Resources and Research
"If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it."
–Margaret Fuller
At The Women’s Foundation, we believe in the power of giving together. And this includes the power of learning together.
Learning about the issues impacting women and girls. Learning about the best programs and strategies for improving their lives and our community. Learning how to make our philanthropic dollars count–as individuals and as a collective community of women investing in other women.
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Then join our region’s most powerful wave of philanthropy and make a difference that is changing women’s lives and making our community a more prosperous, safer, healthier place to live and work.
Because to invest in women and girls is to invest in our community, and in our future, together.
Reports and resources related to Stepping Stones
Stepping Stones: A Washington Area Women’s Foundation Initiative, is a multi-year, strategic initiative—with a collective investment of $5 million in its first phase (2005-2008)—that specifically addresses the needs of low-income, women-headed households in our region, as detailed in The Portrait Project. Stepping Stones is structured around four critical issue areas–which translate into funding strategies: financial education and wealth creation, jobs and business ownership, child care and early education and health and safety.
To learn more about these issue areas, please consult the resources below:
Financial Education and Wealth Creation—The Financial Education and Wealth Creation Fund helps low-income, women-headed families obtain a base level of financial knowledge and increase their collective wealth by $27 million in the next three years.
Jobs and Business Ownership—The Jobs Fund helps build the life-long economic security of low-income, women-headed families by building better pathways to self-sufficient jobs, and by increasing the percentage of single mothers being placed, retained and promoted in high-growth jobs in three targeted sectors (health care, real estate, and protective services) and non-traditional occupations.
Nisha Patel Chimes in on Seeing Unemployment in D.C. Through a Gender Lens
Program Officer Nisha Patel participated in a conversation on WashingtonPost.com moderated by Neil Irwin on "District Employment Programs." She offered statistics and information regarding unemployment in D.C. when seen from a gender perspective.
Child Care and Early Education—The Child Care and Early Education Fund will build community demand and support for high quality, affordable child-care and early education for all women and their children in our region.
Health and Safety—Planning for health and safety will launch in 2009 as part of the second phase of Stepping Stones. In defining the specific focus, the 2007 Leadership Awards Program will focus on identifying outstanding nonprofits demonstrating innovation or impact in improving the health and safety of women and girls. 
The work of Stepping Stones is focused on geographic areas that emerged from The Portrait Project as the greatest areas of need for women and girls in our region: Alexandria, Arlington County, the District of Columbia, Fairfax County, Montgomery County and Prince George’s County.
For research and information specific to these areas, please see below:
Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations to City Leaders 2007
This white paper, Voices and Choices for D.C. Women and Girls: Recommendations to City Leaders 2007, by D.C. Women’s Agenda outlines recommendations by District advocates for girls and women on programmatic and funding priorities in the following areas: economic security, housing, health, women and criminal justice, safety, leadership and accountability, and girls.
Living in the Zone: Divine Inspiration Propels Ward 8 Into Transformation
Capital Community News recently featured Grantee Partner Lydia’s House in an article, "Living in the Zone: Divine Inspiration Propels Ward 8 into Transformation," which describes the efforts of founder Patrice Sheppard and her husband, Pastor Eugene Sheppard, to bring additional business development and affordable housing to Ward 8 through the development of Trinity Plaza.
Nisha Patel Chimes in on Seeing Unemployment in D.C. Through a Gender Lens
Program Officer Nisha Patel participated in a conversation on WashingtonPost.com moderated by Neil Irwin on "District Employment Programs." She offered statistics and information regarding unemployment in D.C. when seen from a gender perspective.
A Pathway to the Middle Class: Migration and Demographic Change in Prince George’s County (The Brookings Institution)
Report: Regional foreclosures highest in the nation; subprime market to blame
Peter Tatian with The Urban Institute, a Grantee Partner of The Women’s Foundation, is quoted in this article on rising foreclosure rates throughout the Washington metropolitan region, including Virginia and Maryland, as a result of subprime loans and a slowing housing market.
The subprime lending market, and particularly its impact on female borrowers, was a topic of research presented at the 2007 Stepping Stones Research Briefing. Click here to check out the audio files from the briefing, or to learn more about the panelists’ research on this topic and more!