Last week, Women’s Foundation President Nicky Goren spoke on a panel about the importance of giving boldly. While the message was geared toward donors, it was easily applicable to the foundations and nonprofits that serve our community. In order to create real change, we all have to be willing to be bold, strategic, and take risks. This, she explained, is why The Women’s Foundation has invested in Goodwill and their job training programs for nearly eight years.

To learn more about Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s investments in early care and education, please click here.

As we approached Equal Pay Day (April 9th), a number of bloggers and organizations were asked to write about what they’d do with an additional $11,000. That’s how much more the average woman would earn per year if her pay were equal to a man’s.

Sheryl Sandberg has stirred up quite a bit of controversy with her book “Lean In,” in which she advises women to assert themselves in the workplace and beyond. Sandberg calls women out for creating invisible, self-imposed barriers when considering how far they want to go in their respective careers. She notes, “we hold ourselves back in ways both big and small by lacking self confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.” With the ongoing dialogue sparked from this book, I can’t help but wonder about the women who have real-life barriers that impede their professional growth.

In December 2012, Washington Area Women’s Foundation made grants totaling $805,500 to 23 DC-area nonprofits whose work is improving the economic security of low income women and their families. One of those organizations was Academy of Hope, which provides high quality adult basic education that changes lives. Here’s a look at why The Women’s Foundation made a grant to Academy of Hope.

Q: Who was the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as U.S. Surgeon General? Hint: she served from 1990 to 1993.

A: Antonia Novello, M.D., served as the 14th U.S. Surgeon General from 1990 to 1993. Her work as Surgeon General focused on the health of women, children and minorities, underage drinking, smoking and AIDS.

Q: Who was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize?

A: Edith Wharton for her fiction novel “The Age of Innocence.”

Q: Who was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic?

A: Amelia Earhart made her solo trip across the Atlantic in 1932.

Q: What woman helped design the iconic fonts and graphics for Apple Macintosh?

A: Susan Kare developed most of the interface elements for Apple Macintosh. She helped develop the bulk of those little icons early Mac users clicked on everyday.

Q: Who was the first woman to receive a U.S. patent?

A: On May 15, 1809, Mary Dixon Kies received the first U.S. patent issued to a woman for inventing a process for weaving straw with silk or thread.