Women

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending August 28, 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:

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.

829 posts later, a bittersweet farewell. #inspired #transformed

Posted on by Lisa Kays

November 22, 2006, when I posted my first post to this blog, seems like a lifetime ago (not in a bad way).  And I know now that anyone who says that a job is just a job has never worked at The Women’s Foundation.

For when I was handed the reigns of this blog, and given the responsibility of managing The Women’s Foundation’s communications and marketing, I had no idea that what I was truly being handed was a genuine community–a community committed to changing our region by investing in women and girls.

I know, I know–it sounds like a marketing pitch. A line. A brand. A lot of nonprofit mission mumbo jumbo. 

But I guarantee you, I’m not a good enough salesperson to be able to sell something I don’t believe in.  Just ask my mother. 

Have you seen my gameface?  No. 

Because I don’t have one.

But in this position, I’ll admit, I did get a marketing platform, a brand, to draw upon.  And it made my life easier–not because it was a brand, but because it was true. 

So, on my last day as The Women’s Foundation’s Director of Communications, I thought I’d unveil a bit about the brilliant tool that Susan Hasten and her colleagues at AXIS Communications put into my hands a few months after I came on board, and prove to you that it is, in fact, who we are here at The Women’s Foundation.

At least from my perspective.

For more than two years, the post-in note on my computer has had four words that have defined not only my work, but The Women’s Foundation.  Writing and speaking and thinking to and from them has not been a challenge.  For they speak for and to who we are. 

Here’s how:

Community
The Women’s Foundation is, indeed, a community.  I have been honored to get to see it work from a number of perspectives.  And so have you. 

Our donors give not only from their bank accounts, but of their time and talent to change our community.  From Rainmakers to members of the African American Women’s Giving Circle to 1K Club members to Washington 100 members to the folks at Hobo International who donate the handbag centerpieces at our annual luncheon, our donors are thoughtful, smart, savvy, and commited to social change. 

They want to roll up their sleeves and get involved and they do.

Michael Colella has been taking the pictures that have enabled us to demonstrate the power of our work for years, as a volunteer, 100 percent of the time.  His commitment to our work and our mission extend beyond what I can convey here.  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I’m not sure even that would do it.  And in the meantime, he’s kept me laughing even when we were working way after hours and ready to throw up our hands the night before the luncheon.

The Bivings Group, which developed and helps manage TheWomensFoundation.org (pro bono mind you), helped me figure out how to blog effectively, grow this site, and made our online votes and tons of other online initiatives possible.  Their knowledge, patience with me ("I can’t get the photo to upload!") and dedication to our work has astounded me every step of the way.

Jennifer Cortner (a board member and chair of our communications committee) and her colleagues at EFX Media have worked tirelessly to bring our work to life on video, while Jennifer has served as a mentor, teacher and friend to me as I made my way through video posting, luncheon production, and print layout (Wayne, Jessica, and Roberto, thanks for not killing me over those Community Update layouts). 

And now we have RP3, which has stepped in to support our print publications, luncheon theming and countless other aspects of our work (again, pro bono).  They are creative, committed and their understanding of and ability to reflect our mission and work back to us with their beautiful layouts, design and concept ideas has done nothing but floored me since I first met Beth and Kristi.

And, of course, there is The Hatcher Group, which supports our media outreach.  From Angie–who has taught me more about media, writing op-eds, press releases and just generally getting the word out, while also being a tremendous mentor and friend, to Josh–who came in and showed me everything I ever needed to know about social media in two hours or less, their impact on our work cannot be overstated.  They are constantly thinking about how they can help us promote our work and the interests of women and girls thorughout our community and it has been a true pleasure to work with them. 

And in addition, a few years ago, they said, "We’d like to work with your Grantee Partners (at no extra charge), to help them with their media capacity."  Ever since, we’ve picked a few partners each year to work one-on-one with them, resulting in stories like this one on The Art League and one on Fair Fund in the Washington Post–among many other positive outcomes that emerged from their work.

Then there is the staff of The Women’s Foundation: my colleagues and, now, good friends.  My colleagues are smart, hard working, mission-oriented people for whom I have the greatest respect.  They are also kind, funny and good-hearted.  Some of them microwave Tootsie Rolls, but hey, we all have our issues. 

