See below for a round-up of what was news this week in the world of philanthropy, social change and women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region and beyond:

This month is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.  In celebration, Feministing has invited API women to offer their voices to the blog. 

Among them this week, Kiran Ahuja, executive director of the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, reflected on being a young leader.  She writes, "That I am one of the youngest leaders in the national women’s movement is telling and highlights a serious challenge for the movement – where and when do we make room for new, young and diverse leaders, and when do we see that the inclusion of them determines the success of our movement?" 

Liezl Tomas Rebugio, also of NAPAWF, writes in "Connecting the Dots: Human Trafficking and Reproductive Justice," "The trafficking of women and girls is the quintessential example of reproductive oppression. ‘Get your laws off my body’ was a slogan used in the 1970’s during the women’s movement. But how does that apply to trafficked women and girls whose bodies are not treated as their own, but are treated as commodities?"

The Women’s Foundation in the News!

A May 11, 2007 Washington Times editorial, "Lasting security a Mother’s Day wish for many," by Adrienne Washington, advocates thinking in terms of long-term investments in women’s economic security for Mother’s Day, and not just in terms of long-stemmed roses–and she discusses Stepping Stones and Training Futures, a Grantee Partner, as examples of how to do just that!  

Stepping Stones Research Briefing Related News!
On May 11, 2007, The Women’s Foundation, in partnership with The Urban Institute, hosted the second annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing, featuring research on financial education and wealth creation, child care and early education and microenterprise development–with each topic examined from a gender lens.  To download the audio, or to check out the panelists’ presentations, click here!

Peter Tatian, a senior research associate with The Urban Institute, was quoted shortly thereafter in an article in the Examiner on subprime mortgages in our region, and their impact on increasing rates of foreclosures.  This topic was also explored at the briefing through Meghan Gallagher’s presentation, "Female Borrowers in the Washington Mortgage Market" and on The Huffington Post, where Jon Goldin-Dubois discussed how mortgage foreclosures are skyrocketing due to increasing sub-prime lending and a lack of regulation by the government.

Local Philanthropy and Activism

The Washington Post reports on more than 90,000 people–primarily women and mothers–throughout 37 states and Washington, D.C. who are "Pushing the Motherhood Cause," by meeting to mobilize around "six main issues: family leave, flex time, health insurance, child care, fair wages and children’s activities, such as better after-school programs. Their proposals are not new, but together they create a ‘motherhood’ agenda that has attracted a fresh enthusiasm."   

Women and Health and Safety
Health and safety is the focus of this year’s Leadership Awards Program and an issue area under Stepping Stones. See below for research and discussion that informs and impacts the health and safety of women and girls on a local and national level.

On Feministing, Jessica asks whether "Women-only hotel rooms"–designed to increase safety for women in hotels–are really a valid safety tactic, or whether it’s just a way of separating women instead of trying to improve the world they live in?  She asked a similar question about Brazil’s women-only train cars, designed to curb sexual harrassment. 

An article by Allison Stevens with Women’s eNews, "Bush May Veto Bill That Would Help Protect Hate Crime Victims," explains that, "Women’s rights groups are making a last-ditch push to enact legislation that would expand existing "hate crimes" laws to include gender and other categories such as sexual orientation, gender identity and disability."  Acvocates of the bill say that it would greatly benefit women and girls.  "Women could stand to gain substantially from the law," reports Stevens.  "The bill would add significant resources for prosecution of crimes in which the victims were targeted for their gender, as was the case in two high-profile shootings last fall in Pennsylvania and Colorado."

On Poverty and Economic Security

Education is a crucial component on the pathway to economic security for many.  In Give and Take, Peter Panepento discusses in, "Scholarships: What’s a Donor to Do?," the difficulty faced by those who want to fund college scholarships for those with the greatest need.  Citing research, Panepento writes, "The major problem…is many donors are operating under the false perception that students with the greatest needs are those coming out of high school.  But…many ‘needy’ students are adults returning to school, single parents, and students who hope to transfer from community colleges into four-year institutions."  In a similar cord, Siu Lang Panoke, a graduate student at American University, writes about her experience funding her education as a single mother in her blog post, "Economic Status Should Not Hinder Higher Education" on Real Women, Real Voices, the National Women’s Editorial Forum’s blog.

Riane Eisler in AlterNet discusses in, "What’s a Mother’s Worth?" how women over the age of 65 are twice as poor as their male peers.  She writes, "There’s a reason poverty so disproportionately hits women. Most of these elderly poor women were, or still are, caregivers — and according to most economists, the people who do the caring work in households, whether female or male, are ‘economically inactive.’ Of course, anyone who has a mother knows that most caregivers work from dawn to dusk. And we also know that without their work of caring for children, the sick, the elderly, and maintaining a clean home environment there would be no workforce, no economy, nothing. Yet current economic indicators and policies fail to include this work as ‘productive work.’"  On our blog, we also discuss the financial issues surrounding women and retirement.

On May 11, Washington Grantmakers’ Children, Youth, and Families, and Health Working Groups hosted a funders’ briefing on regional children’s issues.  The Washington Grantmakers’ blog reports in "Lines on a Map But Real Barriers for Children, "Some of the challenges facing area children stem from the fact that while families can move within the region, governments stop at the borders. There are gaps in funding and services because state governments’ scopes are too narrow to address certain problems.  Through regional collaboration, Washington Grantmakers members have an opportunity to leverage resources and coordinate in a way that has proven difficult for area governments, and to make a difference in the lives of our region’s children."

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Give and Take reports that, "Congressmen Issue Food-Stamp Challenge," to raise awareness about poor Americans.  "From May 15-21," explains the article, "four lawmakers are buying food based on the average food-stamp benefit, which is about $3 a day."  They’re blogging about their experience at the Congressional Food-Stamp Challenge site.

On Philanthropy and Nonprofit Capacity

Just as our recent Philanthropy Forum discussed the legacy of giving across families, so too is the Community Foundations of America examining best practices in family philanthropy in an essay, "Giving as a Family."

Generation change and nonprofit leadership has been a significant topic of conversation recently, fueled largely by the release of research from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund indicating that leadership transitions from the Baby Boom generation to Generations X and Y will become more common within the nonprofit sector.  The report, Generation Change and the Leadership of Nonprofit Organizations, offers recommendations on how a variety of stakeholders can improve the hand-off from this generation of leaders to the next.  On a similar note, the Initiative for Nonprofit Sector Careers examines the "missed connections" between nonprofits and new recruits out of college in its report, The Next Generation of Nonprofit Sector Leadership.

And that’s it for this week.  Enjoy catching up on the lastest news and views, and don’t forget to drop us–or the sites you visit–a comment or two about your thoughts! 

Enjoy your weekend!