Women

Coming out as a philanthropist.

Posted on by Tuti Scott

My friend Nanci came out as a philanthropist the other day.

We were talking about how she had manifested a miracle for a friend in need.  In our conversation I shared with her that philanthropy is really the love of humankind and it manifests when you express this. She was surprised to learn that philanthropy is not just a place for folks with lots of money who write checks to charity. 

We talked about using one’s time, talent, and treasure to lift people up and that this was the true essence of philanthropy.

So Nanci’s friend was in need.  Dealing with cancer, she needed a shower seat to support her low energy and fragile body while bathing. After being told she was too young to get one from the senior center, she called Nanci in tears and at the end of her rope. Nanci assured her it would all work out and that there was a solution and she would help. While they were on the phone, Nanci was en route to a Chamber of Commerce event driving through the rain when she saw an object on the side of the road. Amazingly, it was a shower seat.

Nanci proceeded to pull out her phone to show me the photo she took of her bike rack holding this shower seat.

She was in awe of the power of the moment and the gift the universe gave to her friend.  We talked more about what she does for work (Nanci is a massage therapist.), and how she is often holding the space for philanthropy – the love of humankind.

I often share in fundraising seminars about how I ask people to ‘come out’ about being a philanthropist.  When you have a story and a name of someone who has made a tremendous donation that often will inspire others to step up and give.

I would mean it in a genuine way as a lesbian who has watched people come out in many settings. I personally understand the charged energy of what that means to some people.

I find it energizing to encourage people to move out of their comfort zone of whatever they identify as and truly own new places in the world.  Last month at a conference on Sport, Sexuality and Culture at Ithaca College, I asked the mostly gay and lesbian audience to come out as social change leaders.

So Nanci – thanks for coming out and we welcome you to the safe, loving space of philanthropy.  We are honored you are on our team!

Tuti Scott is a point guard who still plays in a weekly basketball game to remind herself of the leadership skills learned from sport. Her company, Imagine Philanthropy, helps strengthen the brand and capacity of organizations and provides leadership coaching for nonprofit executives and philanthropists.  This post originally appeared on her blog on April 29, 2009.

Stepping Stones Research Briefing sneak peek: Want to know more about how unions help women workers?

Posted on by John Schmitt

Over the last three decades, women have substantially increased their importance in the unionized workforce. Women currently make up about 45 percent of all unionized workers. If recent trends continue, women will be the majority of organized labor by 2020.

These increases have not only been good for unions – they have also been good for women workers.

In a recent report, the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) documents that unions substantially raise the pay and benefits of women workers. According to the report, all else being equal, unions boost the wages of the average woman by about 11 percent (about $2.00 per hour).

The effects of unionization are even bigger on health insurance and pension benefits. Women in unions are 19 percentage points more likely than their non-union counterparts to have health insurance and about 25 percentage points more likely to have a pension.

Want to learn more?

Then join me when I present and discuss the findings of this report at The Women’s Foundation’s 2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing on Wednesday, May 20 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Katharine Graham Conference Center of the Urban Institute at 2100 M Street, NW on the 5th Floor.

Please RSVP here.  

Then help us spread the word.  We have an Event, "2009 Stepping Stones Research Briefing," on Facebook.  We’re also on Twitter @TheWomensFndtn. 

John Schmitt is a senior economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C.

Sex trafficking continues to strike in our communities, as do solutions by local organizations.

Posted on by Lisa Kays

Last week, New York Times columnist Nicolas Kristoff published a column on sex trafficking of young, American girls, stating, "The business model of pimping is remarkably similar whether in Atlanta or Calcutta: take vulnerable, disposable girls whom nobody cares about, use a mix of “friendship,” humiliation, beatings, narcotics and threats to break the girls and induce 100 percent compliance, and then rent out their body parts."

Eerily similar to a piece we posted here a while back discussing the work of our Grantee Partners fighting trafficking here in Washington, D.C., often on K Street, where The Women’s Foundation’s office is.

Oddly, the same day Kristof’s article was published, a timely reminder of how closely this issue continues to strike in my community hit my inbox, when Taylor Wilhelm, senior development officer with Polaris Project–a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation with work focused on combatting human trafficking–wrote to let us know of the powerful impact of their work. 

