What's Happening With Women's Economic Security? A News Review for the Week Ending June 26

Below are the latest links to news items in the U.S. that discuss women and poverty. These are brought to you by Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, a national foundation-led initiative, that has collaborated with the Women’s Funding Network to bring you the latest news and analysis on women and poverty.

Here are this week's links:

• The Washington Post focuses on a 19-year-old mother of two who has stayed in school with help from a program supporting teen mothers


• The Dallas Observer profiles a program that seeks to end the cycle of teen pregnancy and poverty by focusing on low-income girls’ etiquette and self-esteem


• In an op-ed in the Ithaca Citizen, contributor Jennifer Wilkins argues in favor of extending Women, Infants, and Children program benefits to farmers markets, writing that doing so will provide better nutrition to low-income families


• As reported by the Associated Press, Illinois will be making more nutritious foods available under the Women, Infants, and Children program
  
  
• The Bridgewater Courier News interviews a local mother who has a new home of her own thanks to Habitat for Humanity’s Women-Build events

This news roundup has been crossposted by Lisa Kays at Ask Us How: The Washington Area Women's Foundation blog.

Visit the Women and Poverty page on Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity!

Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity is a foundation-led, non-partisan initiative aimed at ensuring that our political leaders take significant actions to reduce poverty and increase opportunity in the United States. We bring together diverse perspectives from the political, policy, advocacy and foundation communities to engage in an ongoing dialogue focused on finding genuine solutions to the economic hardship confronting millions of Americans.

News Round Up: June 23, 2009

Here is our news round up of yesterdays coverage - www.womensfundingnetwork.org/News-June-23. Women's Funding Network made the news for our new report, and continued coverage and discussion of women in Iran.

Check it out, we updated our News Round Up page - www.womensfundingnetwork.org/Daily-News.

New Report: Women's Philanthropy on the Rise!

The Women's Funding Network and the Foundation Center released a new report on Monday, June 22 called Accelerating Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women's Funds. The report discusses trends in philanthropy for and by women. Read a short excerpt from the executive summary below:

The report finds that in recent years funding for women and girls by the broader foundation community has grown at a faster rate than foundation giving on the whole, although as a share of overall foundation giving, it has remained below 7.5 percent for over a decade-and-a-half. Giving by women’s funds in particular has grown even more rapidly.

What this suggests is that funders are becoming increasingly aware of the potential for accelerating social change by investing in women and women-led organizations. Nevertheless, the relatively small share of foundation funding focused on women and girls indicates that this awareness could be further strengthened.

Although the report clearly states that women have been making an impact in and through the world of philanthropy, we all know, our work is far from over. Click here to read the full executive summary and order a hard copy of the full report. Thank you to all of our member funds who participated in the research for the report.

Check out press coverage of the report here, here and here.

News Round Up: June 22, 2009

Here is the News Round Up from Monday, June 22 and the weekend - http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org/News-June-22.

We will be posting the our news digest on our news page daily (just click where it says Daily Coverage of Issue Affecting Women)!

Happy reading!

My Own News Roundup for the Week Ending 6/19

The She Change is taking a break from the usual Friday news roundup from Spotlight on Poverty.

So feast your eyes on a women's news cornucopia focusing on all the issues women's funds focus on.

Health:
An Op-Ed from Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Linda Campbell calls on lawmakers to put politics aside when creating health care reform (published in Sacramento Bee).

Washington Post writer Ezra Klein shares the full text of the Finance Committee’s Health Reform Outline.

A report in Forbes claims global health funding doesn’t always reach its intended recipients.

NBC reports on a Gallup poll showing who Americans feel should be held accountable for health care reform.

A Washington Post report looks at why teen births are on the rise.

The Associated Press reports on a poll by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that shows many Americans are concerned about the costs of health care:

An Op-Ed in the Hudson Valley Press says maternal mortality is a crucial human rights issue that needs to be addressed.

NPR reports on the risks the economic crisis is placing on global health.

An Op-Ed in the Albany Times-Union blasts New York state lawmakers for squandering gains in women’s reproductive health.

A U.S. News article talks about Obama’s strategies for an abortion policy.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution shares a study discussed by HealthDay News that shows depressed pregnant African-American women are at increased risk for giving birth to premature babies.

The Wichita Eagle profiles a Colorado OBGYN who continues providing reproductive health care despite threats.

Read the full text of President Obama’s address to the American Medical Association, where he told the story of a mother’s battle with health care costs after being diagnosed with cancer.

Health on the Blogs:
A U.S. News blog discusses the new Planned Parenthood ad campaign.

ABC News details pressures pregnant women in the workforce are facing to reduce their maternity leave.

Daily Kos highlights a report from Save the Children underplaying the fact that maternal mortality rates in the U.S. are alarmingly high.

