Access to quality early childhood education is finding articulate advocates in unusual places, including voices from the Federal Reserve Bank. The economic argument for investing in quality early childhood education has been soundly made by Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis researcher Art Rolnick in the working paper, A Proposal for Achieving High Returns on Early Childhood Development.

When you think about female-ex-offenders, what is the first thought that comes to your mind? When you think about prison, how do you feel?

I ask you to take an open-minded look at these women in a new blog, Friends of Guest House – Different Perspectives from Different Women.

Bummed that the writer’s strike meant no Golden Globes this year?  Miss the glitz and glamor of the red carpet?

Well, we may not have glitz and glamor, but we do have an awards process for you!  And this time, you’re invited to be part of the academy…the academy of social change!

Washington Grantmakers just released its annual giving report, "Our Region, Our Giving 2007."

I haven’t had a chance to look over the whole report yet, but I did have a chance to steal some stats from their blog.

Inspired by Roxana’s post on women entrepreneurs and the study Trinity University conducted for The Women’s Foundation about how to support them, I couldn’t help but click when I came across an article in the Jacksonville Times-Union called "Women mean business: $18 billion worth."

Becky Sykes, Executive Director of the Dallas Women’s Foundation, wrote in the Dallas Morning News last week that when you help a woman, there’s a ripple effect.

Spoken like a true international development specialist, often quoted as saying, "To educate a woman is to educate a family," or other statements that tie the welfare of women to the welfare of families, and, by default, entire communities.

In Fairfax County, more babies are born in August than at any other time of the year. Working parents who added children to their families this summer face tough choices this fall. 

Will they be able to find child care that will allow both parents to go back to work?

According to today’s Washington Post, there’s good news to celebrate for our region’s women and girls–a declining teen pregnancy rate over the past decade.

In Washington, D.C., Arlington and Prince George’s County, teen pregnancy and birth rates have markedly declined–along with those around the nation–and have inspired hope that programs aimed at young people–and especially young women–are working.

Sometimes a handshake is returned with a hug. Not always, but sometimes.

This was my experience walking into Friends of Guest House–one of our Grantee Partners–for the first time this past weekend. When the director introduced me to a young woman–a fifth grader who was there visiting her mom–my outstretched hand was summarily discarded in favor of a hug.

As program assistant here at The Women’s Foundation, I get the opportunity to take in grant and award applications such as those for Leadership Awards, where I get a glimpse of what different issues nonprofits are tackling these days.