Dear Washington Area Women’s Foundation,

My name is Sharon Wise and I’m one of the students enrolled in the Female Property Management Certificate training at Southeastern University (a Stepping Stones Jobs Fund Grantee Partner).
 
I just wanted to let you know that everything is great!  I love my class and I am learning so much. I am in a communications class and the facilitators are so funny and smart.  I did not know there were so many ways to email, write letters and express oneself.

On Labor Day, Marjorie Sims took to the airwaves on WAMU, during the Diane Rehm Show, to offer a powerful commentary on the importance of investing in nontraditional pathways to opportunity for women in our region. Hear her speak out.

Check this out.  In Vermont, girls are being trained in welding as part of a three week camp, Rosie’s Girls, and are talking about how much it’s raising their self-esteem and confidence.

"If I can do this, I can do that, too," one girl says in this video.

The following is the fifth post in a series covering aspects and angles on the DC Women’s Agenda’s recent white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations for City Leaders 2007.  The DC Women’s Agenda promotes the advancement, equality and well-being of women in D.C. This series of blogs is an extension of a very important proposal of recommendations to city leaders to truly make tangible changes in the Washington metropolitan area.

As president of Legal Momentum, the country’s oldest legal advocacy organization for women, I’ve been talking to women around the country about the issues that matter to them.  Hands down, they boil down to four areas: violence, health, work and families. 

Last Friday, I attended Goodwill of Greater Washington’s Female Construction Employment Training Program’s graduation ceremony, because Goodwill is a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation. 

A friend and I have a running list of people you need in your life, particularly as you edge towards "grown-up" living. 

Topping the list are a good mechanic and a good plumber, among a number of other skills we seem to be desperately lacking in. 

On May 11, The Urban Institute and Washington Area Women’s Foundation hosted the second annual Stepping Stones Research Briefing, an event bringing together researchers, supporters of The Women’s Foundation, Grantee Partners, and members of the community to discuss some of the latest research on issues facing women-headed families in the Washington region.

I thought I’d welcome summer this weekend with an afternoon stop in Dupont Circle to enjoy the weather and do some reading (i.e. people watching).

See below for a round-up of what was news this week in the world of philanthropy, social change and women and girls in the Washington metropolitan region and beyond:

The Women’s Foundation in the News!