A New Chapter for Washington Women’s Foundation
For 30 years, Washington Women’s Foundation (WaWF) has believed and acted on a simple but powerful truth:
When women come together, we change the world.
And we have always been ambitious in living that truth. Historically, we moved to change everything, investing in grantmaking that was intentionally broad and widely focused on addressing racial and gender inequities across Washington state. Today, we are stepping boldly into our next era, where we will further narrow our race and gender equity lens to prioritize women and girls.* We will also offer expanded access to membership for women across our state, embracing a wider and broader membership even as we tighten our grantmaking priorities. This new chapter for WaWF has been shaped and created by members, informed by our grantees, and inspired by both the communities we serve and the times in which we live.
Why We’re Evolving
Across Washington, women and girls continue to face inequities that limit their safety, opportunity, and ability to thrive. Indeed, we have seen that there are grim forces at work, determined to not only allow but even increase those limitations. We will meet that backlash against the gains we as women and girls have made with a fierce and unyielding resistance.
Our evolution to focus on women and girls is informed by our acknowledgement that the injustices faced by women and girls are not equally experienced. Race, gender identity, income, and geography all deepen the inequity gaps women navigate every day. And the nonprofits leading the work to close these gaps are too often underfunded, overstretched, and asked to do more with less.
We believe Washington can do better.
And through collective giving and collective action, we will.
As we listened to grantees, community leaders, members, and partners this past year, a clear message emerged: This is the moment for bold, coordinated, statewide action and investment.
Our new direction is rooted in all that we’ve learned this year and over our 30 years of existence, as well as what the future demands. We are leaning into more collective action, greater trust, more collaboration, deeper equity, wider access, and a commitment to lifting up the women and girls who live the furthest from justice.
Our Dream for Washington
We imagine a Washington where every woman, girl, and gender-expansive individual—cis, trans, nonbinary, multiracial, multilingual, rural, urban—has the support, resources, and community she or they need to thrive.
A Washington where nonprofits have the stability to plan for the future, where women’s leadership is valued at every level, and where joy, safety, and possibility are not luxuries, but realities for the women and girls of our state.
This is the future we aim to build together. Even in this rapidly changing landscape, our direction is intentional and burns with the hope of a better future.
It may seem naive, right now, to look toward a bright future. But we know no other way out but through, and we are determined to reach that other side with a solid infrastructure for the world we want to live in already built.
We advance in our work toward a better tomorrow with hope, clarity, determination, and relentless optimism.
Our New Vision, Mission, and Values
To meet this moment of chaos, WaWF will focus its energy on charting a clear path to that brighter future with a new mission, vision, and set of values.
We envision an intentional community of women of all backgrounds united in building a just, equitable, and thriving Washington.
Our mission is to provide long-term unrestricted capital, organizational support, and networking to social change efforts supporting women and girls in Washington state:
- Long-term, unrestricted funding so organizations can grow sustainably;
- Organizational support to help changemakers thrive;
- A powerful network of women leaders, members, and advocates across Washington;
- Education and connections that strengthen both movements and communities.
We Value Community, Courage, Curiosity, and Care:
- We believe that the power of community to drive change depends on advancing racial and gender equity and adopting an intersectional lens, recognizing that true progress comes from honoring diverse experiences and building inclusive pathways for all women and girls.
- We lead with courage, building trust through our transparency, and holding ourselves accountable to the communities we serve, ensuring our actions reflect our values and drive meaningful change.
- We embrace humble curiosity as a catalyst for growth, commit to learning as a lifelong practice, and approach change with a systemic perspective, knowing that lasting impact requires navigating discomfort and complexity to understand the forces that shape the lives of women and girls.
- We center care in all we do, creating spaces of belonging where women and girls feel seen, valued, and connected, and where joy is embraced as a source of strength.
Within this sharpened direction, we remain grounded in our commitment to both collective giving and racial and gender equity, and to the belief that lasting change comes from centering those most impacted by injustice.
Our Audacious Goal
To match the scale of the opportunity and the challenge before us, in the next decade, WaWF commits to investing $50 million and the leveraged power of our collective to break down systemic barriers, advance women’s leadership, and meet essential needs, so every woman and girl in Washington can thrive.
This is the largest commitment in our history, and it reflects our belief that every community – and every woman and girl – in Washington deserves investment, partnership, and hope.
A Foundational Year: Learning, Listening, & Co-Creating
As we embark on this new chapter, WaWF will begin with a foundational year: A period of intentional learning, exploration, and co-creation.
During 2026, we will test and refine new approaches to our grantmaking, member and donor engagement, and educational programming. Our goal is to understand what best serves our grantees, strengthens the experience of our members, and deepens the connection with our supporters. This exploratory year will allow us to complete a plan that reflects the wisdom of our community and ensures that our strategies for building a new tomorrow are grounded in equity, impact, and collective leadership.
What This Means for Grantees (and Future Grantees!)
We are working to transform our grantmaking to be even more accessible, relational, and aligned with community needs:
Multi-year, unrestricted grants
So organizations can plan, hire, innovate, and grow without the burden of restrictive funding.
A streamlined, low‑friction application
Because your time should go toward your mission, not paperwork.
A year‑round application portal
To meet organizations when they are ready, not just once a year.
Transparent, member‑led review processes
Grounded in learning, equity, and accountability.
Connection and capacity-building support
From peer networks to skills‑based volunteer support, our goal is to help organizations not only survive but thrive.
Whether you are an earlier grantee or discovering WaWF for the first time, we want you to know:
We are building this next chapter with you.
What This Means for Our Members
Our members are the heart of WaWF. This new direction strengthens and celebrates our members as leaders, advocates, givers, and partners in philanthropy.
Members will experience:
- More targeted education and training to enhance and inform their grantmaking
- More ways to engage, from committees to statewide events
- More transparency and clearer impact reporting
- More opportunities to build relationships with grantees – and each other!
- Easier Access to membership to widen and broaden our collective’s reach
- A growing statewide network of women passionate about equity
This evolution ensures that every member, whether new or longtime, can find a meaningful place in our shared work.
Why Now: A Call to Collective Action
We are living in a time when women’s rights, safety, and well‑being face new threats. The chaos and dangers of our current environment demand creativity, resolve and collective action.
We have known for many years that acting collectively – pooling resources, talents, and voices – will yield greater impact than working alone. We truly go further when we go together.
At WaWF we believe and act on the knowledge that only through collective giving and collective action can we move the systems that have failed so many.
Join Us and Build the Next Decade of Impact
To our grantees: We see you. We trust you. We are committed to standing alongside you.
To our members: Your leadership, voice, and generosity will make this future possible.
To future partners and supporters: There has never been a more important or more hopeful time to invest in women and girls and in the Washington Women’s Foundation.
YOU are Invited to Learn More!
We look forward to sharing more as this work unfolds. Throughout 2026, we will actively seek your feedback and insights, and we invite you to engage with us in the spirit of our core values – Curiosity, Courage, Community, and Care – as we navigate this foundational year together.
- For additional information, you are welcome to access the executive summary of our business plan. For a full version of the plan, or if you have additional comments or questions, contact info@wawomensfdn.org, and we will be sure your message or request reaches the right team member.
We encourage you to join us at one of our nonprofit information sessions, or – if you are a member – participate in an upcoming Take Action session to engage more deeply with this work.
Finally, all are welcome to join us from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm on March 6, 2026 at Georgetown Ballroom, where we will host a 30th Anniversary and Community Celebration honoring three decades of shared work and share more about our new direction!
* WaWF has a broad and evolving understanding of gender. We engage women, girls, and gender expansive people, including cis, trans and non-binary individuals and communities.