Women's Policy Institute
Women's Policy Institute Overview
Over the past few years, the Women’s Foundation of California has made strategic refinements to its grantmaking and advocacy priorities in order to intensify our impact on policy. In 2003, the Foundation launched The Cindy Marano Women’s Policy Institute. The only program of its kind in the nation, the vision for the Institute is to increase the number of community-based women leaders in California who are actively involved in shaping and implementing policies affecting the health and well-being of women and girls.
Each class of the Institute brings together a diverse group of women from across the state to participate in the program as fellows. Fellows learn the inner workings of public policy and take part in activities ranging from writing legislation to testifying at public hearings and influencing the state budget process.
A non-partisan effort, the Institute offers an environment that allows women to remain active in their local communities while they apply their new public policy advocacy skills and knowledge to specific policy projects. These women act as a bridge between the needs of communities and policymakers. The Institute is a catalyst for effecting fundamental change in policies at the local, state and national level that impact women's and girls' health and economic security.
The Program
Women’s Policy Institute works to:
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Increase the number of policies in California that reflect the needs and realities of low-income women and families;
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Increase and support the leadership, advocacy and public policy knowledge of Women’s Policy Institute Fellows that can be applied to local, state and national issues;
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Strengthen links between grassroots leaders and organizations with those who influence and make policy;
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Encourage lasting relationships between grassroots women leaders across California; and
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Increase the number of community-based women involved in the policy making process who understand and work for issues concerning women and girls.
The Women's Policy Institute is a year-long program that includes four three-to-four-day experiential training retreats in Sacramento. During the program, Institute fellows work in self-selected teams to develop and implement specific policy advocacy projects of their choosing.
Team projects provide practice on the policy advocacy skills taught during the retreats and require participants to exercise their personal resourcefulness. Each team works with a mentor who is experienced in public policy work. A core faculty of experts provides continuity throughout the program and additional faculty is brought in to teach on particular topics as needed.
Teleconferences, emails and an Intra-net support an informal network that helps keep team members connected between retreats and provides additional training.
Cindy Marano
Cindy Marano was one of the architects of the Women's Policy Institute. She dedicated her life to improving the lives of people living in poverty. Public policy was her favorite vehicle for bringing good ideas into the public arena. She firmly believed that given the advantage of good mentoring, people closest to any problem are best suited to creating effective policy solutions.
In recognition of Cindy's lifelong commitment to achieving economic equity for women, the Cindy Marano Memorial Fund was established at the Women's Foundation of California to support immediate and strategic actions to influence policies that will improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women. It is designed to be a rapid response fund that can meet critical policy action needs quickly.
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