This fall, we start our third year of grantmaking focused on increasing equity and reducing disparities. Each year, we understand more deeply what it means to apply an equity lens to our grantmaking and gain greater clarity about how to articulate what we’re looking for. Feedback from grant applicants and committee members continues to inform this work, and today we’d like to share…more
At WA Women’s Foundation, we are dedicated to becoming more a informed collective and approaching our work with a learning mindset. We do this through our over 40+ programs and events we host throughout the year, our grantmaking cycles, and our various member-driven committees. While we’re proud of the breadth of our educational opportunities, we also value…more
The pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion is not a check mark. It is a transformational process that begins with personal learning and reflection on both individual and collective beliefs and behaviors. It is a steadfast commitment to shared values and goals, and the determination to ensure policies and practices advance equity within an organization….more
Each year, the Foundation’s Member Engagement Committee selects a book for all members to read. This year, in continued alignment with our grantmaking criteria of increasing equity and reducing disparities, they invite you to read How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi. In this New York Times bestseller, Kendi takes readers through a…more
A couple weeks ago, we shared some key takeaways learned from implementing our new Pooled Fund grant criteria focused on increasing equity and reducing disparities in Washington State. Today, in an effort to continue transparency in our grantmaking, we are sharing the specific changes we made to the grant criteria for the 2020 grant process….more
At WA Women’s Foundation, we are dedicated to becoming more a informed collective and approaching our work with a learning mindset. We do this through our over 40+ programs and events we host throughout the year, our grantmaking cycles, and our various member-driven committees. While we’re proud of the breadth of our educational opportunities, we…more
We asked Erika Washburn to share her reflections from our book discussion event. Erika has been a member of WA Women’s Foundation since 2011 and has served on the Pooled Fund Grant Committee (Education, Environment, and Health). “It is a book we need to discuss. We can’t just read it.” – Attendee “The book plowed…more
This week marks the start of the second phase of work for the 2019 Pooled Fund Grant Committee. Proposals from our Top 25 are due this week, and the Grant Committee Work Groups will be reconvening to discuss how these proposals reflect work being done to increase equity and reduce disparities in communities throughout Washington…more
Each year, the Foundation’s Member Engagement Committee selects a book for all members to read. This year, in alignment with our new grantmaking criteria of increasing equity and reducing disparities, they invite you to read So You Want to Talk About Race by local Seattle author Ijeoma Oluo. In this New York Times bestseller, Oluo explores the complex reality…more
A recent article by Dorian Burton and Brian Barnes published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review begins as follows: “Historical injustices – perpetuated by racial and cultural conflicts and exacerbated by a lack of empathy – are at the heart of America’s growing economic, social, and political inequalities. Nowhere is this gap of authentic empathy…more