In any case, it has been a pleasure to work with them, and to coax them into the crazy online world that is the blogosphere, Twitter and Facebook.  They have been patient with my antics, and eventually downright supportive.  Some, we could say, took that ball and ran with it (Gwen) in ways that even I hadn’t fathomed, and have made significant contributions to the thinking and dialogue around issues impacting women and girls in our community.  (Even if it was "age-inappropriate.")

A few samples of their posts can be found here, here, here, here, and, here, and pretty much all over the place.  Their writing, thinking and work daily makes me proud to have worked alongside them. 

It has been a priviledge to know and work with these committed women and men and to see this side of my community. 

Many, many times I have been asked how The Women’s Foundation has managed to have such superb media coverage, outreach and publications, and my answer is always that it’s because we have an extensive network of true partners standing behind us, committed to our work, our message and our mission. 

It is these people, and those I am sure I am forgetting to name, who, very honestly, have given The Women’s Foundation its voice in our region.

Connect
Broadly, this refers to The Women’s Foundation’s ability to connect Grantee Partners with resources, women to other women to make their community activism and giving more effective, and to make connections between the women and girls who need support and those who can help provide it.

In my work though, it has meant building connections through the online, offline and various worlds of communications.  And it’s been great, great fun.

Starting when Donna Callejon, our former board member and social media guru and mentor to me, said, "You have to go on Facebook." 

"Ugh, really?"

And so we did.  425 Cause members later, I’d say we’re pretty connected.  (Not to mention that I’ve reconnected with almost my entire high school debate team, but that’s another story.)

Then it was Twitter. 

"Seriously?" 

But 605+ Followers later, she may have been onto something.

Then she said, "Can we please take ourselves less seriously sometimes?  I know our work is serious, but do we always have to be?"

We listened, and tried out this and this.

Then she said, "And can the blogs please be shorter?" 

Mostly, we ignored her on this point. #verbose

Inspire
And here is where I get to talk about our Grantee Partners and the women and girls whose lives they transform each and every day.  Lives like Linda Butler and Christine Walker and the women and girls served by Polaris Project and other local organizations fighting human trafficking.

Their stories are endless, and so is their impact.  It will go on for generations, ebbing through individual lives, families and communities. 

In my work, I have had the privledge of learning about and telling their stories, over and over. 

It has been an honor to do this, and inspiring beyond words (Yes, even for me). 

In telling the stories of how our Grantee Partners are changing lives through jobs in construction, rehabilitation after prison, and helping prevent and help women and girls gain freedom after being trafficked, among countless others, I knew that I was only doing half of my job. 

That as part of The Women’s Foundation’s mission to raise the voices of women and girls, that we had to also raise theirs.

I was inspired to start office hours around communications and marketing, to learn about their needs and stories and challenges and to try to help ways to foster awareness of their work despite small budgets, lean staffs and workloads that were spiralling further and further out of control as the recession deepened. 

And from that, I was astounded to see that despite these challenges, their voices rose.

They started blogs, like this one, this one and this one.  They started Facebook pages and then began to Tweet, here, here and here.

Just to name a few.

Transform
And in that process, I was truly and genuinely changed. 

I went from being content writing and talking about this work to wanting to do it. 

I was inspired by more of our Grantee Partners than you can name, and not a small group of donors and members of the larger community around The Women’s Foundation, but it was the day that I wrote this that I knew that the next step for me would be to go into direct service. 

So I applied to graduate school and will begin a full-time Master’s program in social work this fall. 

And thus, 829 posts later, I find myself saying a very bittersweet farewell, to a community that has connected me to the leaders and visionaries and philanthropists that have inspired me to make a change. 

Personally and professionally.

So as you can see, it is much more than a branding platform. 

It is who we are.  It is truly, and genuinely, what we do.

As of close of business today, Lisa Kays is no longer the Director of Communications at The Women’s Foundation, but is honored to have been for the past (nearly) three years.  She is currently a full-time student pursuing a Master’s degree in social work.

Good news from Cosmo: In some ways, women are more financially secure.

Posted on by Alexis Matsui

In Cosmopolitan.com’s recent “10 things Women do Better than Men List” – just the tip of the iceberg, I assume – a few surprising points stood out among the rest.

