Author: Mariah Craven

Equal Pay Day: Gender Wage Gap is a Chasm for Women of Color

Posted on by Mariah Craven

As we approached Equal Pay Day (April 9th), a number of bloggers and organizations were asked to write about what they’d do with an additional $11,000. That’s how much more the average woman would earn per year if her pay were equal to a man’s.

If she were a woman of color, however, that gap would be even greater. In the Washington region, the median earnings for black women are over $37,000 less than that of white men ($46,138 vs. $83,299). For Latinas, the gap is more than $52,000 ($30,831 vs. $83,299). Asian women have median earnings of $48,891 – over $34,000 less than the earnings of white men.*

If women’s incomes matched those of white men, what would that additional money mean for women of color in our community? It would be more than enough to fund an entire associate’s degree at a local community college. It would fund more than half of a bachelor’s degree at some local universities. It would send three children to a really high-quality preschool in DC. And it would cover the cost of a two-bedroom apartment in the District. It could provide more reliable transportation and could fund afterschool activities and trips. Something could be set aside for the inevitable emergencies life throws everyone’s way, and investments could be made.

In addition to funding the basic needs of themselves and their families, these women would be putting a staggering amount of money back into our community. In our report, 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we shared that nearly two million women live in the DC region. Fifty-three percent of them are Asian, black or Latina – that’s about one million. If just half of them had an income that matched the median earnings of white men, they’d have a combined income of $42 trillion. And that’s only half! Imagine if all women across the area were compensated as well as men….

That money would support families, be spent at local businesses, and could be invested in assets across our region that would build better neighborhoods and ultimately a better community. A significant portion would go to the federal government and – given the fact that women donate an average of 3.5 percent of their wealth – the nonprofit community would see some pretty significant changes, as well.

In addition to discussing what women would do with a higher income, I think it’s important to recognize what we can all accomplish when women earn more. Like so many other things, pay equity is an issue that primarily touches the lives of women – but it’s not simply a “women’s issue.” It affects every one of us and as long as it exists, it means that we’re not doing as well as we could be economically or morally. Equal pay for equal work is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, and the only thing to do if we truly want to make this a country where everyone can thrive.

*See page 32 of 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Grantee Partner Spotlight: Academy of Hope

Posted on by Mariah Craven

In December 2012, Washington Area Women’s Foundation made grants totaling $805,500 to 23 DC-area nonprofits whose work is improving the economic security of low income women and their families. One of those organizations was Academy of Hope, which provides high quality adult basic education that changes lives. Here’s a look at why The Women’s Foundation made a grant to Academy of Hope.

Turning 15: Celebrating Our Supporters

Posted on by Mariah Craven

What do you remember about turning 15? What I remember most about that incredible year was learning to drive. Getting a learner’s permit and being able to hit the road (with a licensed adult) was my first really big step toward independence and, if my mother’s terrified face over in the passenger’s seat was any indication, I was starting out enthusiastically but needed a little guidance. Her hand on the wheel helped steer me away from the mailboxes and signs that lined Roswell Road. Her slightly strained voice reminded me that I needed to switch lanes after checking my blind spot (and turning just my head, not the whole minivan). She taught me how to read a map to make sure that I was going in the right direction. Eventually, she kept her hands off the wheel and trusted me to change lanes without saying “car! Car! CAR!” to me with increasing urgency.

In January we announced that Washington Area Women’s Foundation turns 15 this year. Our anniversary comes on the heels of some big transformations (strategic planning, a new mission, and a new logo) and right in the middle of a growth spurt (the Campaign to Prosperity). Since 1998, there have been several donors whose guidance, generosity and support have helped the Foundation grow into the catalyst for change it is today.

Marion Ballard began making donations to The Women’s Foundation even before the organization was incorporated. She holds the record for longest consecutive giving history (17 years!). Anne Morrison, Anne Mosle and Jim Whitney have been giving for 16 years each. And Nancy Folger has been giving for 15 years. Donors who have supported the Foundation consecutively for the past 13-14 years are: Maya Ajmera, Coralie Bryant, Susan L. Butler, Donna Callejon, Lisa Claudy Fleischman, Julia Horman and Marjorie Pray.

More than a decade ago, these donors made a commitment to a small organization with a big goal: to transform our community by investing in women and girls. That commitment has been reflected in their continued philanthropy, but it goes beyond that. They have helped us grow by enthusiastically sharing our work with others – in fact, many of you probably heard about The Women’s Foundation through one of them. They have helped us map out our future. They trust the staff of experts at the Foundation to make changes when the environment and community call for them. And they remain well-informed and connected throughout the region, helping us keep an eye on the blind spots.

