Category: WFC Updates
California Repeals the Maximum Family Grant Rule
On June 15, 2016, California legislature and Governor Jerry Brown repealed one of the state’s most discriminatory laws and practices through the 2016-17 state budget deal.
“The Maximum Family Grant rule stemmed from racist, classist, sexist stereotypes of women of color and affected generations of poor children,” said Laura Jimenez.
We Want an End to Mass Incarceration
When Gina Clayton founded Essie Justice Group with the mission to harness the collective power of women with incarcerated loved ones in 2014, she had one critical challenge. While the number of women with a family member in prison suggests prevalence—one in four women and nearly half of Black women have a loved one behind bars—isolation and the stigma made affected women hard to find. But a conversation with a man inside a prison sparked the idea for Essie’s most innovative and promising movement building strategy yet.
Capitol AM Alert
The Sacramento Bee, May 3, 2016 SHEROES: Powerful California women will be honored during a Women's Foundation of California event […]
KCBS In Depth: California Women’s Well Being
KCBS In Depth, May 2, 2016 KCBS' Jane McMillan is joined by Surina Khan, CEO of the Women's Foundation of […]
The Numbers Crunch: What’s so wrong about playing the ‘woman’s card’?
The Sacramento Bee, April 29, 2016 A new thing in the rollicking presidential race is Donald Trump’s ridiculous slam that […]
We Want a Strong Safety Net
The son of an immigrant single mother, California state senator Kevin de León has an intimate understanding of women’s hardships, especially those faced by low-income women and women of color. “I have the political space and credibility to act upon polices that are critical for the overall wellbeing of families, particularly single mothers,” he said. As the highest-ranking Democrat in Sacramento, de León is now using his power to elevate the state’s economy by advocating for women.
A New Generation of Girl Philanthropists Inspires
Surina Khan, March 11, 2016, Philantopic As seniors at the elite Marlborough School for girls in Los Angeles, Olivia Goodman […]
Mayor Lee & Mayor Schaff Announce Bay Area Women’s Summit
Landmark June 21st Event Will Bring Together Dynamic Leaders & the Community to Advance Equity, Empowerment & Opportunity for Bay […]
We Want Affordable, Accessible Child Care
Child care is not a luxury, but a necessity for working mothers. It is key to both women’s and children’s success, said Mary Ignatius, who organizes women to advocate for increased public investments in subsidized child care as an organizer at Parent Voices. For low-income and many middle-income women, subsidized child care is out of reach. At this very moment, some 200,000 children are on a three-year waitlist. In the meantime, their parents struggle to make ends meet, unable to find and keep full-time work.
We Want Women’s Work to Have Equal Value
Sabrina Johnson is a therapist with a vision: She wants San Francisco’s home care workers to be treated with dignity because their contributions to our society are tremendous. “[Home care workers] need to be valued like we value the tech industry,” said Johnson. “Tech cannot get elderly people out of bed and feed them.”
We Want Political Parity
“There was a need for local voices,” said Margarita Luna, a program manager with The California Endowment. She funded the creation of the Women’s Policy Institute-County to empower women to advocate for social and economic change in the Eastern Coachella Valley, an unincorporated part of Riverside County where many residents are poor agricultural workers from Latino immigrant families.
New Database Tracks Women’s Wellness Across California
KQED, The California Report, March 29, 2016 The nonprofit California Budget and Policy Center has launched a new database detailing […]
New “California Women’s Well-Being Index” Provides First-Ever Comprehensive, Composite Portrait of How Women Are Faring Across the State
Sacramento, March 29, 2016—Californians who want to make sure that women are full and equal participants in the state’s economic […]
We Want Reproductive Freedom
Griselda Reyes Basurto is helping to create a radical health initiative—teaching Mixteco and other immigrants from indigenous backgrounds in Ventura County about their bodies and reproductive rights—called Cuidando mi Cuerpo, meaning “caring for my body.”
We Want Overtime Pay and Labor Protections
The very nature of their work keeps domestic workers hidden from view. It might have stayed that way but for the commitment of organizers like Katie Joaquin. In 2013 domestic workers used public policy and their powerful voices to win a workplace right they had been denied for decades: overtime pay. In 2016, they are advocating again to make that hard-fought right permanent.
