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| Save the Date - June 29, 2011 |
| More About Jennifer Buffett |
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Photo Courtesy of PSI.org |
Jennifer Buffett and Maria Eitel-two of the most powerful philanthropists in the world-explain how they focus time, energy and millions of dollars on helping women and girls overcome poverty, discrimination and violence around the world.
As presidents of two exceptional, multimillion-dollar foundations, Jennifer Buffett and Maria Eitel are women with a shared passion to effect change among girls in the developing world. Buffett is president and co-chair of the NoVo Foundation, a philanthropic organization focused primarily on the empowerment of women and girls. She shares leadership of the foundation with her husband Peter Buffett, a composer and son of investor Warren Buffett. Maria Eitel is the founding president of the Nike Foundation, where she works to drive resources to girls through a variety of initiatives and put them on the global agenda. |
| WNY Women's Fund in the Community |
Nardin Academy Forum - February 16
Front row from left: panel moderator, Margaret Sullivan '75, Editor and Vice President, The Buffalo News; keynote speaker, JoAnn Falletta, Music Director,Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Sally Benner '80, Senior Director of Development, Columbia University Medical Center; back row: Brigid Doherty '92, Executive Director of the WNY Women's Fund; Nicole Lee E'90, President, TransAfrica Forum; and Ilana Chlebowski, Curatorial Assistant, Albright-Knox Art Gallery.
NYS Self-Sufficiency-Standard Day in Albany - March 2
Women's History Month Kick Off - March 3
Buffalo Poverty Research Workshop II: Women & Homelessness - March 4 |
| Pathways to Progress Out of School Time Initiative |
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 In Buffalo, women are the dominant face of poverty in a region with some of the highest poverty rates in the nation. Teen pregnancy continues to derail thousands of young girls every year in WNY. Women are increasingly raising children on their own, and doing so while living in poverty. As noted in the January 2010 release of the Pathways to Progress report, women are on the front lines of society's balancing act of work and family, and are far from parity in leadership roles.
One of the leverage points identified in the Pathways to Progress report, as key for removing barriers faced by girls, is access to quality after school and summer programs that include mentoring opportunities, career and technical education, physical activity and academic enrichment opportunities.
To address this leverage point, the WNY Women's Fund led several community visioning sessions and created a task force whose members include representatives from the Buffalo Public Schools, Erie County Department of Social Services - Youth Services Division, out of school time provider agencies, the United Way of Buffalo & Erie County and the Buffalo Museum of Science. From that task force the Pathways to Progress Out of School Time Initiative (OST) was created based on a highly successful model from Providence Rhode Island called the Providence After School Alliance.
The goal of the Pathways OST Initiative is that all Buffalo students will have the opportunity to attend a quality out-of-school time program and that all out of school time providers will follow universal program quality standards and offer a wide array of enrichment and learning opportunities. Next fall, the OST Initiative will:
- Launch an after school pilot program at Buffalo Public School #59, the Dr. Charles R. Drew Science Magnet, that will promote the partnership between out-of-school time program providers, school officials and additional stakeholders. The pilot will incorporate both academic support and a large variety of enrichment activities utilizing exiting community resources. The Buffalo Public School and the pilot program will share data, fostering improvements based on the data.
- Institutionalize a nationally-recognized assessment tool, Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) in conjunction with the Youth Program Quality Intervention (YPQI), an improvement program that encourages individuals, programs and systems to focus on the quality of the experiences young people have in programs and the training needs of the staff providing the programs.
The goal for the OST pilot program is to enroll 100 students. The program cost per student for the thirty-week program is $1,500 or $50 per week. If you or your organization/business would like to be a sponsor, please contact Monique Watts at Monique.watts@uwbec.org or 716-887-2621 for more information.
To read the full OST Business Plan, visit our website at ww.wnywomensfund.org |
| Informational Breakfast with Vicki Clark |
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Sixty-six (66) percent of all families living in poverty are female-headed households, and this number is increasing, from 35,998 in 1990 to 40,285 in 2009 in a city where overall population has dropped during the same time period from 292,648 to 270,240.
Pathways to Progress for the Women & Girls of Western New York: A Call to Action, January 2010; U.S. Census, 2008 American Survey, and 2009 Business First of Buffalo 'Book of Lists'; U.S. Census, 2009 Population Estimates |
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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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