It turns out that, according to Cosmo, the fairer sex is more financially secure.  A few of the list’s findings:

4.  We’re more recession proof.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that of the six million Americans who have lost jobs since December of 2007, when the recession started, 80 percent of them have been men.

There are several factors to this startling statistic, one of them being the fact that the economic downturn has taken a major toll on male-dominated businesses such as construction and manufacturing. Strong fields among women such as nursing and education have persevered much better.

Author Catherine Kaputa, who wrote “The Female Brand: Using the Female Mindset to Succeed in Business,” claims it’s not just a difference in profession but a difference in management style helping women survive company cutbacks.  She writes, “In general, women are most comfortable with a management style that is more collaborative and less concerned with rigid hierarchy and top-down directives,” she told CNN Money. “As it happens, that more inclusive, collegial style is what gets results in global companies today.”

5.  We graduate college more often.
Cosmo points out college enrollment rates for women have been higher than those for men for decades, but it seems women continue to out perform men once they get to campus.

"Department of Education statistics show that men, whatever their race or socioeconomic group, are less likely than women to get bachelor’s degrees — and among those who do, fewer complete their degrees in four or five years," the New York Times reported. "Men also get worse grades than women."

While women are certainly breaking academic stereotypes and buffing up on intellectual intensity, the reasons behind this trend may have more to do with race than gender, the article said.

"In recent years, the gender gap has been widening, especially among low-income whites and Hispanics," the Times reported. "When it comes to earning bachelor’s degrees, the gender gap is smaller than the gap between whites and blacks or Hispanics, federal data shows."

9. We’re better managers, especially in this economy.
Multitasking is simply second nature to most women I know. Juggling 20 tasks and seeing things through from start to finish makes women stand out in the workplace, according to the New York Daily News.

"It’s a very service-oriented economy, so you need employees to be motivated and excited about what they do," says Jay Forte, author of “Fire Up! Your Employees and Smoke Your Competition."  Forte also says women’s emotional sensibilities come in handy.

"Women are stronger communicators and better connectors than men, and they’re more astute about knowing how to activate passion in their employees. When workers feel connected and positive, they perform better."

10. We invest better.
Last on Cosmo’s list was a surprising statistic to those used to the image a stock room floor full of invigorated, screaming men. Though fewer women than men are investing, they are making more for their money.

The UK’s MSN Money reported women embody the traits of good investors because they "tend to be more cautious, less confident of their ability, less likely to follow investment fads and have a longer-term approach to investing."

MSN cites several examples of studies showing females’ portfolios outperforming men’s, including a study from May 2004 to May 2005 showing women’s investments averaging an 18 percent return, while men averaged 11 percent.

In a volatile market where cooler heads have prevailed, men’s tendencies to chase hot trends in stock markets have made them more vulnerable to fluctuations than their steady-handed counterparts. This trend might get weaker as more and more women, providing more variety among them, enter the financial world.

Alexis Matsui is a Senior Associate, Client Services at The Bivings Group, which designed and helps manage TheWomensFoundation.org on a pro bono basis.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending August 14, 2009)

Posted on by Lisa Kays

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 week.

Here’s this week’s news:

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.

Back to school and bittersweet.

Posted on by Latricia Allen

Nearly 19 years ago, I was a fragile teenager faced with some very tough and grown-up decisions.  I was pregnant and confused and had very little support.  To many, this was no shocking news, and the negativity associated with teenage pregnancy and me were the expectations of many.

Alone, scared and with very little means, I made the decision to have my baby; no one could have prepared me more for the journey than my son himself.  He taught me love, patience and strength.  How not to give up, and even how to say I’m sorry when I’m wrong.

Most of our earlier years together were merely trial and error.  We struggled daily and I was constantly worried about food and shelter.  However, through the grace of God, many people were placed in our lives and from these special relationships came a whirlwind of opportunities. 

Fortunately, I took advantage of those opportunities and have broken a cycle that has haunted so many before us.

This week, I am driving to North Carolina Central University, where my son will begin his freshman year.

Not only is this a huge feat for our family (both close and extended), but this marks a milestone in both of our lives: my son’s transition from adolescents to adulthood, as well as my pre-mature transition as a 34-year-old, divorced mom to empty-nester.

