Event Recap: Meet-the-Nonprofits: Women & Girls
When & Where: Thursday, January 30, 2020 12:00pm-1:30pm, United Way of Massachusetts Bay & Merrimack Valley
Description: Investing in women has a positive economic impact across generations and throughout communities. Here in Massachusetts and throughout the country, women and girls’ rights and causes have been receiving increased attention within the political space and in our overall culture. Reports are showing, however, that this increased interest has not translated into increased philanthropic support. In 2016, for example, organizations focused on women and girls received 1.6% of donations given that year. During this program, we discussed how some of these issues manifest locally in Massachusetts and identify what is happening to address those issues, as well as what could be happening to move work forward. Featured speakers shed light on what their organizations are doing to help address these factors. This session was an opportunity to hear from and meet nonprofit representatives working in this arena, as well as gather with other funders interested in supporting this work.
Presenters:
- Michelle Cove, MEDIAGIRLS
- Erika Rodriguez, Chica Project
- Amy Segal Shorey, GMA Foundations
- Lucas Skorczeski, Acre Family Child Care
- Jessica Teperow, REACH Beyond Domestic Violence
Recap:
- One of the topics discussed during the Q&A included intersectionality; during that conversation Jessica mentioned the Full Frame Initiative’s Five Domains of Wellbeing in describing the approach they take to their work.
- What funders should know (some of which is particular to the women and girls’ space)
- Start-ups or newer organizations have difficulty fundraising
- Building an organization’s capacity is preferred
- Consider impact/success differently for smaller organizations
- More transparency is needed around funding and reporting
- The demographics of cities are changing; it’s difficult for families to thrive in these settings due to the cost of child care, housing, etc.; MA ranks #1 in child care costs according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute; early child care is critical
- Having affinity spaces is important (for ex. girls don’t always speak up in a co-ed environment)
- Sometimes funding the “boring” stuff, like transportation, can be the most important thing for an organization.
- Funders should “embrace intersectionality,” i.e. gender, race, economics and beyond.
Here are two links to some of the resources that were referred to during the discussion:
- https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2020/01/22/report-says-boston-becoming-city-with-few-children/YBp5C8dcB01PA0uo12S3eI/story.html (mentioned by Lucas Skorczeski, Co-Executive Director of Acre Family Child Care)
- https://rulingourexperiences.com/the-girls-index-report (mentioned by Michelle Cove, Executive Director or MEDIAGIRLS)