Thank you to the donors who got on the road with us 15 years ago and to those who have joined the ride since.

Want to share a memory about one of our early donors? Leave a comment below or email us at communications@wawf.org.

Maryland, Virginia Score Big in Early Education

Posted on by Mariah Craven

state report cards“Exciting news about Maryland: not only did the state take the top spot in Education Week’s Quality Counts 2013 report, Maryland got especially high marks when it came to early care and education. Each year, the Quality Counts report card evaluates American education, assigning a grade and rank to each state and the District. “For 2013, the nation receives a C-plus when graded across the six distinct areas of policy and performance tracked by the report, marking a slight improvement since last year,” said Education Week.

This is the fifth year in a row that Maryland was named the top-ranked state. With an overall grade of B-plus (87.5), the state’s grades included an A (100) in early childhood education in the Transitions & Alignment category.

“Every year, there’s a challenge to sustain the big investment we’ve made in education,” Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley told The Washington Post. “But when you see the results and the greater numbers of kids graduating and taking AP courses and entering kindergarten ready to learn, those accomplishments make it a little easier to justify and defend the investment.”

Virginia ranked fourth in the country, with the overall grade B (82.9). The Commonwealth also received a score of 100 in early childhood education. DC ranked 45th, with an overall C-minus (71.5) and scored a B-minus (80) in early childhood education.

This news is particularly exciting for us at The Women’s Foundation because it further supports what we’ve long known: investments in early care and education (ECE) work. It’s telling that not only does Maryland score well in ECE, but the state received a high score (A-minus) in the college readiness category, too. By making sure that children have a high-quality educational foundation before they even begin elementary school, we’re setting them up to succeed beyond graduation.

In spite of these investments, access remains an issue. In our 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we pointed out that just 14 percent of four-year-olds in Virginia, 35 percent in Maryland, and 40 percent in the District were enrolled in publicly-funded preschools. We also reported that high-quality preschools can be prohibitively expensive, especially for low-income single women raising children.

An affordable, high-quality early education helps lift families out of poverty and creates a more successful workforce for our region. Now that states like Maryland and Virginia have succeeded in creating good ECE programs, we need to make sure that every family has the opportunity to take advantage of them.

You can learn more about our investments in ECE by clicking here.

Image credit: edweek.org

Five Women Who Transformed Media in 2012

Posted on by Mariah Craven

women_Media“You cannot be what you cannot see,” is one of those adages that works in a lot of contexts, none more so than inspiring girls, young adults and women to believe that it’s possible to follow their dreams and reach their full potential. Here are our five favorite moments in 2012 where women and girls stepped into the media spotlight and inspired us.

5. Julia Bluhm changes the face of the magazine industry. 14-year-old Julia started an online petition calling for Seventeen magazine to print one unaltered photo spread per month – no airbrushing and a realistic portrayal of what girls actually look like. Julia and a group of teen girls delivered the 84,000 signatures they collected to Seventeen in New York City. After the petition was delivered, the editor-in-chief of the magazine pledged to feature pictures of real girls and models who are healthy.

4.The television show Scandal. ABC’s hit show about a crisis management team was developed by Shonda Rimes, one of the most successful black women in entertainment. The main character, a strong, smart business owner, is played by Kerry Washington, making Scandal the first primetime network drama that a black woman has starred in since 1974’s Get Christie Love.

3. Having it all – or not. For the third year in-a-row, The Atlantic lit a fuse and watched an article about women take off. In 2010, Hanna Rosin proclaimed it “The End of Men.” Last year, Kate Bolick wrote about “All the Single Ladies” (which is reportedly being adapted for television). And in 2012, Anne-Marie Slaughter said it’s time to stop fooling ourselves in “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” Between them, the articles have generated tens-of-thousands of comments, social media recommendations, and response blog posts. They’ve sparked new conversations about everything from marriage to children and work supports to glass ceilings. Whether you agree with the authors’ theses or not, it’s a new opportunity to have discussions about issues that impact specifically women.

2. Marissa Mayer becomes the head of Yahoo! In July, Mayer was named the president and CEO of Yahoo!, becoming the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company and one of the most powerful businesswomen in America. Her ascension to the top of Yahoo! followed closely by her announcement that she was pregnant further opened up conversations about working women, their families, and support systems that enable them to juggle their responsibilities.