"Recently, a trafficker was brought to justice in a case that began with a call to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) hotline, operated by Polaris Project," she wrote.  "On a Friday afternoon, a youth educator called the hotline when her local youth center experienced the unexplained disappearances of several children. We were able to work with the caller to identify a human trafficking network, to refer the case immediately to federal authorities, and to locate the lost children in a nearby State two weeks later. They were discovered to be part of a multi-state human trafficking ring."  (See the press release.) 

Tayler closed by saying, "We greatly appreciate the many ways you all support us to make successes like this more common!"

The Women’s Foundation is proud to partner with organizations like The Polaris Project, Fair Fund and Covenant House (mentioned in the Kristof piece), to combat sex trafficking and to be part of the solution. 

As Kristof writes, "Solutions are complicated and involve broader efforts to overcome urban poverty, including improving schools and attempting to shore up the family structure. But a first step is to stop treating these teenagers as criminals and focusing instead on arresting the pimps and the customers — and the corrupt cops."

Each of these organizations understands this and is effectively working to educate their communities about the realities of trafficking, to advocate for policies and safe houses to protect victims and to collaborate with school and law enforcement officials to prevent trafficking at the outset.

The Women’s Foundation is proud to support their efforts.

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.

DCAF: Recession nearly doubles requests for abortion assistance as resources dwindle.

Posted on by Elisabeth Sowecke

Less than four years ago, I considered myself pro-choice, but I couldn’t tell you where to obtain an abortion in my northwestern-Ohio, college town.  In fact, the Planned Parenthood in Toledo (the nearest city to offer abortion services) could not offer abortion-care in order to receive state funding.  I naively assumed a woman seeking an abortion could have one at her doctor’s office or community clinic because she had the right to choose.  Period.

Today, I live in Washington, D.C. I am a communications associate at a reproductive health nonprofit, an abortion counselor at a women’s health clinic in Maryland and a case-manager for a local, grassroots abortion fund.

I can discuss the real-life avenues, barriers, freeways and alleyways to abortion-care access throughout this country.  If you have hours, perhaps days, I can lament and exalt in-depth stories of women who have abortions to preserve their health, dignity and the goodness in this world.

Everything I do in the reproductive justice movement is equally a basic human service and an act of privilege.  The women and families I serve deserve more than I, or this movement, can provide. 

Currently, there is no time for condolences and ritualized mourning, for discussing or attempting to prove what I know because women are homeless and jobless and still have children to feed. 

Meanwhile, they are assaulted, abandoned, ignored, denied and judged.

The DC Abortion Fund (DCAF) dedicates explanation, education, emotional support and vital financial assistance to women in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.  A dozen case-managers volunteer their time to field about 60 telephone calls per week, tailoring resources to each individual caller.  While every woman’s situation is unique, the recurring trends among our neighbors are undeniable.

Overwhelmingly, a woman seeking financial assistance for her surgery has less than $0 to her name, at least one child, no employment or a part-time job, and an apathetic man involved.  If her family does support her decision, they are often equally destitute, but contribute about $100 collectively.  She has nothing to sell or already sold it all to buy diapers or baby food a few months ago.  She will need to acquire anywhere from $250 to $7000 to have an abortion in her region.  She may opt to travel to Pennsylvania, New York or Atlanta, Georgia, where significantly lower surgery fees may off-set travel expenses.

In the past year, the need of those who reach out to the abortion fund has nearly doubled, and a modest, dedicated donor-circle replenishes the dwindling bank. 

As a case manager, I have told a crying 17-year-old with no parental support that DCAF will pay for the majority of her $3600 surgery, but I have also told a crying 17-year-old with no parental support that she will have to adjust to having her baby because our funds have been stretched and we have asked our supportive donors too often.

I foresee the situations of our neighbors getting worse in this financial climate before they get better. 

I fear one day she will have $0 and DCAF will have $0 to give her, and her life will grow even more disproportionately complicated.

I believe that when you give to your local abortion fund regularly, you profoundly simplify a potential mother’s life, giving her even the slightest bit more room to breathe, to recognize her potential in this life. 

In recognizing complexity, ambiguity and downright basic rights, you honor life by making reproductive justice a reality for every woman regardless of what’s in her wallet.

