About Women’s Foundation
The Women’s Foundation California is a statewide, publicly supported foundation dedicated to achieving racial, economic, and gender justice by centering the experience and expertise of communities most impacted by systemic injustice. Our vision is to build a feminist future for California.
Our Mission
We work to invest in, train, and connect community leaders to advance gender, racial, and economic justice. We do this by providing grants to community-led organizations, training community leaders through the Women’s Policy Institute, and fostering a community of advocates, donors, policymakers, grantmakers, academics and many others through convenings to share knowledge and strengthen the social justice movement in California.
What Makes Us Different?
Unlike private foundations, which are endowed with funds from a family’s wealth or corporate earnings, community foundations like Women’s Foundation California gather their financial contributions from the public — from individuals, families, and businesses who want to support social change.
Learn more about our work by browsing through this website, sign up for our email alerts, follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, and if possible, make a donation. By making a tax-deductible charitable donation to The Women’s Foundation of California, you join many others who are dedicated to our mission of shaping a just and equitable California.
Our History
Since our founding in 1979, our work at Women’s Foundation California has evolved and expanded. In 2019 we celebrated our 40th Anniversary and reflected back on where we’ve been as we push towards what’s next.
A Few Words About Words
While we know ourselves as Women’s Foundation California, our experience and understanding of gender extends beyond a reductive binary.
Our community is made up of cisgender and transgender women, genderqueer, gender-variant and non-binary individuals, and trans men. Our Women’s Foundation California grant partners, staff, board, and WPI alum and fellows reflect a broad range of gender expressions.
We know that words are powerful and imperfect, especially when it comes to gender identity. Words that feel like home to one person, feel triggering or dismissive to someone else. We want the words we use to be as inclusive as possible, if you have feedback on the language we use we want to hear it.