We Want Affordable Housing
California is the seventh largest economy in the world, yet it accounts for 20 percent of the nation’s homeless population—nearly 115,000 people. Women and children are the fastest growing homeless population today. Kim Carter, executive director of Time for Change Foundation, overcame homelessness, prison and addiction to start a visionary organization that supports women as they rebuild and reclaim their lives.
We Want Equal Opportunity in Higher Education
In fairy tales, justice prevails miraculously and everyone lives happily ever after. But in the real world, women must take leadership and demand the change they wish to see. Jessie Ryan joined our Women’s Policy Institute in 2009 and used her experience and voice to transform the California’s community college system through public policy change.
Meet Teenage Philanthropists Who Are Making a Difference in Los Angeles
Violets, all juniors and seniors at Marlborough, have awarded over $200,000 in grants since 2006 to organizations that are working to improve the lives of underprivileged women and girls in the Los Angeles area through education. This year they awarded $10,000 each to four remarkable organizations.
California’s success depends on lifting up poor women
Surina Khan, November 30, 2015, Sacramento Bee—When women thrive, our communities and our state thrive. Yet, across California, far too […]
Partnership of Women’s Foundations Pledges $100 Million to Create Pathways to Economic Security for Women and Their Families in America
Women’s Foundation of California Joins the Partnership to Demonstrate the Collective Power of Women’s Foundations in Effective Grantmaking SAN FRANCISCO, […]
WomenGO! Beyond Grantmaking
Norma Alvarez is a member of the WomenGO! giving circle based in Silicon Valley. WomenGO! is one of six giving circles in our network. In this post, Norma describes an experience that transformed the way she thinks about her philanthropy and her contribution to the economic and gender justice movements.
My First Year as CEO
Last month I celebrated my first year as CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California. Since 1979, this statewide community […]
Defining Ambition and Success on Our Own Terms
As I read Kristin van Ogtrop’s article, Why Ambition Isn’t Working for Women, in last week’s Time magazine, I reflected […]
It’s Not a Compliment: A Response to Street Harassment
How many times have you been harassed by men you didn’t know as you walked down the street? If you are a woman, the answer is probably more times than you can count.
Our Giving Circles Award $395K in Grants to 18 Organizations
Over the last 16 years, our giving circles have collectively awarded over $10.8 million to 518 outstanding nonprofit organizations that serve low-income women and girls.
Ten Life-Changing Books by Women of Color
Ever notice how the classic books that you read all throughout high school and college are almost entirely written by white men, while literature by women or people of color is relegated to elective courses that hardly anyone takes?
Want Change? You Have to Do It Yourself.
“This whole policy thing is very new to me. I have an organizing background. I know how to talk to people, listen to their stories and make them understand that they’re leaders. I know how to help people see the power that they have within themselves.”
Ending the Silence: How Mass Incarceration Affects Women
In the era of mass incarceration, what happens to the women who are left behind?
The Kiss That Said It All
It was a simple kiss between two married women, candidly captured by a photographer on a cold winter morning. Yet within months, it had spread like wildfire.
It Takes A Community
“I want to help people. I know that I didn’t go through all the struggles in my life for nothing. I can’t cry over it for the rest of my life, but I can do something with it.”
The Untold Story of Domestic Violence
There is no doubt that women are disproportionately victims of domestic violence, usually at the hands of male partners. But when we frame domestic violence as an issue that only occurs in heterosexual relationships, we erase the very real issue of intimate partner violence within LGBT communities.
Enough! This is not love.
From domestic violence survivor to human rights activist, Women’s Policy Institute-Riverside fellow Nancy Valenzuela has overcome insurmountable obstacles in order to become the formidable champion for women that she is today.
Hysterical Housewife No More
“Luckily for us, the teachers told us about the looming hazardous waste disaster. We had no idea. My two boys were playing and splashing in the puddles. I cringe when I think about it: They were making foam beards!”