My thoughts exactly: I’m way too young to be an empty-nester!

Although the past several weeks have been stressful (good stress, if there is such a thing) with all the planning, purging and packing for college, it’s actually times like this when the impact of being a single parent are most strongly felt. 

However, I am grateful to be “here” in spite of the circumstance.

To my son, I gave every fiber of me and now to the world I give my “love deposit”: a handsome, intelligent, respectful, well-mannered, self-sufficient, self-assured young man. And together we have beaten the odds.

It’s amazing how things come full circle. Years ago, I found it hard to see the end of the week. Today, I can see his future.

I love you son!

Latricia Allen is The Women’s Foundation’s Grants Manager.

Weekly Round-Up: News and Analysis on Women and Poverty (Week ending August 7, 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:

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.

Calvary Women's Services: When you're serious about making a change.

Posted on by Kris Thompson

Irene, a woman who lives at Calvary Women’s Shelter, recently said, “Calvary’s where you go when you’re serious about making a change.”

Irene credits her own new direction in life to the support she has received at Calvary. “Now, I do what I have to do. I just work on changing from the inside out.”

The J. Jill Compassion Fund was created to help women like Irene.  Each year it awards grants to organizations that help low-income and homeless women become self-sufficient. Calvary Women’s Services was selected as one of 28 organizations across the country to receive a $10,000 grant from the Compassion Fund. This grant helps us continue to provide homeless women in Washington, D.C. with “a safe, caring place for tonight; support, hope and change for tomorrow.”

Each year, we support 150 women as they journey from homelessness to self-sufficiency. Many of the women in our programs have experienced both drug addiction and mental health problems.  Many are survivors of domestic violence.

And all of them have known what it’s like to be without a safe, stable place to live.

Our programs work with women as individuals to empower them to take control of their own lives—helping them not only find permanent housing, but also to address some of the reasons they became homeless. Because our programs are small, our staff can provide personalized support to each woman as she works to become self-sufficient.

Each year, 60 percent of the women who come to Calvary move into their own homes. Many others take positive steps to prepare for independent living.

Earlier this year, The Women’s Foundation recognized Calvary’s work with a Leadership Award in recognition of our work with low-income women and their families.  In addition, they have been providing support for our communications and marketing efforts as part of their technical assistance "beyond the check."     

Kris Thompson is the Executive Director of Calvary Women’s Services, recognized as a 2009 Leadership Awardee by The Women’s Foundation.  Learn more about them on their Web site or on Facebook.

Who says social change is slow? I blinked and nine powerful, inspiring years went by.

Posted on by Donna Callejon

I blinked and nine years went by.

Okay, my eyes were open most of the time, but it is truly hard to believe that it has been nine years since my first Washington Area Women’s Foundation board meeting in 2000.

As I roll off The Women’s Foundation’s board – and onto the Board of the global Women’s Funding Network – I look back with a feeling of privilege and pride and still envision the promise yet to be realized by this dynamic organization and community.

When former president of The Women’s Foundation, Anne Mosle, asked Jane Fox-Johnson and me to join the board, we were both enthusiastic, but cautious. 

I told Anne, “Sure, I will join your board, but I will not ask anyone for money.”

What a difference a decade makes.

As she predicted, it soon became second nature to want to invite others into The Women’s Foundation’s big tent, because I was confident that our work was both effective and necessary. 

From Community Bridges in Montgomery County, to Tahirih Justice Center in northern Virginia, to FAIR Fund in D.C., The Women’s Foundation has had the privilege to support more than 100 organizations through grants, technical support, convenings and more. 

And, in the course of doing so, has established itself as an anchor in the Washington metropolitan area.

