," and a founding board member and supporter of The Women’s Foundation, as well as many international women’s funds, describes how her journey from Denver to Africa to Washington, D.C. was an intellectual, spiritual and emotional one leading to her commitment to give back to her community and to "participate in the long-term building of an inclusive, community-based, multi-racial movement for justice."

Read more about Laurie’s journey to social justice and philanthropy in her own words here.

Laurie explains in her piece that she derives inspiration from the words of 1960s rhythm and blues singer-songwriter Wilson Pickett: "Ya gotta shake whatcha brought whicha."

Laurie’s story is one of transforming the gifts and abundance she has received into a true spirit and lifetime of giving back. 

She inspires us all to consider what we all "brought whicha," and how we can use it–whatever our gifts–to better our communities and the world.

Call to action: Recycle your cell phone and support women and girls.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

Got an old, unused cell phone around gathering dust?

Do a good deed by keeping it from a landfill and helping generate funding for work benefiting women and girls around the United States and the world.  For every cell phone you recycle, you’ll also save an estimated 66 pounds of carbon dioxide–the cause of global warming. 

Visit the Good Deed Foundation to learn more, request a postage-free envelope and get that cell phone out of the closet and put to good use.

Or, if you’re coming by The Women’s Foundation’s office or to a meeting, bring your used cell phone to the front desk or a staff member and we’ll ship it off for you.

It’s never been easier to do a good deed and help out the world’s women and girls and the environment.

To request a postage-paid envelope to use to mail in your phone, click here.