1979

Dedicated to investing in the woefully underfunded work of women, a dynamic group of activists and community organizers meet at the Women’s Building in San Francisco and sows the seeds of what becomes the Women’s Foundation.

1980

1981

1982

The Managing Inherited Wealth program, later known as Women Moving Millions, kicks off at the Women’s Foundation.

1983

• People-powered from the very beginning, the Women’s Foundation boasts a volunteer network of over 150 people.
• The Managing Inherited Wealth program, later known as Resourceful Women kicks off at the Women’s Foundation. In the 1990’s, Resourceful Women incubated and midwifed Women Donors Network.

1985

• Partnering with the Ms. Foundation, the Women’s Foundation establishes the National Network of Women’s Funds.
• Gathered together in a living room, nine women who don’t yet know each other band together to create the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation and advance the cause of justice for women and girls in LA.
• Partnering with the Ms. Foundation, Astraea Lesbian Foundation, and Mama Cash, the Women’s Foundation establishes the National Network of Women’s Funds at a joint meeting of the National Black United Fund and National Committee on Responsive Philanthropy. A few years in, the National Network of Women’s Funds changed its name to Women’s Funding Network.

Founding members of the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation

1986

1988

• Less than a decade after its creation, the endowment of the Women’s Foundation hits one million dollars.
• With an anonymous gift of $50,000, the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation begins to build an endowment.

1990

• The Women’s Foundation and the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation begin their collaboration with an event on violence in women’s lives.
• With “Come Into the Sun,” a conference focused on the impacts of incarceration on women and girls, the Women’s Foundation digs deeper into the impact of the prison systems on gender justice.

1992

The Los Angeles Women’s Foundation launches their Economic Justice Initiative.

1994

• • A long partnership begins when the Young Women’s Freedom Center receives their first grant from the Women’s Foundation.

• • Uniting forces again, the Women’s Foundation and the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation set up the Women’s Fund of California as a vehicle for workplace giving.

• • Understanding the importance of face-to-face connection, the Women’s Foundation hosts the first Ground Breakers/Dream Makers Gala and a two-day conference on “Women, Money, and Social Change”

 

1995

With three quarters of a million dollars, the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation launches the Women’s Health initiative.

1997

• Bolstered by leadership from the Women’s Foundation, the City of San Francisco passes the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
• The Native American Fund is established to support organizing within indigenous communities across California at the Women’s Foundation.

1998

The Women’s Foundation Girls Tech Up! program gets 17 organizations online and cruising the world wide web.

2001

The Women’s Foundation invests more than $2 million dollars a year in community organizations and establishes the Smart Cookie Scholarship Fund for first generation Latinx college students.

2003

• We’re better together! The Women’s Foundation and the Los Angeles Women’s Foundation merge to become the Women’s Foundation of California.
• The Women’s Policy Institute is formed and passes its first bill in just a years time.

2004

• California Latinas for Reproductive Justice founded in December 2004 with The Women’s Foundation of California serving as one of their initial funders.
• A new board of directors convenes to reflect the statewide nature of the newly merged Women’s Foundation of California.

2005

• Together with organizations like Arriba Juntos and The Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment, The Women’s Foundation of California created La Cocina.
• La Cocina’s incubator program offers affordable commercial kitchen space and hands-on technical assistance to low-income and immigrant women entrepreneurs who are launching, growing and formalizing food businesses.
• We embark on the Road to Equity Tour and hold community listening sessions with over 1,000 people across the state in ten different cities.

One of the many listening sessions held across the state as part of the Road to Equity Tour

2006

• The Women’s Foundation of California became the first institutional funder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Since then, the organization has blossomed into an important hub for community organizing in the region.
• The Women’s Foundation of California awards the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative its first grant. The Collaborative’s mission is to improve the health, safety, and the rights of the nail and beauty care workforce to achieve a healthier, more sustainable, and just industry.
• In a banner year, the Women’s Policy Institute gets three bills signed into law on licensing for liquor stores, ensuring access to medical care for survivors of human trafficking, and rights for domestic violence survivors.
• The Women’s Foundation of California provides The Community Water Center with its first grant.“The Women’s Foundation of California really has supported us, not just with money, but by being a reference for other funders and creating a community of powerful women working for change throughout our region.”
  – Susana De Anda, Co-Founder, Co-ED of the Community Water Center

2007

• Connecting California takes place for the second time and brings together over 80 community leaders building power and advancing gender, racial, and economic justice across the state.
• Our investment work reaches new heights and we celebrate a total grantmaking portfolio exceeding $20M over our short history.

2008

Exercising our civic spirit, we create our first voter guide.

2009

2010

We bring together over 100 Solís Policy Institute alumni for our first statewide convening to strengthen networks and coalitions, deepen their skills, and spark new possibilities across sectors.

2011

• We establish the Legislative Action Fund to support the policy advocacy that is flourishing within the Women’s Policy Institute.
• On International Women’s Day, we host a women’s leadership summit in the Central Valley as we continue to expand our focus beyond Los Angeles and San Francisco.

2011 annual report image

2012

We made over 50 legislative visits and sent 7,966 letters to legislators across the state to push for policy that advances gender, racial, and economic justice.

2013

2014

10th time is the charm! The CalWorks and CalFresh Expansion is finally passed expanding support to formerly incarcerated folks across the state.

2016

2017

2018

2019

We introduce seven pieces of progressive feminist policy with our work with the Women’s Policy Institute.