Final 15 Organizations for Pooled Fund Grants

by Aki Shibuya

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Washington Women's Foundation Pooled Fund Grant Committee Update header

We have another exciting update for you! The Pooled Fund Grant Committee has selected 15 organizations to receive Site Visits. Scroll down to read more.

Wait….how does WWF’s grant process work again? Here’s a quick reminder:

  • January: The Grant Committee (made up of ~70 WWF members) studied ~270 Letters of Inquiry and prioritized 25 to move forward.
  • March/April: The Grant Committee evaluated 25 formal proposals and selected 15 organizations to receive site visits.
  • May: Teams of WWF members visit 15 organizations, and the Grant Committee selects the final 10 organizations to appear on the ballot.
  • June: All 475 members of WWF receive electronic ballots and vote to determine which 5 organizations will receive our large impact Pooled Fund Grant Awards of $100,000.

And without further ado, we present the 15 organizations that will receive Site Visits this year:

ARTS & CULTURE

Intiman Theatre: To close the opportunity gap for diverse actors, directors and writers, including women and artists of color, by providing training and ongoing professional development to up-and-coming artists who contribute nontraditional viewpoints to the cultural capital of King County.

Reel Grrls: To correct gender imbalances in film production by providing a vital training ground for more young women from diverse communities to amplify their voices using the power of media.

Terrain: To enhance Spokane’s economic and cultural vitality by increasing its arts programming and opening new gallery and performing spaces that will benefit the region’s artists, musicians and performers.

EDUCATION

Para Los Ninos de Highline: To support and expand learning programs designed by and for Latino families in order to increase Latino students’ academic success in the Highline School District.

Team Read: To expand their summer reading program in order to combat the disproportionate impact of summer reading loss on minority and low-income students.

The Big-Brained Superheroes Club: To offer afterschool programs steeped in interdisciplinary exploration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) to help young people living in Yesler Terrace develop skills (“superpowers”) they need to succeed in school and in life.

ENVIRONMENT

Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides: To build capacity for a multi-organization collaborative project to improve the health and well-being of farm workers in Washington State by reducing exposure to pesticides.

Puget Sound Sage: To increase the leadership of low-income people and people of color, who disproportionately suffer environmental hazards and pollution, in the climate movement and achieve policy wins for equitable carbon mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Washington Water Trust: To build organizational capacity to effectively and rapidly respond to eminent water-related environmental threats, protect fish and wildlife in the Pacific Northwest and improve water flow and quality in Washington’s rivers.

HEALTH

Encompass Northwest: To improve health access by providing mobile, life-changing therapies for children and families in underserved rural areas as well as locations such as homeless shelters, transitional housing facilities, schools and community centers throughout East King County.

Food Empowerment Education Sustainability Team (FEEST): To combat health disparities by developing more emerging youth leaders of color ready to plan and implement a community action effort that results in healthy eating and food access in their families, schools and neighborhoods.

Seattle Children’s Hospital and Research Foundation: To support the Coalition for Gun Violence Prevention, a collaboration of experts in injury prevention, safety, adolescent medicine, mental health, social media and public health who are dedicated to reducing deaths by gun violence in children through outreach and research.

HUMAN SERVICES

Center for Children & Youth Justice: To support research-based, data-driven innovative systemic reform in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to significantly improve outcomes for children and youth in Washington.

Coastal Harvest: To alleviate hunger and break the succession of intergenerational poverty in Southwest Washington by purchasing and maintaining a refrigerated truck ready to deliver fresh food donations to food banks.

Northwest Justice Project: To combat rampant workplace sexual violence, secure justice for survivors of sexual harassment and create safer conditions for more than 28,000 farmworker women in Washington’s agricultural industry.

10 Organizations To Consider for Individual Support

The following organizations submitted full proposals for consideration in the Pooled Fund Grant process. Though these organizations did not advance to receive Site Visits, we hope that you will consider supporting them individually. A great way to increase your impact is by donating through Seattle Foundation’s GiveBig campaign on May 3.

  • East African Community Services: To increase organizational capacity to deliver effective direct educational services designed to close the achievement gap between East African children of refugees in King County and their American counterparts. (Education)
  • Hilltop Urban Gardens: To build a neighborhood-based Urban Farm Network in Tacoma to combat food insecurity at a systemic level and promote racial, environmental and economic justice. (Environment)
  • HopeSparks: To prevent child abuse, strengthen and stabilize 1,000 children and reduce referral to foster care through an innovative intergenerational kinship care program in Pierce County. (Human Services)
  • Mercy Housing Northwest: To empower low-income women to take leadership roles in improving the health of their communities through training, skill-building and leadership development. (Health)
  • Navos: To expand intensive, individualized support for vulnerable young adults who are in crisis, struggling with mental health challenges and who were homeless or at imminent risk of being homeless before transitioning into supportive housing operated by Navos. (Health)
  • Northwest Youth Services: To augment the only emergency housing option available for unaccompanied minors ages 13-17 in Whatcom County with wrap-around, individualized support. (Human Services)
  • On the Boards: To nurture the local performing contemporary arts scene in Seattle by presenting and producing more new artworks by almost 150 local artists, growing the number of local artists produced to approximately 70% of their full season. (Arts & Culture)
  • Seattle Public Theater: To create a three-year Theatrical Design Program with the goal of increasing the number of capable and accomplished young women and people of color in Seattle’s theater designer community. (Arts & Culture)
  • Year Up Puget Sound: To amplify an intensive one-year workforce development program by training and encouraging young people to obtain technical certifications, which increases their ability to obtain desirable jobs that pay higher wages and improve long-term career prospects. (Education)
  • Washington Green Schools: To expand and build capacity for its certification system and network of support that educates school communities and drives environmental policy and behavioral changes in schools while developing student leaders in the environmental sustainability and resource conservation movements. (Environment)

Through our groundbreaking model of women-powered, collective philanthropy, Washington Women’s Foundation has given out $15 million in transformative grants that enable not-for-profit organizations to improve lives, protect the environment, advance health and education and increase access to the arts throughout Washington state.

We invite all women to join us to make a more powerful impact in our community. The challenges ahead of us are never as great as the power behind us. www.wawomensfdn.org 

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