Leadership in Action: December 2009

Connecting California
Green Jobs Means More Money for California Women
Double Your Year-End Giving Impact
Women's Foundation Receives $2.5 million in New Funding
Long-time San Bernardino Activist and Foundation Grant Partner Loses Fight with Cancer
What are your top three hopes for the next decade?
30 Years and Going Strong!

Connecting California: creating health, safety and economic prosperity for all Californians

Join us for our groundbreaking two-day conference, Connecting California 2010 this January 21 – 22 at Chaminade Resort and Spa in Santa Cruz. Donors, grant partners, funders and board members will come together to explore how we can be an effective and coordinated movement to promote the health, safety and economic prosperity of all communities in California.

Compelling keynotes and interactive workshop sessions will provide participants with opportunities to explore emerging trends, develop new skills and network with other donors, funders and grassroots advocates.

Featured speakers and workshop leaders include a Thursday night keynote address by Connie Rice, co-director and founder of the Advancement Project; Linda Burnham, former executive director of the Women of Color Resource Center; Tracy Gary, founder of Inspired Legacies and author of Inspired Philanthropy; Jean Hardisty, founder and president emerita of Political Research Associates; Kim Klein, fundraising consultant and founder of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal; Jan Masaoka, editor-in-chief of Blue Avocado and former executive director of CompassPoint; Marj Plumb, policy consultant and director of the Foundation’s Women’s Policy Institute; Jean Ross, executive director, California Budget Project and Linda Tarr-Whelan, former ambassador to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women and author of Women Lead the Way.

Click here to download the conference brochure.

Donors register here.

Grant partners contact Senior Program Officer Maya T. Sandifor at mayat@womensfoundca.org for more information.

Green Jobs Mean More $ for California Women

Women are 90 percent of working-age adults who earn less than $15,000 a year. It is crucial that women have access to higher-paying jobs that provide access to affordable health care and childcare, reliable transit and opportunities to build assets and wealth.

Realizing the potential of the burgeoning green economy for women, the Women’s Foundation of California joined with other women’s funds across the US to launch the Women’s Economic Security Campaign (WESC) this past October. Over 200 people participated in our launch webinar, which featured national and local experts on green jobs. WESC also released the first in a series of policy briefs, Creating Opportunity for Low-Income Women in the Green Economy, which identifies barriers to accessing green jobs and provides recommendations for policymakers and philanthropists.

WESC is spearheaded by four regionally diverse women’s funds: Chicago Foundation for Women, Washington Area Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis and the Women’s Foundation of California. To learn more and to join our nationwide advocacy efforts to push for more programs and policies that train and place low-income women in green jobs, visit www.womensecnomicsecurity.org.

Double Your Year-End Giving Impact

What does it mean to support the Women’s Foundation of California? It means your investment is leveraged for greater impact. It means you are investing in this state’s best and brightest leaders with the most promising solutions to our society’s most pressing issues. It means you are standing with thousands of others as we build the vision of a state in which all communities are healthy, safe and economically prosperous.

This is possible when women lead—as donors, advocates, mothers, community volunteers, corporate executives and business owners. Join us!

You have two opportunities to have your year-end donation to the Women’s Foundation matched dollar-for-dollar.

• Pacific Gas & Electric Company is matching all unrestricted year-end investments of $150 or more. Your donation and the match supports the Foundation’s core work, such as the participation of one of our grant partners in our upcoming Connecting California 2010 conference.
  
• The Catalyst Fund of the Tides Foundation is matching year-end investments at all levels to support women of color-led reproductive justice efforts throughout California. These donations support grants to build a cutting edge movement that links reproductive health and rights to our environment and economic well-being.
  
  
  

Women’s Foundation Receives $2.5M in New Funding

The Women’s Foundation has been selected for three significant grants designed to build the capacity of grassroots organizations throughout California.

The Foundation joins Blue Shield of California Foundation in its multi-year, multi-million dollar Blue Shield Against Violence Strong Field Project to strengthen the domestic violence movement in California. The Women’s Foundation will award capacity-building grants to domestic violence organizations that are poised to address the root causes of intimate partner violence using policy advocacy, strategic communications and other strategies. Grant partners will also receive training as part of this comprehensive initiative. The Women’s Foundation was an early funder of the domestic violence movement when this issue was viewed as a private family matter, not as a public health concern.

The Foundation was selected by the Community Leadership Project to strengthen the capacity of organizations on the Central Coast and in the Central Valley that are led by and engaging low-income people and communities of color. Grant partners will receive training, technical assistance and leadership development opportunities as part of this effort. The Foundation has a long history of funding organizations throughout Central California, and 98 percent of the Foundation’s grant partners are led by leaders of color.

The Foundation was also selected by The California Endowment for the Central Valley Infrastructure Building Program. The Foundation will provide capacity-building grants to build healthy communities and eliminate health disparities in this region, particularly in low-income communities and communities of color.

Long-time San Bernardino Activist and Foundation Grant Partner Loses Fight with Cancer

The Women’s Foundation was sad to learn of the recent passing of longtime San Bernardino activist Jan Misquez. Jan was a founding member of Westside Residents CAN, a grassroots environmental organization, a long-time staff member at the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justiceand was Chairwoman of Mothers Against Pollution. Jan was a vibrant woman and outspoken advocate whose organizing and lobbying efforts led to the successful passing of legislation requiring Omnitrans to study the environmental and health impacts of its bus fueling stations. Jan also led efforts to reduce the perchlorate contamination of drinking water wells in the Inland Valley. Jan and her work were featured in the Foundation’s 2005 report, In the Shadow of Pollution: Southern California Women on the Frontlines. Jan’s community organizing efforts in environmental justice will have lasting impact on San Bernardino and California. We will miss her spirit and commitment, though her legacy lives on.

What are your top three hopes for the next decade?

Take our online poll to find out what social concerns, issues and causes are top priorities in the upcoming decade for Women's Foundation supporters.

30 Years and Going Strong!