The Women's Fund of Greater Milwaukee

Be Aware, Not Misled

Be aware, not misled says Sarah Noble, managing director of the Reproductive Justice Colllective in her Milwaukee Journal Sentinel opinion piece about the black baby bill board campaign.   Sarah gets immediately to the heart of this pro life effort to drive a racial wedge into reproductive rights discussions.    I couldn't agree more.   Why don't we  value all children and respect all of the women in our community and commit to solving the black infant mortality crisis?  http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/111815649.html

The best and worst day of the year

The best and worst day of the year for me is when we make our funding allocation decisions.  It's exhilirating to think of the good we can do in the world and how important our grants are to supporting local women led organizations.  Our Social Change Grants Advisory Committee made recommendations to fund 11 local organizations including two new grant partners including the Grand Avenue Club for a program  that engages women with mental health issues as public policy advocates.   But there were easily 10 other organizations with extremely worthy and compelling programs that  we did not fund.  And we did not, only because we didn't have more money.   It broke my heart to have conversatons with their leaders who wondered what they did wrong or if they could have written a better proposal.   I can't stand it any more and so I'm working on a campaign.  A big campaign.   While we've been proud of our accomplishments thus far, it's not enough.  We have to be bigger.  Significantly bigger.   We have to be Women Moving Millions.  Our work is important and deserves the same kind of funding universities, museums, and zoos get.  (Our total grantmaking from  all programs is approximately $300,000 to 30 local organizations.) 

Milwaukee's Legacy Bank a lot like George Bailey's Building and Loan

We all watched with pride and amazement when three African American women opened Legacy Bank in 1999.  It was sensational.   Legacy quickly earned a reputation for being a compassionate lender, community builder, and generous supporter of local nonprofits.   It's often occured to me that Legacy and it's leaders were a lot like George Bailey and the Building and Loan.  And now, they are in some serious trouble.  http://www.jsonline.com/business/110418319.html  Kind of like the trouble in  It's a Wonderful Life--short of capital.   In my opinion, Legacy Bank is the kind of community institution worth saving.   Its investments in local people, business, and community development are critical.    The Women's Fund is proud to have our cash reserves at Legacy Bank.    And there's no reason to stress.  It's FDIC insured. 

Tips from women of color on how to be a better ally

Sometimes I'm asked by white women what they can do to support women of color  besides writing a check.  We recently got some great advice from women of color involved in our Reproductive Justice project.  1.  Really listen when women of color talk and then behave as though we heard them.  This means being willing to do things differently.  Modify our criteria, change our outreach, systems or behavior.  2.  Show up to events when invited by women of color.  What we usually do is summon them to meetings or drag them into our existing organizations when we want to achieve diversity goals.  But how often do we accept invitations to attend events outside of our comfort zone and neighborhood.  I had a recent experience where I attended, on a Saturday night, a small reception for local Latinas who were completing a "Latina Organizing Advocacy and Leadership" training put on by the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health.  It was amazing to meet these interesting women confident and comfortable in a setting of their own choosing.   I learned things about some of the individuals speaking that I would never have otherwise known.  It was indeed a richer experience than I've ever had with any of these individuals in any other setting. 

It's the economy (duh)

Several  leaders in the domestic violence field are shaking their heads and saying we told you so right now.  When the economy started tanking in 2008 local funders and the nonprofit community were running around retooling around basic needs i.e. food and shelter.  And who could blame them.  But safety is a basic need too and women tried to tell them.  A total of 67 people died in domestic violence incidents last year, an all time record.   What do we need?  Better enforcement of exisiting gun laws (68% of the cases involved guns), more support for domestic violence organizations, and a society that doesn't tolerate it! 

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/104087209.html

We always knew sports were important

And now there's proof.   A new study shows hard evidence that parity in sports since Title IX has had a direct impact on women's health, education, and employment.  "Sports helps people do better in life," --women and men--as reported in this New York Times article.    

The Women's Fund is proud to support sports as a social change strategy through our grant partner, IOU Sports.  

 

 

Raising our voices matters!

We all know about Kratz, right?   He's the Calumet County District Attorney who was busted for sexting a woman he was supposed to be representing in a domestic violence case.  Outrageous!  And the public outcry has been glorious.  Our friend Carmen Pitre from Sojourner Family Peace Center says that it is that outcry that made it safe for other women this dope harrassed to come forward.  And the addition of their voices is likely to get him removed from office.  Hurray for outrage!  You can listen to Carmen and other local experts talk about the issue in this WUWM broadcast. 

How we put our boys in the "man box"

Recently, I had the privilege to meet Terry Porter, co founder of a nonprofit called "A Call to Men" that is all about ending violence against women by, guess what?, not working with batterers, but with the men who don't.  He makes the point that there are a lot more men who are not violent than those who are.  And that if these good men would stop tolerating violence among other men, it would end.  Makes sense, right?  After all, it's not people of color who have the power to end racism.  And it's not women who have the power to end sexism.  If that were true it would all be done already.  This is a real exampl of social change, shifting attitudes. 

Terry goes on to talk about how we all, men and women, collude with a culture that tolerates violence by the way we bring up boys.  He brings up examples many of us know we've used ourselves.  For example, when dad goes on a business trip and tells 5 year old Noah that he's in charge while he's gone sounds really sweet.  But what did this well meaning dad just say to this kid, about his status relative to his mothers, and the burden of responsibility he will have to shoulder as a boy/man. 

This made me think of the other dumb thing we say to boys.  Women and men tell our sons never, ever to hit a girl.  That sounds right doesn't it.  But what are the other messages there?  It's ok to hit boys.  And worse, it's ok for people to hit you!  I'm listening to how I talk to my grandsons differently now. 

“It is often easier to become outraged by injustice half a world away than by oppression and discrimination half a block from home.”

My favorite quote.  Let's talk about sex trafficking and the misconception that it doesn't happen here and that if it does, it's mostly women from third world countries or Russia even.  Not true.  The reality is that there are plenty of women trafficked right her in the Midwest.  And that girls get lured away, duped, tricked, kidnapped, into sex trafficking from all kinds of neighborhoods.  We haven't done the research in Wisconsin yet to my knowledge but I learned at the Women's Funding Network Conference that they estimate that at least 200 women in Minnesota are being held against their will.  That compares with something like 800 for Georgia.  Atlanta is thought to be a big hub. 

Read more in this ABC News report.

Congrats to a White House Project grad

We are so proud of Nikiya Harris who ran and won!  She is the newly elected County Supervisor for District 2.  She's a graduate of the Women's Fund sponsored White House Project training programs and gives the program credit for her inspiration and motivation.