As I prepared for my final board meeting and reflected on where we are today, I found myself drawn back to the values and attributes that have made The Women’s Foundation unique and special.  When I reflected on our  “first principles,” and remembered that the common denominator of our success and growth has been our intense and purposeful attention to them, the core values that came to mind were:

  • In Washington, it is easy to define “diversity” merely on racial terms. But our commitment has always been, and will always be, to inclusion in its broadest – and constantly changing – sense. We can always make the tent bigger, but come to the Leadership Luncheon on October 20th and you’ll see what I mean in one room;
  • Collaboration – sometimes with unlikely allies – and true partnerships have been hallmarks of our work. We call our grantees “Grantee Partners” and we mean it.  From a philosophical standpoint, we believe we find better solutions through partnerships. And in this tough economic time, leverage is a key and necessary element of our impact;
  • I lost track somewhere around 2004 of the number of times people shook their heads and said, “But how can you do that, you are such a small organization?”  But from day one – and with Anne and Marjorie’s steadfast leadership, and now with Phyllis and the current team – one of the most exciting aspects of being part of The Women’s Foundation has been a willingness to step into uncharted territory, experiment wisely, and create breakthroughs because of it.  I hope this never changes;
  • Honoring the past and those who paved the way for this stage of our work has always been a core component of who we are. From our founders to former board and staff leaders, to the early funders who took a chance on us – inspiring women and men have provided outstanding leadership.  I thank them personally and say it has been an absolute honor to work side by side with you to make a difference for women and girls in our region; and,
  • Finally – and for those of you who know me – humor and fun have been integral to the spirit and, I believe, success of Washington Area Women’s Foundation. We take our work extremely seriously, but we can’t take ourselves the same way. Some of my strongest memories are of laughing with girls at one of our Grantee Partner’s programs…and dancing with my fellow board members at our retreats.

It has been an awesome privilege to call myself a member of this board – and I am excited to remain part of this community as it continues on its amazing journey.

Donna Callejon served on The Women’s Foundation’s board of directors from 2000-2009.  As of July 2009, she is a board member of the Women’s Funding Network and also serves on the boards of Nonprofit Village in Maryland and GlobalGivingUK.  In her professional life, she is the Chief Business Officer of GlobalGiving.

Helping prevent proposed cuts to D.C.'s safety net will help low-income women. Join us.

Posted on by Gwen Rubinstein

The stock market may be going up – but, unfortunately, other economic indicators, such as unemployment and homelessness are, too.

This means continued down times for many D.C. families, particularly low-income, women-headed families.

To make matters worse, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty is proposing cuts to key social welfare programs that more and more residents are turning to in their time of increasing need.  Specifically:

  • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. Proposed cut: $6.2 million. According to Stepping Stones Grantee Partner, DC Women’s Agenda (DCWA), about 50,000 low-income parents and children in DC receive TANF, and 90% of the adults in these families are women. The current TANF benefit for a family of three is the same as it was in 1991 – and provides families with only 29% of the poverty line;
  • Workforce Development. Proposed cut: $5.4 million. According to U.S. Department of Labor (based on data reported by the city), more than half of the adults in the publicly funded workforce development system in the city are women;
  • Adult Literacy. Proposed cut: $2 million. According to the DC government, a majority (55.1%) of those served in publicly funded adult literacy programs in the city in 2007 were women; and,
  • Local Rent Supplement Program. Proposed cut: $2 million. Originally an addition to the budget by the City Council, this funding would have extended housing assistance to an additional 180 families, mostly headed by women, according to DCWA. Now it is in serious jeopardy, as are the additional families that could have benefited.

Local groups (including many Grantee Partners of The Women’s Foundation), under the umbrella of the Coalition for Community Investment, have organized the Save our Safety Net Coalition to help prevent these cuts from being realized.

I urge you to join them in the fight against these damaging cuts.

Gwen Rubinstein is a Program Officer at The Women’s Foundation.

Minimum wage increased: Happy raise, ladies!

Posted on by Gwen Rubinstein

My thoughts today are with all of the working women (and it is mostly women) who got a raise today when the federal minimum wage increased to $7.25.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women make up more than two-thirds (67.8%) of hourly workers paid the minimum wage, even though nearly the same number of women and men work in jobs paid hourly rates.

This increase is undoubtedly a welcome help to many low-income, women-headed families in our region.  While it only adds up to $112 per month (pre-tax), for someone working full time, it is more than a 10% increase over the previous minimum wage of $6.55.

Still, much remains to be done to improve the economic security of low-income, women-headed families, including further attention to the minimum wage.  Even with this increase, today’s workers are still behind, compared to 20 years ago, when the minimum wage was $2.90 – which is $8.62 in 2009 dollars.

Gwen Rubinstein is a Program Officer at The Women’s Foundation.