The New York Women’s Foundation and Ms. Foundation Announce Year Two Results of $100M Collective Fund
The New York Women’s Foundation and Ms. Foundation for Women joined members of Prosperity Together, a nonpartisan partnership of 32 public U.S. women’s foundations located in 26 states and Washington, D.C., to announce Year 2 Two (2017) results of its collective five-year, $100 million funding commitment to ensure economic security for low-income women and their families across the country.
This month, in alignment with Women’s History Month, the partnership is leveraging social media channels (Twitter, Facebook) each week to share successes and engage the public at #ProsperityTogether.
In Year One (2016), Prosperity Together partners invested a collective $29,170,427. In Year Two (2017), partners invested $29,251,072 for a total of $58,421,499 -- 58% of its five-year, $100 million commitment in just two years. Collectively last year, partners supported 1,022 nonprofit organizations and impacted over 137,153 women and girls across 26 states and Washington, D.C.
“With more than two-thirds of American households being supported by women as the primary or co-breadwinner, women’s economic security is more critical than ever. And yet, racial and gender wage gaps exist with Black women in the U.S. making 64 cents on the dollar and Latina women making 54 cents, as compared to their white male counterparts for the same work,” said Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of The New York Women’s Foundation. “Great progress has been made thanks to the work of women’s foundations and their grantee partners, but there still is much work to be done. We are proud to be a partner in Prosperity Together and continue to harness the collective power, leadership, and proven effectiveness of women’s foundations working together to ensure women’s economic security.”
“Economic disparities exist across all industries and professions, with women and in particular women of color being the most impacted,” said Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. “The Ms. Foundation is a proud Prosperity Together partner, working alongside women’s foundations from across the country to improve the economic security of low-income women and their communities. We stand in solidarity with our fellow women’s funds and their grantee partners that are working to break the cycle of poverty and enact change in communities across our nation.”
To achieve economic security for all women, Prosperity Together partners employ a broad, inclusive approach to grantmaking. In 2017, 90 percent of partners supported workforce development; 81 percent, leadership development and community mobilization; 74 percent, financial literacy and asset building; 74 percent, research; and 74 percent, education. They targeted their grantmaking to support programs in these specific areas:
• Job Training: Programs that are customized to address the cultural and educational needs of low-income women to secure a higher-wage job in a stable work environment.
• Two-Generation Programs: Programs that assist parents seeking education, job training, or employment while concurrently placing their children in high-quality education.
• Asset Building & Financial Literacy: Programs that help women develop and keep wealth.
• Childcare Access & Quality: Programs that create access for low-income women to culturally appropriate, affordable, high-quality childcare so they can be successful in the workplace and their children can have a strong academic start in life.
• Research: State and national research to inform best practices and policies that increase economic security for low-income women, build awareness of community-specific issues, and mobilize support for policy change.
• Policy Change: Support policy change efforts that most affect low-income women, including pay equity, paid family and medical leave, minimum wage increase, improved access to childcare, reducing predatory lending, improving access to childcare subsidies for community college students, and fair scheduling and work-week bills.
Over the next three years, Prosperity Together will continue to harness the collective power, leadership, and proven effectiveness of women’s foundations working together to ensure women’s economic security in America. State by state, the partnership calls upon policymakers, business leaders, philanthropic community, and the public to understand that economic prosperity for all is guaranteed only when economic security and equal opportunity are guaranteed for low-income women.
Click here for more information on Prosperity Together, full members’ list, national impact, and access to annual reports. Access the Year Two Impact Report here.