WNY Women's Fund
Board Members:
Chair
Gail Johnstone
Vice Chair
Patricia Garman
Treasurer
Carolyn Valenti
Secretary
Jennifer Balbach
Board Members Stephanie Barber Tina Battistoni-Paul
Kristin Bauer
Ann E. Evanko
Lisa Friedman
Sue Gardner, Esq.
Ellen E. Grant, Ph.D.
Jane Griffin, Ph.D.
Shaheen Hassanali
Cheryl Howe
Alice Jacobs
Alison Keane
Michele Lee
Sally Marks
Brenda Williams McDuffie
Katie Militello
Alex Montante
Margery Nobel
Melissa Nowak
Marcia O'Neil-White
Paula Joy Reinhold
Tricia Semmelhack, Esq.
Lisa J. Walsh
Ex-Officio Members
Clotilde Dedecker
Michael Weiner |
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 Pathways to Progress "Maria" Pathway - Leverage Point: Provide quality afterschool and summer programs and mentoring opportunities. Maria is one of 35,000 adolescent girls in Erie and Niagara counties whose Pathway to Progress requires a foundation in a strong education. The WNY Women's Fund is committed to taking a leadership role in Maria's Pathway and the Leverage Point to provide quality afterschool and summer programs to help her make smart choices along her pathway.
For the second summer, the WNY Women's Fund will partner with the Buffalo Museum of Science, University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Public Schools to present the Structures in Science program. We are pleased to once again provide funds for this unique opportunity for girls to experience hands-on activities in topics such as Cell Structure and Animal Adaptations. Activities such as a field trip to the UB Earthquake Center and rocket building will bring excitement to the Earth and Space week of the program. And a week of exploring Aeronautics and Crime Scene Forensics is sure to succeed in reaching our goal to get girls excited about careers in math and science.
2009 Results: We are proud to share that 19 of the 25 students in the Charles Drew Science Magnet School who participated in the Living Environment Class, a course that was created following the 2009 Structures in Science Program passed the Regents exam this year. |
| Pathways to Progress Update |
 The WNY Women's Fund will provide leadership to assemble and document research, communicate findings, secure funds and convene task forces to implement systemic change around three initial leverage points within the Pathways to Progress report:
· Providing quality afterschool and summer programming and mentoring opportunities
· Exposing girls to and providing educational and vocational training towards gender non-traditional career pathways
· Supporting child care affordability, quality and accessibility
The Fund will provide support to organizations working on leverage points within the Pathways report and will host a convening of those organizations in 2011.
The WNYWF has chosen three leverage points identified in Maria and Gina, on which to take a leadership role. So, what have we accomplished to date in each area since we released the report in January?
AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS: Task Force Chair, Marcia O'Neil-White
There are over 125 after-school providers in Buffalo. In the beginning of May, we brought together the members of the After School Network with a facilitator to discuss, from a systems level: How should after-school programming work? What are the national best practices? How can the Women's Fund support systemic change through facilitating national grants, etc., creating a best practice system, and getting community buy-in. Through the May convening, the group has taken a systems approach and is focused on potentially bringing the Providence Afterschool Alliance model to Buffalo. This model is evidence-based, and has been funded since 2004 from the Wallace Foundation, Bank of America and Edutopia - among others. It uses Afterzones which function as small campuses, with a library, community center etc. It provides transportation, scheduling and the software and technology to support the work. We are hoping to bring the Providence team to Buffalo in early fall for a working session and a funders convening.
CHILDCARE: Task Force Chair, Mary Jo Hunt
On childcare, we have worked with other civic groups on several press conferences to convey our concerns about Erie County's reduction in childcare support. We have also been in direct contact with the Commisioner of the Department of Social Services. We have formed a task force of community and foundation leaders locally and state wide that is laying the framework for our broader approach.
HIGHER-PAYING JOBS FOR WOMEN: Task Force Chairs, Brenda McDuffie & Wendy Pierce
On higher-paying jobs for women, we are holding a convening with a diverse group of providers and gatekeepers to document the current opportunites and possiblilities - in particular to identify the specific area of leverage that the Fund can work on to increase the number of women in high-paying nontraditional jobs. To give you a sense of the size of the issue, there are over 60 million women working in the US, and over half are clustered in only 25 of the 504 occupations. |
| Pathways to Progress in the Community |
Leisha Gordon introduces Brigid Doherty | Barbara - One of 99,000 Professional Women Aspiring to Be A Leader
The WNYWF co-hosted the 1st Annual Leadership Buffalo Women's Forum: Businesses that Work for Women on Tuesday, June 15th. Rich's Renaissance Atrium hosted the event, and the panelists were Brenda Andolina, Director of Public Relations & Brand Marketing, Fisher Price; Jill Bond, General Counsel, Rich Products Corporation; and Melissa Jagst, Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP. A spirited discussion ensued, covering topics such as mentoring, building alliances and the importance of sharing your story with a younger woman.
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| NYS Self-Sufficiency Standard Released |
New York State Self-Sufficiency Standard Presentation
 The WNY Women's Fund, in partnership with EveryWoman Opportunity Center, unveiled the economic Self Sufficiency Standard at a press conference and panel discussion on June 29, 2010 at WNED Studios in Buffalo. The New York State Self-Sufficiency Standard measures how much income a family, of a certain composition, in a given place, must earn to meet basic needs. The report is a detailed measure of income adequacy. Employers, advocates, and legislators can use it to evaluate wages, provide career counseling, and create programs that lead to self sufficiency for working families. The standard has been calculated for 37 states. New York State has not been updated since 2000 and the standard will be released at seven locations across the state.
Unlike the Federal Poverty Measure, the standard takes into account different costs in counties, and accounts for the number and ages of children. It shows that to meet bare miminum standards, a single mother in Buffalo with one pre-schooler and one school-age child (to meet her most basic expenses) needs an income of at least $22.43 an hour -- or $47,362 annually. On average, wages have increased approximately 21% while costs of childcare, food, housing and transporation have gone up from 40-65%.
Introducing the Standard at the Press Conference were Donna Addkison - Family Economic Security Program Director, Wider Opportunities for Women, Washington, DC; and Sarah Lowry, Research Coordinator, Center for Women's Welfare, University of Washington School of Social Work. Immediately after the Press Conference, they were joined by Dr. Kathryn A. Foster, Director of the University at Buffalo Regional Institute for a Panel Presentation, and a spirited open discussion followed.
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| WNY Women's Fund in the News |
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Please feel free to contact us to find out more about our programs.
WNY Women's Fund
742 Delaware Avenue
Buffalo, New York 14209
(716) 887-2777
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