Needed: Modern-Day Rosie the Riveters
Surina Khan, The Huffington Post, May 20, 2015—Some of us remember Norman Rockwell's Rosie the Riveter, her goggles, her uncanny […]
We’re Funding Reproductive Health, Rights & Justice
We recently secured funding that will allow us to re-engage and support the reproductive health, rights and justice field in California. We’re accepting grant applications and deadline to apply is Tuesday, June 30, 2015.
I’m with Rosie
This statistic took my breath away: Half of all the women in Los Angeles County who have a child under the age of 5 live in poverty. How do they cope? What are the long-term implications for their children? How can we change this situation?
Rest in Power, Kalief Browder
The tragedy of Kalief Browder caused me to reflect on my own work and life experiences. The kids I’ve met on the inside of the system (94 percent of whom have undergone serious trauma). How quickly an injustice like this is to explode on the Internet as a talking point. Yet how uncomfortable an injustice like this is to sit too close to.
Who Gets the Right to Choose? Reproductive Justice Is a Race Issue
Reproductive rights are essential to the safety and wellbeing of all women. However, the specific reproductive issues faced by women of color are often left out of the mainstream reproductive rights movement.
Policy By Women, For Women
Public policy should not be gender- or color-blind. That’s why we’ve been training extraordinary community-based women—in particular low-income women, women from communities of color and immigrant women—to become policy advocates.
What’s New at the Women’s Foundation of California?
This is a sneak preview of all the exciting things that have been happening at the Foundation since Surina Khan became CEO. Stay tuned for more blog posts about our Women’s Policy Institute, giving circles, grantmaking initiatives and advocacy work we’re doing through the Stronger California coalition.
Tribute to Kathryn Green
Kathryn was a dear friend and we will miss her terribly. The celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, May 16 at 4 PM at the Stanford Faculty Club.
My mother is fierce because
This Mother’s Day join us in celebrating strong women in our lives. Share a photo and fill in the blank: My mother (grandmother, sister, friend) is fierce because __________.
L.A. Women Fasting for $15
Eleven women in Los Angeles started fasting on April 16 demanding a $15 an hour minimum wage. If working women and mothers in California are to thrive, as opposed to barely survive, they need to start earning a living wage.
People Not Prisons
Deborah Drysdale is a member of our Race, Gender and Human Rights (RGHR) giving circle. The mission of this San Francisco-based giving circle is to promote human rights and racial and gender justice by challenging the criminal justice system and its use of mass incarceration in California.
Economic Security Is Impossible Without Affordable Childcare
Since its inception in 1999 , Economic Development and Justice giving circle has been trailblazing, advocating for the rights of low-income women and girls.
Transforming Los Angeles Through Girl Power and Philanthropy
Violets’ Giving Circle is a youth-led giving circle of the Women’s Foundation of California. Since 2008 they’ve awarded $165,000 in grants for educational programs geared towards underprivileged women.
My Giving Circle Recipe
Today is Michelle Ramos-Burkhart’s last day at the Women’s Foundation of California. She has been our incredible Program Officer, Giving Circles and has done an incredible job spearheading our first Giving Circle Conference, creating important collaborative giving curricula and simply managing a powerful and inspiring network of formidable women philanthropists from all over the state. In this article, she bids us farewell and shares her wisdom with us, and you. Thank you, Michelle. We will miss you.
Rhiannon Rossi, Welcome!
We’re proud to announce that Rhiannon Rossi is our new Program Officer, Philanthropic Engagement. She will be using her savvy and brilliance to grow the success and impact of our Giving Circle Network, create powerful partnerships between our six giving circles and four donor advised funds and, every step of the way, create opportunities for collaboration, learning and inspiration. Welcome!
Dance Mission Gets Out the Vote, Gets $10,000 Grant
Daniel Hirsch, Mission Local, April 1, 2015—In a year of financial uncertainty, Dance Mission Theater got some unexpected good news […]
Ladies first, you say? Here’s what that looks like
Nikole Collins-Puri, The Hill, February 16,2015—As I walked into the hotel lobby, a smiling man opened the door with a […]
Together We Are Unstoppable.
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