The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 12/17/2010: A look at a job-readiness program for homeless women.  And Jane Fonda pushes for teen pregnancy programs to address poverty and education .

In today’s rundown: The expanding income gap in D.C. | Economic insecurity may be affecting a majority of Americans. | And tea time provides valuable lessons for local teen girls.

This time last year, Washington Area Women’s Foundation was promoting “Be That Woman,” an animated video that illustrated the work we do.  That short video showed why it’s important to invest in women and demonstrated the power of images and sound.  Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for other videos that show the impact that women and girls have on our society.  In no particular order, here’s a look at some of my favorites from 2010:

Today’s rundown is all about breaking through the glass ceiling… Plus, the homeless man who is an activist for the homeless.

– Today, Good Morning America aired a segment on why women are having trouble breaking through the “glass ceiling.”  The answer — according to GMA — is that women need more mentors or professional sponsors.  Here’s the video explaining why mentors could make a $10,000 difference in salary:

2010 was an exciting year for The Women’s Foundation’s blog as we worked to establish Our Voices as one of the go-to sources for information about, by and for the women and girls of the D.C. metro area.  We added new features, encouraged conversation, and added an increasingly diverse number of topics and voices to the blog.  We’ve accomplished a lot, but we still have a long, long way to go; it takes time and commitment to establish a voice in the community, and we have plenty of both!  As we look ahead to 2011, we hope that our readers will take an even greater role in helping us carve out our niche in the D.C. metro area by adding their voices to the conversation.  Your commentary is critical to any conversation we might have as we all work toward moving forward as a region.

The latest news, analysis and opinion on the state of low-income women and their families from Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity. For the week ending 12/3/2010: A profile of a program that helps low-income single mothers with scholarships, health care and other services.  Plus, a health program that will benefit 300,000 low-income women.

In today’s rundown: Cuts to a D.C. program that helps out grandparents who are raising their children’s children won’t be as deep as first proposed. | Changes could be coming to the way the District aids homeless families. | Listen to WAMU today for a discussion on the challenges faced by local LGBT youth. | A follow-up to yesterday’s story about a unique job training program.

In today’s rundown: The D.C. Council relies on cuts to welfare programs to close a budget gap. | A look at a program that helps difficult-to-employ residents find jobs. | Young journalists investigate child trafficking. | Remembering Elizabeth Edwards.

In today’s rundown: The D.C. Council looks to close a multi-million dollar budget gap. | A bill before the council today could add a residency requirement to local homeless shelters. | And Pepco users can expect to see an increase in their electricity bills.

In today’s rundown: A new study finds that gay and lesbian teens face harsher discipline. | And hundreds protest outside a Montgomery County health clinic.