Spotlight is the go-to site for news and ideas about fighting poverty.

For daily updates and links to past articles, check out “Women and Poverty.” It’s a new section of our site with a comprehensive collection of recent news and analysis on women and poverty.

Along with these daily updates, continue to visit TheWomensFoundation.org for our weekly rundown of the top news stories on women and poverty every Friday.

Here’s this week’s news:

• An editorial appearing in the Chicago Sun Times argues that more support for single moms will benefit the next generation.

• The Washington Times profiles a Washington, D.C. resident who is known for her charity work with low-income mothers.

• In an op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a contributor in favor of Notre Dame’s controversial invitation to President Obama argues that he disapproves of bishops’ support of pro-life candidates, which he believes has led to a widening of the gap between rich and poor.

• As reported in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, several clinics for low-income patients, including a women and children’s center, are slated to close in Georgia.

• The Detroit News reports that Michigan’s cuts of certain programs may hurt its chances of receiving federal matching funds allocated to low-income mothers and pregnant women.

• A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel commentary on a low-income clinic struggling to stay open notes that most of its clientele is single mothers and their children.

• A USA Today piece on stimulus funds going to Indian tribes notes the benefits it will provide to people like Naomi Sitting Bear, a mother living with her family in dilapidated housing, as well its support for domestic violence programs.

• A Chicago Tribune piece on new housing for homeless and low-income residents interviews a woman, recently released from jail, who believes that the housing will provide her with new stability and opportunities.

• The Miami Herald reports on a disabled woman who was given housing from Habitat for Humanity on Mother’s Day.

• The Governor of Rhode Island has proposed a plan that would cut state aid to low-income pregnant women, as noted by the Associated Press.

To learn more about Spotlight, visit www.spotlightonpoverty.org.  To sign up for our weekly updates with the latest news, opinion and research from around the country, click here.

The Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity Team

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

Tags: Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, women and poverty, women's economic security

To read more about Phyllis, her goals for The Women’s Foundation and her background, check out these recent news articles and blogs:

D.C. Examiner: "Three Minute Interview: Phyllis Caldwell"  (Live link)  (PDF)

Washington Business Journal: "Bank of America exec heads to nonprofit"

Washington Post Regional Briefing: "Women’s Foundation Names Chief"

Washington Grantmakers Daily: "Washington Area Women’s Foundation announces new president"

Philanthropy News Digest: "People in the News (12/02/07): Appointments and Promotions"

Washington Times: "Movers and Shakers"

News on Women: "Phyllis Caldwell Caldwell Made President of The Washington Women’s Foundation"

Congrats Phyllis!  We’re all looking forward to working with you!

Tags: Phyllis Caldwell,

Then, tune in on Friday, September 14 at 6:35 and 8:35 a.m. to hear Marjorie’s commentary on women’s empowerment on 88.5 FM WAMU.

Tags: WAMU, Marjorie Sims, women's work, job training, nontraditional careers

First, there are the recent studies showing that there is a lack of women and minority-owned media (As of 2006, women of all races owned five percent of the 1,400 commercial broadcast television stations in America, while people of color, who make up 33 percent of the national population [and will be more than 50 percent by 2050), owned 3.6 percent.  For radio, a study released this month shows that women and minorities own six and 7.7 percent of all broadcast radio stations in the country respectively.).

Then, there is the discussion on Katie Couric, and whether she is getting a fair shake as the first female anchor of network television, or whether she’s unfairly being laid blame to the downfall of evening news while her male counterparts consistently push off "real news" to proritize stories like the current one on Paris Hilton’s jail time. 

As a follow-on, Jennifer Pozner is asking whether Mocking Women Journalists is a Prime-time Sport, in her blog about Fox news’ new reality show, Anchorwoman, which will "feature a busty blonde bikini model and former WWE wrestler as an on-air anchor of KYTX Channel 19, a local CBS affiliate in Tyler, Texas." 

And, of course, there has been all the serious talk of late about sexual harrassment prevailing on the blogosphere towards women, and all the flack Siu Lang Panoke (a graduate student at American University), took when she wrote that Economic Status Should Not Hinder Higher Education.  Sadly, some of the reaction didn’t center so much on the arguments she made, but were attacks against her for being a single mother. 

Anyway, you can see where, in the interest of contributing to the part of our mission that is to raise the voices of women and girls, I felt this training–Power Tools for Contemporary Media: Building Women’s Presence in the Commentary Continuum–might be of value.

With fewer than 20 percent of op-eds nationwide written by women, among a number of other stark realities–many of which are referenced above–the National Women’s Editorial Forum "empowers women to engage in, transform and democratize the media landscape and is dedicated to increasing the supply of comentary by women and their participation in the media."

Write on. 

The training brought together talented leaders such as the President of NOW in New Jersey, members of Code Pink and leaders of local organizations such as Ohio’s Hard Hatted Women, among many others.  We were trained up to improve our skills in writing op-eds, creating radio pieces, being interviewed on television and participating to the fullest extent possible in the blogosphere to raise our own voices, and those of the organizations and causes we work for.

(Yes, we are tired.) 

In exchange for motivation and inspiration from the likes of Eleanor Clift, Josephine Reed, Ann Friedman and Laura Rogers,  we were asked simply to write, speak and blog–as individuals and as part of organizations working on behalf of women–on issues of note and importance to women.

An important note for everyone–women, nonprofits, philanthropists, and citizens concerned with and working on behalf of women, girls and better communities–to take the personal reactions we have to the news and what we see in the world around us and to put it into words and out there, for the public, to consider, digest, debate and eventually, act on.

Just as Siobhan noted earlier, there is power in making philanthropy public–particularly for women–and a significant piece of this isn’t just to put our money where our mouths are, but to use every mouth piece available to raise our voices.

A scary challenge, but also an important one.

So women, write on. 

To learn more, or to submit an op-ed as a female voice, or on women’s issues, through the National Women’s Editorial Forum–or one of the state editorial boards in your state (they’ll help you place it)–learn more here.   

Tags: media, National Women's Editorial Forum