Elisabeth Sowecke is the lead case manager at the DC Abortion Fund, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending May 1, 2009)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with Washington Area Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit Washington Area Women’s Foundation for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• In an op-ed for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Christine Grumm, CEO of the Women’s Funding Network, and Barbara Mosacchio, CEO of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, call attention to the disproportionate poverty faced by women and call for action to address it

• A Boston Globe piece on local efforts to replicate the Harlem Children’s Zone, an antipoverty program touted by President Obama, notes that the Children’s Zone performs outreach to pregnant young women to offer parenting education.

• In an op-ed for the Deseret Morning News, George Mason professor Walter Williams criticizes what he calls permissive attitudes toward unwed pregnancy and young women who behave sexually in public, which he blames in part for the poverty and other problems faced by many African-American communities.

• The Louisville Courier Journal reports on an effort to encourage women participating in the Women, Infants, and Children program to breastfeed their children.

• Among the students interviewed in a Chicago Tribune piece on a local culinary school, which provides new opportunities to high school dropouts, is a young woman who left high school after becoming pregnant her junior year.

• The Greensboro News and Record focuses on the antipoverty efforts of several local young women.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Rebecca Roberts: I'm blessed to have many mothers in my life.

Posted on by Rebecca Roberts

I am blessed to have many mothers in my life.

My mother-in-law, Flicky Hartman, will get on a plane at a moment’s notice, bad knees and all, to help take care of my three sons. She tries to limit herself to two suitcases (She knows I’ll poke fun at her if she packs a different pair of cute shoes for every outfit, but you can be sure she has them at home.), yet she manages to look gorgeous, even while she’s elbow-deep in little boys. She remembers every detail, from which kid doesn’t like ketchup to the names of the moms on the soccer sidelines to which color towels would look perfect in my powder room. And although she was very properly brought up by old-world parents, she tells a great racy joke.

My grandmother Dorothy Roberts, age 90, is one of the smartest women I know. I have discussed countless books with her (She has more patience for introspective, slow moving novels than I do.) and she got me hooked on crosswords. I do not share her talent for needlework, but I proudly display hers in my house. And although I love a good chase scene too much to share her anti-Hollywood movie snobbery, I do admire her highbrow taste in films.

My other grandmother, Lindy Boggs, age 93, can also tell a pretty good racy joke. And even when you sit in her lovely apartment, surrounded by photos of her with world leaders, she wants you to know how important you are. She is unfailingly positive, complimentary, life-affirming, and generous. She even thinks misbehaving little boys are hilarious. She also thinks it’s pretty funny when I hiss at them to mind their manners.

And my own mother, Cokie Roberts…well, it seems limiting to call her my mother. The number of people she mothers at any given time is uncountable. With her work for Save the Children, she has taken her mothering skills global. My mother will, on any given day, do a radio interview, write a chapter of a book, take her mother-in-law to the doctor, counsel a young friend, give a speech, roast a leg of lamb, take the car in for service, let my four-year-old tag along to a board meeting, stop by a friend’s book party, take her mother to a charity event, and write a newspaper column. Oh, and look spectacular doing it.  It makes me tired just to write about it.  But instead of making me worry I will never live up to that standard, she is constantly telling me how impressed she is with me, what a good mother I am, how good I am at my job, how pretty I look.  She is extraordinary.

What to give this crowd for Mothers’ Day?

How can another scarf or purse or photo of my boys possibly honor their motherhood?

Luckily, The Women’s Foundation’s Mothers’ Day card was exactly what I wanted – a way to help women and girls who have not been as fortunate as I have, in the names of these remarkable women.

When the card came in the mail, I asked for three more!

And now, all four of the mothers in my life (and my boys’ lives, and my husband’s life, and yours, too, if you let them meddle) can get a tiny taste of how much they mean to me.

I hope to make it an annual tradition. (Right now, at least two of them are reading this and worrying I won’t send any more photos of the boys. Don’t worry, I’ll keep ‘em coming.)

To honor the amazing women in your life, click here.

Rebecca Roberts is a co-chair of The Women’s Foundation’s 1K Club and a member of the Washington 100 network.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending April 24, 2009)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The Chicago Sun Times reports on a charity that provides gowns to help low-income girls attend prom.

• A Miami Herald story on local African-American leaders highlights a minister who, herself having once been a homeless mother, has started an organization helping struggling women.

• The Boston Globe tells the story of a breast cancer survivor who received early detection because of a state insurance program for the poor.