1. Candy Crowley moderates a presidential debate. In October, CNN’s political correspondent and Sunday morning talk show host became the first woman in 20 years to moderate a presidential debate. She was given rave reviews and so was ABC’s Martha Raddatz, who helmed the vice presidential debate.

Who would you add to this list? Which women in the spotlight inspired you in 2012?

Five Policies That Impacted Women & Their Families in 2012

Posted on by Mariah Craven

IMG_1244At The Women’s Foundation, we pay close attention to policies that affect women and their families throughout the year. Here are five that we’ve kept tabs on in 2012.

5. The Paycheck Fairness Act. In June, the Senate failed to move forward with legislation that would have helped ensure equal pay for both genders. The Paycheck Fairness Act would have required employers to demonstrate that gender does not play a role in salary differences between men and women performing the same work. The Senate fell eight votes short of advancing the bill, but – due to some political maneuvering – didn’t totally kill it. According to the Census Bureau, women’s median annual earnings are about 78 percent that of men’s. The gap is even greater for women of color.

4. 2012 Farm Bill. Food insecurity disproportionately impacts low-income women and children, who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps. SNAP is part of the Farm Bill, which was up for renewal this year (it has to be renewed every five years). The bill expired in September and Congress was unable to pass a new version before the House adjourned last week. The future of the bill could be impacted before the end of the year by fiscal cliff negotiations or retroactive extensions. The biggest points of disagreement in the bill are farm subsidies and SNAP benefits. There are currently 47 million people enrolled in the food stamps program.

3. The 2012 Election. While the election itself is not a policy, the record number of women elected to Congress in 2012 will likely have a significant impact on future policy. In spite of the notable increase, women still only make up 17 percent of Congress – we have a long way to go. Higher political representation for women at the national, state and local levels increases the likelihood that laws and policies will reflect the needs and interests of women and children.

2. Affordable Care Act. In June, the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act, which will be an important tool in improving the health and economic security of low-income women and their children. Under the ACA, women will pay lower healthcare costs and can receive preventative care without co-pays. Medicaid coverage will also be expanded to cover more families who live above the poverty line but who are still economically insecure.

1. Resolving the “Fiscal Cliff.” This is still a work-in-progress… we hope. If there’s no compromise, experts say that the hundreds-of-billions-of-dollars in tax increases and spending cuts that will take place on January 1st will likely push the country into a recession. The impact on low-income women and children would be disproportionate and particularly devastating. The services and policies that could be affected include: the Earned Income Tax Credit, the child tax credit, Head Start and other child care programs, nutrition assistance and housing assistance. As negotiations continue, the President and Congress need to work together to keep the country from going over the cliff – and not at the expense of our most economically vulnerable families.

Honor Women Veterans With Thanks & Resources

Posted on by Mariah Craven

women_in_military1-300x248“I wasn’t a loser,” Misha McLamb told the Associated Press earlier this year. Far from being a loser, the Navy aircraft specialist and mother of one served her country overseas before returning to the US and finding herself homeless.

“Everybody who’s homeless doesn’t necessarily have to have something very mentally wrong with them,” she said. “Some people just have bad circumstances with no resources.”

McLamb is one of 1.8 million women veterans who are experiencing homelessness, a number that has been on the rise, despite an Obama administration goal of ending veterans’ homelessness by 2015. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) says that there are specific risk factors for homelessness among women veterans, including:

  • combat and sexual trauma,
  • poverty,
  • lack of affordable housing, and
  • limited child care support.

Those factors are compounded by the fact that, according to The Washington Post, one-in-five female veterans is unemployed.

An estimated 33,000 women veterans live in our community. For me, it’s horrifying to think that any of these women who served our country are now sleeping on its streets. This Veterans Day, so many people will pay lip service to these heroes and their sacrifices. While “thank you” is nice, it’s just not enough. It’s time to honor veterans by providing them with everything they fought for: security, access to resources for all, and community.

The VA is reaching out to women service members with the Prevent and Eliminate Veteran Homelessness campaign. Through a variety of services including housing, job training, and medical and health, the VA is working to eliminate homelessness among all veterans. If you are or know of a woman veteran who is experiencing homelessness, please reach out to the VA at (877)4AID-VET or go to va.gov/homeless.

