Member Spotlight: Women's Fund of the La Crosse Foundation and the White House Rural Tour

On July 16th, the White House Rural Tour - a series of events featuring top Obama Administration officials discussing how communities, states, and the federal government can work together to help strengthen rural America - stopped in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The Women's Fund of the La Crosse Foundation was there to welcome Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Trasportation Secretary Ray LaHood to La Crosse and ensure that the well-being of women and girls was included in the day's discussion.

Diane Raaum, President of the Women's Fund, had the opportunity to speak out. "...Over 80% of those seeking transportation help today are women. We know this administration is about solutions. The Women's Fund is also about solutions and doing work at a community level. There are [145] women's funds throughout the world that are effecting social change in their communities. [In Wisconsin] women only earn $.71 for every dollar that a man earns. Furthermore, the current economic downturn has disproportionately impacted women and their families. We had almost $70,000 in grant requests this year from our community but were only able to fund $19,000. Many of these requests were going to meet basic needs. So we would like to know how you are proposing to include women as a solution to these problems and how you are going to help women and families in need in the La Crosse area," Raaum said.

The Secretaries responded that President Obama "gets it" and has passed that message on to his cabinet. They noted that President Obama passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and that supporting women and children is a priority for this administration. The Secretaries also noted the administration's goal to eliminate child hunger by 2015.

Congratulations to The Women's Fund of the La Crosse Foundation for making their voices heard and seizing this unique opportunity to raise the visibility of women's funds and the plight of women and girls during the economic downturn!

Post by Amy Moy, Interim Director, Communications and Marketing, Women's Funding Network

Liberian Woman Takes on Colbert

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Leymah Gbowee
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Jeff Goldblum

While Stephen Colbert’s killer-comic timing usually shocks and stupefies his guests, he met his match last night with the Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee. Ms. Gbowee organized the courageous women of Liberia to bring an end to their devastating civil war, citing that they were fed up and could not take the terror and violence any longer and decided to do something about it.

Her poise and ability to keep Colbert engaged in the issues demonstrates that when you’ve taken a stand to the likes of human rights offenders like former Liberian Dictator Charles Taylor (currently on trial in The Hague for crimes against Sierra Leone), the Colbert Report ain’t so scary.

Leymah Gbowee and the women of Liberia are the subjects of the award-winning documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Check out the interview (above) to get a taste.

Find out more about how African women are improving their communities.

(Post by Kristina)

Working to Stop Domestic Violence Before it Starts

In the past few weeks it seems like violence against women has been getting a lot of press attention. In our news round ups we have been seeing headlines like Domestic Violence can also Include Economic Abuse and Spousal Rape Laws Continue to Evolve. People have discussed the idea that domestic violence has been on the rise due to the economic crisis, and of course the press has been paying close attention to the Rihanna vs. Chris Brown case.

Even with the announcement of the new White House Advisor on Violence Against Women, the press continues to fail reporting on successful and innovative solutions to domestic violence. The Women's Fund of Central Indiana has been working to break the cycle of domestic violence by educating youth.

"I am really proud of a $150,000 grant Women's Fund gave to the Ruth Lilly Health Education Center (RLHEC)... RLHEC created a curriculum to help the students learn to recognize appropriate behaviors and what to do if they are currently in or someday are part of an unhealthy relationship."

Read more about this awesome program at the Women's Fund of Central Indiana's blog.

Keep up the great work!

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.

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.

Taking a Stand for Women's Security

The current administration has made strides for women’s equity since coming to office; from signing into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, to creating the White House Council on Women and Girls, and appointing of many strong women to positions of power, our President and his administration have been an advocates for women and girls world wide and we are seeing the effects. Just yesterday, the House passed legislation that approved the creation of the Office of Global Women’s Issues within the U.S. State Department.

However, in light of the recent killing of Dr. George Tiller, we are reminded of how far we still have to go in order to ensure true security for women both in the US and abroad. It is crucial that we protect the right to safe and accessible health care for all women, particularly those in conflict areas where studies show that funding for women’s health is drastically decreased. Women and doctors should not be intimidated, threatened or harassed for seeking or providing reproductive health care, family planning materials, and birth control.

With our nation currently focusing on the issue of health care in the United States, we must work to ensure that women’s perspectives and concerns are brought to the table both here and abroad. Global women’s health is an issue that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has deemed a priority of the Office of Global Women’s Issues, among other issues including poverty reduction, and freedom from violence. Though many opposition groups are attempting to derail the passage of this legislation, we know that the effects of a woman in good health can have a ripple effect throughout society.