I was thrilled when the Dove representative told me how they’d found us.

"We did a Google search for “inspiring women,” she said, and we came up with a blog on your site by Wendy Weaver.

I can’t think of a better Google search I’d like for us to pop up on, since inspiring is really our business.

Our donors and volunteers inspire us, and each other, every day. Our Grantee Partners inspire change in women and girls throughout our region. And those women and girls inspire our staff, board and supporters to continue to give back and grow the powerful wave of women’s philanthropy we’re all creating together.

It feels good any time that this is recognized publicly, even by a search engine.

Dove was looking for inspiring women to invite to be guest columnists on their Campaign for Real Beauty site. They asked me to write a brief reflection on a woman that has inspired me in some way.

I chose to write on a long-term hero of mine, Madame CJ Walker, the first African American woman millionaire, a model of philanthropy and a smart, savvy business woman. She began life as a slave, and ended it a brilliant entrepreneur making the first hair products especially designed for African American women.

As I was writing the piece, which will be posted in the coming weeks on the Dove site, I couldn’t help but think about the relationship between women and body image—the very issue Dove is addressing with their site.

And how for many women, their perception of their worth, their beauty, their self-esteem, their bodies, is dictated by an externally imposed sense of what is beautiful—rather than by an internal acceptance of all the quirks and differences that make us all unique.

Yet, there are far fewer external voices dictating notions of what women should do with their money, how they should feel about their money, what they should expect from their money.

Women are to shop, to buy, to consume.

Buy this face cream, this outfit, these shoes, and you’ll look fine, be fine.

The messages that make it an equally powerful expectation that women will save, build wealth, take control of their finances and feel good about their wealth are rather quiet in comparison, keeping women, and particularly young women, focused on youth-saving face creams, rather than on financial savings—which is crucial to economic security and wealth building.

And to building a secure retirement plan.

Because all the face creams in the world don’t actually stop the aging process or the future from coming.

In retirement, women are far more likely to face poverty than men, because older women are far more likely to be unmarried, they live longer on average, and because Social Security doesn’t tend to pay women as much as men, just to name a few reasons.

But whatever the savings goal—be it retirement, a home, a college degree or a car—I wish that women received more messages that inspired them to invest in their own financial futures than they did to invest in losing weight, looking younger or dressing better.

Because there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman in control of her finances and her future.

Phyllis Caldwell is president of The Women’s Foundation.

I came to Washington Area Women’s Foundation thinking that, somewhat naively, it focused solely on service work.

What I discovered instead was an exemplary model of praxis indicating that service, advocacy, and philanthropy cannot be considered insularly. To borrow the words of Patricia Hill Collins, these entities embody a kind of "intersectionality."

While in Washington, I have taken part in a number of efforts that I first perceived to be a more purist form of advocacy work—protesting anti-choice groups, attending a Code Pink anti-war gathering, marching for equal marriage in the D.C. Pride Parade, and taking part in a political rally.

Through my participation in these efforts and interning at the Women’s Foundation, I have experientially learned that such political and activist endeavors are made possible in large part by the behind-the-scenes activist spenders.

That being said, here are three other things I’ve learned as an intern at Washington Area Women’s Foundation:

1. Philanthropy truly is for everyone. Even the poorest of graduate students (like me).
2. Giving is a form of civic activism.
3. Women need to break the glass ceiling of philanthropy by banding together, giving together, and strategizing together about how their money is spent.

On an equally serious note, I have also learned that purple, orange, red, and gold are pretty much the most amazing colors ever.

I’ve had a wonderful month interning at the Women’s Foundation and feel so fortunate to have met and gotten to know everyone in this community!

Nancy Thebaut is a summer intern with The Women’s Foundation. This fall she will be starting a master’s degree in art history at the Courtauld Institute of Art.  Today is, sadly, the last day of her internship with The Women’s Foundation.

Although many can conjure an image of human trafficking in other countries far from our own homes, the reality is that human trafficking is occurring in every single U.S. state and the large majority of victims are females.

According to the U.S. Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Report: 2007, 80% percent of transnational victims are women and girls. Research on U.S. victims is limited, but the percentages are likely similar to those globally.

Polaris Project works both locally, nationally and internationally on the issue of modern-day slavery. Polaris Project DC operates the Greater DC Trafficking Intervention Program (DC TIP) to combat human trafficking in the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia, and Southern Maryland.

Launched in 2002 to create an effective community-based response to curb local human trafficking network activity, DC TIP provides comprehensive case management services to victims in the Washington metropolitan area and works to prevent human trafficking. In the last year, DC TIP conducted direct outreach to 1,115 at-risk and in-risk victims of trafficking; made over 25 emergency responses to victims in crisis; provided emergency case management to over 40 women and girls; and, received 2,758 crisis hotline calls.

This issue has been in the spotlight this week and our president was called on by Fox news to provide more information on how it is effecting our community.

See the Fox coverage on YouTube.

More about the multi-state FBI raids resulting in the rescue of 21 child victims.

Tayler Wilhelm is development officer at the Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation.  For more information or to support the work of Polaris Project, visit PolarisProject.org or email Tayler at twilhelm@polarisproject.org.

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!

