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Dear friends,
Happy New Year from the Women’s Fund SouthCoast! We are excited to announce several new initiatives that we are implementing in 2024. As we plan for growth, we moved our office from 65 William St. to a much larger space at 628 Pleasant St. Suite 322 in New Bedford. We will miss our storefront presence in the community, but are excited about forging new partnerships with existing organizations to bring gender justice education to AHA! Nights and beyond. We welcome all to stop by to say hello.
This past year I worked with many young women leading campaigns to end period poverty, advancing city-wide policies for better youth outcomes, creating new women’s empowerment initiatives to fill in gaps and got to see some first-generation students get into college. If we don’t invest in equitable pipelines to leadership positions, then it will be difficult to see real progress. We also have to invest in the leadership development of adult women who become mentors, start new youth programs and sustain economic empowerment. All systems have to work together.
At our Annual Meeting at Our Sisters’ School last month we heard from an intergenerational panel of community leaders about how they were advancing gender and racial justice on the SouthCoast. At the close of the meeting, I made a very exciting announcement that we were selected to join The National Philanthropic Collaborative of Young Women’s Initiatives which is a dynamic effort by the nation’s leading women’s foundations that seeks to galvanize and invest resources to amplify the collective power of young women—particularly young women of color— to ensure that they are safe, healthy and economically prosperous in a world with gender and racial equity. I am thrilled to bring this initiative, originally stemming from the former White House Council on Women and Girls, to the SouthCoast. Stay tuned for more information in the coming month.
This year is full of new beginnings. I look forward to collaborating with all of you to continue moving the needle on gender and racial justice.
In community,
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Christine Monska
Executive Director
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The Women’s Fund Joined Our Grantee Partners Testifying at the MA Commission on the Status of Women’s Hearing in Dartmouth
| Photo Source: https://www.instagram.com/masscsw/ | The Women’s Fund SouthCoast submitted written testimony around the lack of access to period products in all of our public schools, the need for funding for programs for young women, girls, and gender expansive youth to develop leadership skills, and the need for more local research on the status of women and girls so we can develop targeted programs and advocacy initiatives. | |
Carmen Amaral, WFSC Board President, provided additional oral testimony about the ways in which supporting immigrant families, access to reproductive health, and child care impacted her community.
“For as long as I can remember, New Bedford has been a city of immigrants. And right now, there are migrant families coming in and they’ve made the journey for the same reason that so many of us, or our families, did - for a better life. We have hotels in Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Fall River, Middleboro, New Bedford, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, and Wareham that are housing these families. Our shelters and social service sectors are at max capacity and these folks need our help…” Carmen Amaral
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We partnered with Our Sisters’ School to showcase the amazing work middle school, high school, young adults and seasoned professionals are doing to work together to advance gender and racial justice for all. | |
Our Sister’s School students kicked-off the meeting with a poem about the future of girls | |  |
Christine Monska, Executive Director shared stories of impact from 2023 | | |
We heard from a panel of community leaders | |
From left to right: Keyanna Jones, WFSC Special Projects Intern, Julia Caron Dartmouth Highschool’s Women’s Empowerment Group Founder, WFSC Events Committee Member, Alicia Cortez, Mujeres Victoriosas Representative, Tanya Lobo, Founder & CEO, T.R.U.E. Diversity, Chair of Bristol County Commission on the Status of Women,
Moderator: Cynthia Cummings, WFSC Board Vice President
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Congratulations to Jen Clarke, our new Board Secretary | "Serving as Secretary for the Women’s Fund is a privilege for which I am incredibly grateful. With this new responsibility I am given an opportunity to support the work of the Board and the Women’s Fund in a new way that contributes to the fulfillment of our mission as we work collectively in making the SouthCoast a place of equity for all women and all girls." - Jen Clarke | | |
We closed out the night with a celebration of wins for women, girls and gender expansive people this year. | |
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Announcing Our New
Young Women’s Initiative
The Women’s Fund is proud to announce that we will seek a community partner from the SouthCoast to implement a Young Women’s Advisory Council (YWAC) consisting of up to 20 young people ages 14-22 who will create an action plan for policy and programmatic change they want to see in their city, state and/or nation. A Steering Committee will be created in early 2024 which will launch a Request for Conversation process to select a community partner. Together, we will support the next generation of activists and philanthropists. The Young women will join in our participatory grantmaking process to fuel the innovative solutions to the barriers they identify. Please stay tuned for further communications about the opportunity.
Support our new YWI! Our national partner will match ALL donations dollar for dollar up to $25,000 before September 30, 2024.
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We are Excited to Announce Our New 2024-2025 Grantmaking Cycle
We will support 501(c)(3) organizations or those who are fiscally sponsored for grants up to $25,000. Average grant awards typically are in the $10,000 - $15,000 range.
Join us for two virtual information sessions.
Tuesday, March 5, 4:00 pm
Thursday, March 7, 12:00 pm
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Thank You to all Who Contributed to Our Annual Giving Campaign! | |
We've met the goal set by a generous group of donors for new or increased donations, up to $15,000 by December 31! | |
Eventful Insights: Past Highlights and Upcoming Engagements | |
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New Bedford Fall Fest
The Women’s Fund gave away hundreds of free books to families and offered another opportunity to gather for a Celebration of Witches.
More pictures on Facebook and Instagram
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Native American Heritage Day/Thanksgiving Drive
Thanks to Cecelia and Stephen Roberts for their continued generosity each year and for allowing us to take part in hosting this food drive! A special thanks to all the volunteers as well for making this possible!
More pictures on Facebook and Instagram
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Common Start Regional Event – Taunton
We joined our Grantee partners TRUE Diversity, Coalition for Social Justice and Common Start Coalition as well as Representatives Carol Doherty and Pat Haddad, and Senator Pacheco in Taunton for this free event about the importance of accessible, affordable and high-quality early education and child care.
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Women's Health Events and Resources:
What You Need to Know About Trans and Gender-Diverse People
DATE: Tuesday, January 30th
TIME: 1:00pm - 3:00 pm
The New England AIDS Education and Training Center is hosting this webinar that will include a review of previous sessions in this learning series, and a discussion of how to apply lessons learned in our everyday work. Emphasis will be placed on practical strategies for the engagement of trans and gender-diverse individuals in services as well as in policy, programming, and leadership.
Register Here
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YWCA SEMA - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
DATE: Wednesday, January 31st
TIME: 11:00 am
Congratulations to WFSC Board Member, Yvonne Drayton for establishing this enduring legacy!
The Drayton House is located at 549 County Street, New Bedford. This new program is named for Yvonne Drayton, who served as the YWCA Southeastern MA Executive Director for seventeen years, retiring in 2007. Under Yvonne's leadership, the YWCA opened its first residential program, A Woman's Place. Yvonne was also a founding member of the City of New Bedford's Homeless Services Providers Network.
Kindly RSVP to Mariah at mtarentino@ywcasema.org by January 29th
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Girls Empowerment Leadership Initiative
DATE: Saturday, April 20, 2024
The Women’s Fund organized a SouthCoast Youth Leadership Panel to showcase the work of our youth leaders. Other cities and towns from across the state will get to learn more about what young people are doing in our community.
Register Here
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MCSW Scholarship Applications
This program will aim to support emerging leaders of the Commonwealth in continuing their education journey to leadership and economic empowerment. Designed to support woman-identifying students already enrolled in a Massachusetts Public Higher Education Institution, scholarships will be available to help an individual complete their degree.
Click here to learn more.
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Every time you give, we become a
stronger advocate for gender and racial justice.
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