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A Woman's Vote is a Woman's Voice

Posted on by Mariah Craven

duty-poster-smallElection Day is almost here! Whether you’re preparing to celebrate or ready to cry from campaign exhaustion, I hope you’re going to take the opportunity to vote on November 6th. I’m always shocked and a little disappointed when a woman tells me that she’s not planning on voting. And then I break out my top five reasons for why she should:

5. 113-plus years of suffrage in the United States. For women, the road to the voting booth was long and arduous. Suffragists took on presidents, the states, Congress, law enforcement officers, and citizens who thought that a person could be unequal, unworthy and incapable of participating in elections, simply because she was a woman. For women of color and those living in poverty, the road to enfranchisement was even longer and tougher. Vote for hunger strikes and forced feedings. Vote for humiliation and bravery. Vote to honor the people who came before you and righted a wrong; vote to show those who will come after you that there is strength and power in casting a ballot.

4. Your vote DOES count. The Electoral College and the media calling races before the polls even close can make voting feel more symbolic than effective. But whether you live in a swing state or not, your vote will have an impact, particularly when it comes to local laws and policies. While the presidential election has overshadowed just about everything else, there are other races and initiatives to vote for. Click here to find out what’s on the ballot in DC, here to see what Marylanders are voting for, and here to see what’s on the ballot in Virginia. Vote because you care about what happens in your community.

3. Improve and increase resources for women and their families. Women – particularly single women raising children – remain more economically vulnerable, even as the country begins to recover from the recession. According to research from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), women were either breadwinners or co-breadwinners in most families. Yet, women make up nearly two-thirds of minimum wage workers, earn 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, and low-income families are mostly headed by single mothers. “By voting, women can make sure our elected leaders prioritize investments that will help women and their families through hard times, expand opportunity, and strengthen the economy,” says NWLC. Vote because stronger, more resilient women create stronger, more resilient families and communities.

2. “There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers.” —Susan B. Anthony

1. Your vote is your voice. Lawmakers listen to voters long after Election Day – it could be their key to getting re-elected in the future. Vote because you want to have a say in your future and in the community in which you live.

There are many, many other reasons to vote, but the ones I listed are what I’ll be thinking about on November 6th. Please share your own reasons in the comments below. And please, please make sure that you vote on Tuesday. To find out where your polling place is, click on your location: DC, MD, VA.

Images courtesy of the National Women’s Law Center.

Hurricane Sandy Resources

Posted on by Mariah Craven

The thoughts and prayers of Washington Area Women’s Foundation are with those affected by Hurricane Sandy. If you, or someone you know, needs assistance, please refer to the resources below. Although the storm has passed, many remain affected by the aftermath. We will be updating this list in the coming hours and days. If you have a resource to add, please e-mail communications@wawf.org.

Google Crisis Map with current power outage and emergency shelter information.

American Red Cross National Capital Region (1-800-RED-CROSS)

For emergencies, please call 911. For local services, dial 311.

Schools

Public schools in DC, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, and Fairfax and Arlington Counties will re-open on time on Wednesday, October 31st.

Power Outages

Food safety during power outages.

To report a power outage, check on an outage status, or to report downed wires to PEPCO, click here or call 1-877-PEPCO-62.

Dominion Virginia Power expects all power to be restored by Thursday night. To report an outage or downed power lines, call 1-866-DOMHELP.

Resources by Location

Storm news from Montgomery County

Updates and Resources in Prince George’s County

Resources, shelter, and city services information in the District

Emergency resources in Fairfax County

Who to call in Arlington County

Clean Up

The worker center at Casa de Maryland, a Women’s Foundation Grantee Partner, is offering clean up services in the days and weeks following the storm. For emergency clean up services, please call (240)706-0630 or e-mail mpetrick@casamd.org. In Prince George’s County, e-mail princegeorgecenter@casamd.org or call (240)491-5784. In Silver Spring: silverspringcenter@casamd.org or (301)431-4177. In Shady Grove: shadygrovecenter@casamd.org or (301)926-0810. In Wheaton: wheatoncenter@casamd.org or (301)933-4461.

Early Voting

In Maryland, early voting centers will re-open at 8am on October 31st. Early voting has been extended through Friday, November 2nd.

The DC Board of Elections will resume early voting on Wednesday, October 31st at 8:30am. Voting hours will be extended to 9:00pm through Saturday.

In Arlington, Courthouse Plaza is open for absentee voting. Satellite voting locations will open depending on power availability.