New Investments Empower Women of All Ages
Kansas City, MO – Today, Women’s Foundation announced its strategic investments by way of it 2017 grant recipients. These grants support organizations that offer solutions based on Women’s Foundation’s Status of Women in Missouri and Status of Women in Kansas research studies, particularly as related to economic empowerment. The key indicators of those studies include employment and income, education and childcare, social and economic status, leadership and public engagement, and health. Women’s Foundation looks forward to collaborating with these organizations to improve the lives of women of all ages in Kansas and Missouri.
2017 recipients of Women’s Foundation investments:
Empowering the Parent to Empower the Child (EPEC) to support training programs for impoverished mothers, allowing them to learn a skilled trade with earning potential to provide for their families and learn parenting skills needed to end the cycle of poverty with their children.
Episcopal Community Services (ECS) to support food service training with supportive services designed to help underserved and at-risk women overcome barriers to obtaining and sustaining meaningful employment. ECS will go beyond traditional workforce development programs by offering intensive assistance and training for participants. It will also train and educate food service employers to understand the challenges of women who participate in the program.
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art to support the group exhibition "Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today". This free exhibition will reach a wide and diverse audience and feature the work of 21 intergenerational women artists of color to highlight the importance of their contributions to the history of abstraction.
Maternal and Child Health Coalition of Greater Kansas City, Inc. to support the work of improving breastfeeding rates in the Kansas City metropolitan area, specifically in lower-income ZIP codes. MCHC will target lower-income women, women of color, and employers within the region to promote worksite lactation policies and practices, thereby improving the health of families, as well as the employment systems that financially sustain them.
Missouri State University Foundation to continue to support the Rosie women's leadership initiative. Rosie was established to inspire and develop female leaders as a result of Women’s Foundation’s 2016 grant and also helps administer the Women's Foundation Appointments Project - Springfield.
PREP-KC to support the creation and distribution of a playbook that outlines best practices in the creation of career exploration and preparation experiences for middle and high school girls in traditionally underrepresented STEM fields.
Brazen to support Prosper Power Growth Groups, which offer continuous, immersive programming to help women entrepreneurs gain quality advice to support their business goals.
Women's Employment Network to support positive change in the lives of women who struggle with economic, social, and education barriers. WEN promotes the overall economic wellness of clients, focuses on building pathways to securing livable-wage jobs, and provides credit-building tools and financial education, leading them toward long-term financial stability.
The Women’s Foundation promotes equity and opportunity for women of all ages, using research, philanthropy and policy solutions to make meaningful change. More information about the organization can be found at www.Womens-Foundation.org.
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