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
We asked Lorraine del Prado to share a reflection from this past year’s Pooled Fund Grant Committee. Lorraine has been a member since 2011 and has served on the Pooled Fund Grant and Diversity Partner Grant Committees. She also served on the Pooled Fund Grant Task Force and the Board’s Resource Development Committee. I believe…more
Earlier this week, Washington Women’s Foundation members announced five recipients of $100,000 grants from the Foundation’s Pooled Fund and five $10,000 Merit Award winners, totaling $550,000 in grants, our largest single day of grantmaking in our history. In the 25 years since the Foundation’s inception, our members have influenced transformation in communities across Washington State…more
Since the first of March, the Foundation’s Board of Directors has had two virtual meetings, a 7-hour video conference “retreat” (in lieu of our annual Board and staff retreat) and a special meeting earlier this week. The primary focus of these meetings has been determining the allocation of funds contributed by our members last year for grantmaking this year. As you may…more
We are pleased to announce the award of the 2019 Fall Diversity Partner Grant focused on Arts & Equity. Our committee of 12 participants selected the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in Olympia to receive our full award of $12,500. Committee members included: Diane Altman Dautoff, Julie Burg, Betty Drumheller, Pamela Eakes, Marianne Emerson, Jill Hearne,…more
Two of Washington Women’s Foundation’s values are sharing power and being in community. When we first heard about participatory grantmaking, it seemed like something we had to try, because it was so clearly aligned with these values. This model of grantmaking includes community members as decision-makers, bringing individuals who are part of the community 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
In 2019, Washington Women’s Foundation changed our grant criteria for the first time in our 24-year history. Our new strategic framework, informed by input and ongoing feedback from members as well as nonprofit leaders and philanthropic partners, led us to adopt a new focus on increasing equity and reducing disparities in Washington State (to read…more
Yesterday, Washington Women’s Foundation members announced five recipients of $100,000 grants from the Foundation’s Pooled Fund and five $5,000 Merit Award winners, totaling $525,000 in grants. In the 24 years since the Foundation’s inception, our members have influenced transformation in communities across Washington State by collectively granting over $17 million. Our focus this year was to…more
The 2019 Pooled Fund Grant Committee is learning a lot as we implement the following new grant criteria around increasing equity and reducing disparities this year, funding organizations that are: Focused on providing services to communities affected by inequity due to race, gender identity, and/or other characteristics historically linked to discrimination and/or exclusion. Accountable to…more