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.

Goodwill’s work here in the Washington metro area is representative of the change that needs to happen in order to become a great community with a viable workforce. Goodwill trains employees they themselves would be willing to hire (and often do). They are strategic about their programs, looking to the future to find jobs that will likely be in high demand and offer opportunities for growth. And they’re vigilant, correcting course when they see ways to be even more successful.

Several years ago, The Women’s Foundation funded a construction training program at Goodwill geared toward women. When the economy slowed and women trainees faced challenges in getting into and remaining in construction jobs, Goodwill changed their strategy in order to be more effective.

Kieva, a woman I met after she finished Goodwill’s training, participated in the construction program. After deciding that it wasn’t the field she wanted to be in and struggling to coordinate child care and the early construction hours, she used Goodwill’s training and resources to find and interview for a job at a Washington hotel. “I took those things that I learned here and got the job on the spot,” she told me.

She also shared how much better life for her and her five-year-old daughter was since she got a job with benefits, good wages, and a career pathway. When we met, she was looking forward to being able to buy Christmas gifts and save for the future.

Goodwill’s ability to tune in to the needs of the community and the people they serve has led the organization to better understand the unique challenges faced by the populations they serve. The Women’s Foundation has been particularly impressed by Goodwill’s commitment to using a gender lens in their programming, offering case management and wraparound services specifically geared towards women. And because Goodwill lives its values, those services are available to staff as well as clients.

During Goodwill Industries Week (May 5-11), The Women’s Foundation congratulates Goodwill on their incredible accomplishments. And more importantly, we want to thank Goodwill of Greater Washington for creating the change that is transforming our community.

Tags: goodwill, greater washington, blog4good, washington, dc, jobs, employment, job training

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

Tags: women, girls, week of the young child, children, child, ece, early, learning, education, preschool, head start

If she were a woman of color, however, that gap would be even greater. In the Washington region, the median earnings for black women are over $37,000 less than that of white men ($46,138 vs. $83,299). For Latinas, the gap is more than $52,000 ($30,831 vs. $83,299). Asian women have median earnings of $48,891 – over $34,000 less than the earnings of white men.*

If women’s incomes matched those of white men, what would that additional money mean for women of color in our community? It would be more than enough to fund an entire associate’s degree at a local community college. It would fund more than half of a bachelor’s degree at some local universities. It would send three children to a really high-quality preschool in DC. And it would cover the cost of a two-bedroom apartment in the District. It could provide more reliable transportation and could fund afterschool activities and trips. Something could be set aside for the inevitable emergencies life throws everyone’s way, and investments could be made.

In addition to funding the basic needs of themselves and their families, these women would be putting a staggering amount of money back into our community. In our report, 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we shared that nearly two million women live in the DC region. Fifty-three percent of them are Asian, black or Latina – that’s about one million. If just half of them had an income that matched the median earnings of white men, they’d have a combined income of $42 trillion. And that’s only half! Imagine if all women across the area were compensated as well as men….

That money would support families, be spent at local businesses, and could be invested in assets across our region that would build better neighborhoods and ultimately a better community. A significant portion would go to the federal government and – given the fact that women donate an average of 3.5 percent of their wealth – the nonprofit community would see some pretty significant changes, as well.

In addition to discussing what women would do with a higher income, I think it’s important to recognize what we can all accomplish when women earn more. Like so many other things, pay equity is an issue that primarily touches the lives of women – but it’s not simply a “women’s issue.” It affects every one of us and as long as it exists, it means that we’re not doing as well as we could be economically or morally. Equal pay for equal work is the right thing to do, the smart thing to do, and the only thing to do if we truly want to make this a country where everyone can thrive.

*See page 32 of 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Tags: women, pay, gap, equal pay day

While I applaud Sheryl Sandberg for tackling this complex issue and bringing it (once again) to the forefront of national discourse, I think for most women this issue is bigger than simply asking more questions at the weekly staff meeting. Currently in Washington D.C., one in five women live in poverty and women are 35 percent more likely to be in poverty than men. In Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s 2010 Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area, we shared that female-headed households in the District had the lowest median incomes in the region, earning $29,000 annually. For these economically disadvantaged women, leaning in can be tough to do when there are so many other mitigating factors surrounding their survival. Issues like the cost of childcare, unemployment/underemployment, lack of educational attainment, transportation, and securing affordable housing continue to stifle women within this region.

With all that being said, I do feel that Sandberg is definitely on to something! By choosing to launch a nonprofit in conjunction with her book, she’s demonstrating that her words alone are not enough. LeanIn.org is geared towards empowering and encouraging women to create their own Lean In Circles, which will serve as a space for women to come together and strategize on how to push their careers to the next level. My suggestion would be to add an advocacy packet to the Lean In Circle kit that would educate women on how to become spokeswomen for those who can’t advocate for themselves. The message that action must accompany words is invaluable and perhaps the most meaningful piece in this whole debate. Of course, we all want equal pay and a well-deserved promotion, but imagine the power that we could collectively posses if we not only leaned in for ourselves, but also for the women that aren’t afforded the same opportunity. Now that would be powerful!

What would you add to Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In Circles? Share below.

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.

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

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

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.

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.