Reproductive Health Reality Check discusses Forbes India’s critical evaluation of the Gates Foundation’s $258 million HIV initiative in India.

Feminist Peace Network calls for single-payer healthcare.

Violence:
Eve Ensler slams world governments in a Guardian Op-Ed for ignoring Congolese women survivors of sexual assault and violence.

The Jakarta Post reports how survivors of abuse are often charged by police for reporting their batterers.

A new survey shows 1 in 4 South African men have admitted to raping women (Associated Press).

A bill being proposed in the New York state legislature would increase penalties for violence committed by abortion clinic protesters.

Almost $2 million of Washington state’s economic stimulus money will go to programs that fight violence against women (King County NBC affiliate).

A California doctor advises women living in abusive relationships in a San Luis Obispo Tribune opinion.

The Tri-State Defender (Memphis) laments justice is elusive for women survivors of violence.

The Economy:
NOW will highlight equal-pay in their weekend summit, reports the Indianapolis Star.

A USAToday column looks at women in the workplace and their role in our economy.

An Associated Press feature claims the market for sex has diminished amid the global recession.

The Christian Science Monitor reports the worldwide economic downturn has fueled human trafficking.

The Economy on the Blogs:
A post on the International Labor Rights Forum’s blog looks at how Africa is being affected by the global recession.

Feministing takes a USA Today columnist to task for overlooking challenges women are facing in the economy.

Philanthropy:
The Seattle Times “Business of Giving” blog profiles young professionals who are honing their philanthropic skills.

The Associated Press covers Michelle Obama’s call for philanthropic institutions to support efforts to rebuild the economy.

A Bergen Record feature discusses a women’s giving circle’s support of teen mothers.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports on the trend of Impact100 – a group of 100 women who pool gifts of $1,000 each to benefit relatively unknown grassroots organizations in their communities:

The Neighborhood Star profiles two young rap artists who performed a concert to benefit a community organization that mentors girls.

Philanthropy on the Blogs:
Feministing blogger Miriam poses the question: Where do you donate?

Monica Byrd from Washington Area Women’s Foundation explains why financial literacy for girls is so crucial.

Katty Kay (BBC) answers the question: Can Women Save the Economy? (Daily Beast)

The Glasshammer issues a call for more women on corporate boards.

Business Lexington discusses Women Moving Millions and the trend of “mega gifts” in philanthropy.

Iran:
The Associated Press reports conservative women are joining Iran's opposition street protests.

Forbes discusses feminism in Iran in light of the current election drama.

The Guardian says this is still a time of hope for Iranian women, as their campaigning has had a slow but sure effect.

The Baltimore Sun reports on what unrest in Iran means for women.

Iran on the Blogs:
Feministe provides more discussions and articles on women in Iran.

ABC News’ blog Womenomics discusses the rising influence of women in Iran.

Education:
A San Jose Mercury News columnist warns against the persistent tech gap between boys and girls.

A Times of India article reports education is improving the lives of rural girls.

An Atlanta Journal Constitution feature profiles a program that shows at-risk girls how to produce plays.

A Wall Street Journal online guide answers the question: How Can Young Women Develop a Leadership Style?

Miscellaneous:
Voice of America reports on the United Nations call for nations to address displaced women around the world.

Change.org outlines why women in the media matter to progressive leadership.

NPR reports on the new White House office on women.

NPR profiles Katie Orenstein’s Op-Ed project for women.

Happy Reading!

Before and After (or answer to the question: What's a Women's Fund?)

A lot of people are unfamiliar with women's funds -- what they are and what they do -- and I think this article explains their impact in at least one of the issue areas they work on: violence.

Read about the impact The Women's Fund of Birmingham has had on the community it serves.

This paragraph sums up quite nicely how women's funds give more than money -- sharing connections, expertise and best practices to break down a problem at its core and make changes in the way a community tackles a problem:

As part of the Voices Against Violence initiative, The Women's Fund made a grant to the Alabama Coalition Against Domestic Violence to provide training to court and law enforcement, funded a YWCA court advocate and purchased digital cameras for the Birmingham Police Department. The ACADV used these funds as the local match to attract federal money for two purposes: a shared information system prototype so local courts could look up perpetrators' previous convictions on domestic violence charges and seed money for warrants and subpoenas to be served in Operation Hit Back.

The momentum has continued to build with new partners coming on board.

Men and Feminism

Click on the poster to enlarge the image (in a PDF).

Deborah Siegel -- who blogs over at Girlw/Pen! -- is holding a really cool event in Brooklyn on June 20 in honor of Father's Day. You can read her preview on her blog (and also watch a video from a past event with some of the other women who will be there -- including the most awesome Courtney Martin).

If you are looking for some inspiration on Father's Day and you're in the New York City area, go check it out.