We can’t believe we’re finding ourselves at the end of yet another awesome year. While 2014 has flown by, there’s still time to slow down a bit and reflect on all that 2014 held for us as a foundation, a region and a nation.
This past year The Women’s Foundation grants of over $1 million touched the lives of 6,000 women and girls in our region, and the African American Women’s Giving Circle and Rainmakers Giving Circle invested an additional $80,000 in women and girls. We witnessed the launch of national initiatives like The Shriver Report, blew past our annual Leadership Luncheon fundraising goal (again!) and continued lifting the voices of women and girls in our community. We captured these and other events in our top blog posts from 2014, below.
1, 2, and 3. Grantmaking: In the blog posts 2014 Grants Will Help 6,000 Women & Girls, Rainmakers Giving Circle – Five Grants Awarded, and African American Women’s Giving Circle Celebrates Ten Years we highlight an amazing year of grantmaking at the Foundation and the profound impacts that these investments can have. These blogs remind us of the power of collective giving and how transformative change comes from standing together.
4. #WhatWomenNeed – A Call to Action: The Shriver Report catapulted the conversation about women and poverty to a national level dialogue when it was released in January. In this blog post, we explore the report’s actionable items and how women’s funds are uniquely positioned to make a difference.
5. Adult Education and Family Literacy in Our Region: This year The Women’s Foundation happily welcomed Claudia Williams to our staff as our Research and Evaluation Program Officer. Claudia has been busy analyzing data and turning it into digestible, yet data packed blog posts, like this one for Adult Education and Family Literacy Week.
6. High School Credential Opening Doors of Opportunity: During Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, our Grantee Partner, Academy of Hope, inspired us with their guest blog post about one of their learners, Beverly, and the doors that have opened to her since earning her high school credential.
7. Black History Month: Four Ways the Work of the Civil Rights Movement Continues in 2014: In this blog piece, we explore four ways that the Civil Rights Movement continues to affect us all today, and the critical role that organizations like The Women’s Foundation can play in ensuring that all women have a seat at the table and a forum for their voices.
8. In Her Words: Transportation Barriers: In this powerful blog piece, we were able to offer a platform to the voice of Katrice Brooks, a student at our Grantee Partner So Other’s Might Eat (SOME) Center for Employment Training (CET). Katrice explained the obstacles that she faces with transportation and how these hinder her efforts to take advantage of opportunities to provide a better life for herself and her daughter.
9 and 10. Gender Pay Gap: This year we celebrated the 51st anniversary of the Equal Pay Act and saw President Obama sign legislation aimed at narrowing the pay gap for women who work for federal contractors. However, we still live with the reality that women make less than their male counterparts. In the blog piece Closing the Gender Wage Gap: Why We Can’t Afford to Wait, Foundation President Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat explains why the time is now to close the gender pay gap. In The Gender Wage Gap, Unveiled, Research and Evaluation Program Officer Claudia Williams provides data on the gender pay gap in our region and reminds us that, with four in ten American households with children now relying on a mother as the primary breadwinner for her family, closing the pay gap has never been more critical.