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

Here at The Women’s Foundation, we’ve had four new staff members join us just in the past month, inspiring a lot of shuffling, organizing and cleaning around our fairly small office as we make way for our new colleagues.

Being in the office last week had a bit of a Mary Poppins air as staff passed off documents, discussed what should be kept and what could go, and organized furniture and shelves to best use limited space.

I imagine it may be similar to what teachers feel as they prepare their classrooms for the new year, enjoying the last few days of quiet before the students arrive, while at the same time anticipating it with excitement.

Various professions, families and traditions have their own sense of when the new year starts—and when it’s time to pave the way for it with “spring” cleaning. For teachers, it’s the beginning of the school year. For some, it’s New Year’s Day.  For others, it’s the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah or the Muslim season of Ramadan.

For The Women’s Foundation, it seems to be the beginning of our fiscal year—which will start on July 1. The “spring cleaning season” seemed to kick off with our annual board meeting on June 10, followed by an inspirational opportunity to meet and talk with our current board members, as well as those who served throughout our 10-year history.

We were able to hear the stories of those who helped build The Women’s Foundation and what has motivated their philanthropy, which ranged from a commitment to contribute to the city where one grew up, to wanting to feel more connected to a region that had become home more recently—and just about everything in between.

And now, with a sense of our history and the passion that has driven the work of The Women’s Foundation, we turn to approach a new year with an almost completely new staff, new ideas, new energy and a restored, inspired and ready sense of purpose and drive.

Going into the next few weeks of summer, our cleaning and organizing will turn to a deliberate process of strategic planning and team building as we—a new, full staff—look forward to kicking off our 10th year with the same passion, energy and excitement that created The Women’s Foundation 10 years ago.

We continue to evolve as we transition from spring cleaning to summer planning—needing a few more minutes to transfer a call as we search for new phone extensions, taking time to ask and answer questions and assimilate new teammates and procedures, learning a new database, and still walking out of habit into the wrong office to talk to a colleague that is now down the hall.

But in time, we’re getting there, and are looking forward to walking into a future where we are able to build up from the solid foundation that has been created over the past decade, to generate even more opportunities and success for our region’s women and girls.

Because the best part of spring cleaning is getting to see—after all the hard work of clearing and sorting and organizing—the clear pathway laid out in front of you.

And taking the first steps down it.

Phyllis Caldwell is president of The Women’s Foundation.

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!

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.

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.

If there were any rules about documentary filmmaking, we probably broke them all.

One social worker, one filmmaker and one very ambitious idea: to follow girls over the course of four years as they became teenagers. Knowing that production alone would take so many years, we decided two things: one, that we would have to pace ourselves and, two, that we would be making it up as we went along. This included a shooting schedule that allowed us to keep our day jobs, becoming very close to our "subjects," and leaving the confines of a strictly observational cinema to either chat, hang out or answer the girls’ own questions about growing up.

Seven years later, our feature-length documentary, GOING ON 13, is screening at the SILVERDOCS/AFI Discovery Channel Documentary Festival. 

And we are excited and honored to be bringing along one of the girls from the film.  (See below for information about the screening.)  

That she still wants to be a part of our lives is amazing enough, but that she is willing to come out and engage with audiences–about a very tumultuous and embarrassing time in her life–is even more incredible.

We filmed the girls of our film from when they were 9 to 13 years old.  Not an age most of us want to remember and probably not an age that we would have wanted a camera too closely focused on us. But, an important transitional time for girls and boys, nonetheless, and one that deserves to be recognized for what it is: tough, confusing and fraught with possibility.

Early on in developing our film, we decided to stick with the children who lived in our own urban community of the California Bay Area.  We wanted to choose from the girls who were attending our local public schools, and we wanted typical girls, but not of the white, middle-class suburban variety.  At the same time we understood that when urban kids were called upon–and when we say urban, what we really mean are black, brown, and immigrant kids–they were called upon to demonstrate the woes of their environment.

The girls in our film are typical urban girls, unique in personality and temperament, but they are not teen moms, in gangs, homeless or living with crack-addicted parents.

Many have asked us what exactly then, is the film about.

And I think the answer lies in the more subtle questions our film raises: When does childhood end and what does that journey entail? How is the process specific to these girls of color and at this particular moment at the beginning of the 21st century?

For each of the girls in our film the answer is complicated, distinct and inextricably linked to the little girl she once was.

And in order to hear the answer our film asks that we as adults stop and listen.  Too often we forget to listen to young people or simply choose to ignore them. We not only assume that our way is the right way but that it is the only way.

This is especially true when it comes to girls’ voices.

We wanted to make a space for these girls, at this difficult and decisive time, to voice their angst, excitement, and concern.

But most of all, we wanted to listen to their stories. We couldn’t have written this story; we didn’t know it. It was a story only they could tell.

Kristy Guevara-Flanagan is Co-Director of Going on 13.

Both of the filmmakers will be in attendance, as will one of the girls from the film.

Visit SILVERDOCS for more information on purchasing tickets and to learn about other great films by and about women: In the Family, Letter to Anna, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, Football Under Cover, A Powerful Noise, Going on 13, Yidesha Mama and My Mother’s Garden.