• In a story on the troubled lives of Hispanic teenagers in a low-income suburb, the New York Times focuses on a young woman who has tried to reform herself after being a member of a local gang.

• The Pittsburgh Post Gazette profiles a young woman with an Ivy League education who will devote her first year out of college to serving the poor with AmeriCorps.

• Among the questions surrounding a law that could limit health care for illegal immigrants are its effects on screenings for breast and cervical cancer for low-income women, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

• The St. Petersburg Times runs a story on a clinic that has provided free cancer screening for hundreds of low-income women.

• The Associated Press reports that federal stimulus funds will allow New Mexico’s Women, Infants, and Children supplemental food program to serve 1,600 additional low-income women and their children.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending April 17, 2009)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.”  It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• The nation’s First Lady, Michelle Obama, uses an op-ed in USA Today to call for youth service.

• A Knoxville News Sentinel columnist criticizes the “free love” revolution and calls unwed motherhood a “moral crisis” that produces poverty and suffering for mothers and their kids.

• In a column for the Chicago Sun Times, Mary Mitchell calls attention to the danger of breast cancer, including its disproportionate effect on low-income women.

• The New York Times profiles a 16-year-old girl with musical talent, but with difficult circumstances in a low-income Ohio community.

• In a Washington Post op-ed, education columnist Jay Mathews focuses on a young girl and her mother who have questioned whether accelerated classes, a popular solution to educating low-income students, are always the best option.

• In a piece on the danger of AIDS in the American South, the Chicago Tribune tells the story of a woman struggling with the disease in rural North Carolina.

• In an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer, columnist Annette John-Hall supports a local program that helps homeless teen girls enjoy a day of free shopping.

• The Kansas City Star reports on a woman who once gave to charity while employed in the corporate world, but who has lost her savings in the recession and is now relying on United Way to make ends meet.

To learn more about Spotlight visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

News Round-Up: Women and Poverty (Week ending April 10, 2009)

Posted on by The Spotlight and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, is excited to collaborate with The Women’s Foundation to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

Starting next week, check out “Women and Poverty,” a new section of our site that will feature a comprehensive daily collection of all the news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit Washington Area Women’s Foundation for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• In an op-ed in the Atlanta Journal Constitution arguing against new, harsher penalties for speeders, the author cites the example of a single mother losing her license after getting pulled over on the way to work and to drop her kids off at day care.

• As noted in a McClatchy report carried in the Miami Herald, 50 advocacy organizations have come together to ask President Obama to support the hiring and training of women, minorities, and the poor to work on new federal construction projects.

• The Arizona Republic reports that a college scholarship fund for single moms has seen its applications jump from 40 to almost 300 within the past year.

• A South Florida Sun Sentinel article on a new program helping low- and moderate-income residents move into foreclosed housing focuses on a single mother excited to own her first home.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Congratulations to Polaris Project, winner of the online vote!

Posted on by Lisa Kays

Last night, The Women’s Foundation hosted what is my favorite event of the year–the Leadership Awards Reception–where we presented each of our 10 amazing awardees this year with their certificates and announced the winner of this year’s online vote.

This year’s vote–the second we’ve done–was incredible.  Last year, we brought in 1,187 votes total. 

This year, the vote’s winner, Polaris Project, brought in 2,715 votes themselves, with a total of 8,538 votes being cast overall.

Polaris Project was selected as a 2009 Leadership Awardee for their DC Trafficking Intervention Program (DC TIP), which has combatted human trafficking in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland Launched since 2002 by working to create an effective community-based response to curb local human trafficking network activity.  DC TIP provides comprehensive services to foreign national and U.S. citizen victims in the Washington metro area and works towards long-term, systemic change.

At the reception last night, Amb. Mark P. Lagan, Executive Director of Polaris Project, explained that Polaris Project is named after the North Star, otherwise known as Polaris, which guided slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.  Today, Polaris Project helps victims of all kinds of trafficking throughout the world to escape and rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. 

The Women’s Foundation congratulations Polaris Project for their outstanding work mobilizing support for the vote, and all of our 2009 Leadership Awardees for their awards and for the outstanding work they did to mobilize support for the vote and awareness of the transformational work they’re doing throughout our community to change the lives of women and girls. 

Lisa Kays is The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications.