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RESOURCES
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EVENTS
April 4, 9:30 AM-3:00 PM. ALL for Women Aroostook Leadership & Learning Conference. Leadership panel focus: "Passport to Possibility - Leadership at All Levels." Fund CEO Sarah Ruef-Lindquist will be a featured panelist. At UMPI Campus Center, Presque Isle. Register here.
April 27, 2:00 PM. Dragon Farm Salon featuring Christine Parrish, writer and reporter for the Free Press. Dragon Farm Salon is a gathering for women and men interested in thought-provoking conversation and to explore different topics. The Highlands Coffee Shop, 189 Main St, Thomaston. More info here.
May 11. 11:00AM-9:00PM.
Flatbread Fundraiser for Maine Women's Fund. Flatbread will donate to the Maine Women's Fund $3 for every pizza sold on Mother's Day. Includes take out. 72 Commercial St. Portland.
On View: "A Community Responds to Crisis" poster exhibit, about the first responders to the 2013 Lewiston arsons. Center for Wisdom's Women, 97 Blake St., Lewiston. Open weekdays 9:00 AM-2:00 PM. More info here.
GRANTS
offers grants to applicants operating an emergency shelter (i.e., immediate overnight housing) for survivors of domestic violence. More info here. Deadline: April 30.
Joyce Foundation Announces $1.6 Million for Adult Learners
to support the creation and promotion of education technologies. Click here to learn how to apply. LOI: July 11.
launched a new global campaign to bring financial inclusion to low-income communities.
Deadline: Open
American Honda Foundation Invites applications for STEM programs. Deadline: Open
Pollination Project Seed Grants for Social Entrepreneurs
Individuals working to make their community and the world a better place in the areas of arts and culture, community health and wellness, the environment, and justice. Deadline: Open
Kellogg Foundation
Invites applications for programs that engage youth and communities in learning opportunities. Deadline: Open
Healthy Generations is a multi-generational health initiative with a goal to improve the health of communities. Deadline: Open
OPPORTUNITIES
Guided Grant Research Tutorial
Learn how to use two powerful tools for effective and efficient grant research: MPC's updated Directory of Maine Grantmakers Online with helpful search features, and The Foundation Directory Online. April 1 & 17. Register here.
Learn to Use High Speed Internet to Grow Your Small Business. April 9, 6:00PM.
Machias Adult & Community Education. Two locations: Machias Career Center, 53 Prescott Drive, Machias / Calais Career Center, One College Drive, Calais. Presented by Nancy Marshall, comm. & marketing expert. RSVP: 207-255-4917.
Do you need help filing your taxes? Free tax preparation by IRS-certified volunteers available to low and middle income persons (individual or combined income under $51,000), including those over age 60. Call United Way of Aroostook at (207) 764-5197 or email United Way.
We invite you to visit the
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LETTER FROM THE CEO
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Dear Friend, 
One of the Fund's six areas of critical funding to support economic security for women and girls is personal safety. Maine news outlets are full of stories about arrests and prosecutions related to human and sex trafficking. As WCSH recently reported, the increasing awareness of unreported cases indicates that the prevalence is greater than we think.
- 86% of sexual assault calls to agencies providing response services are from women, 5% are from men;
- 32% of women report being raped or sexually assaulted during their lifetime; and
- 44% of women who are homeless report experiencing rape or sexual assault after becoming homeless. With economic insecurity comes vulnerability.
It is because of these numbers--and the compelling stories we hear every day about sex-trafficking, enslavement and sexual violence--that the Fund supports organizations dedicated to tackling the horrific challenge of sexual violence in our state:
Family Crisis Services will facilitate discussion groups at Deering, Portland, and South Portland High Schools on preventing and ending violence against women and girls. Participants will include many English Language Learners and first-generation Americans.
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) will offer legal services and advocacy to help women immigrants obtain legal status, increasing their chances of avoiding and/or surviving domestic violence and human trafficking and improving their economic security.
Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MECASA) will increase resources for sex trafficking victims and providers in Maine by establishing a support fund, a volunteer bank, an online database of resources, and awareness raising tools, and staffing a statewide work group.
Personal safety as a challenge to economic security was repeatedly identified in the Fund's Needs Assessment and Asset Mapping conversations around the state, including Washington, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Lincoln, Kennebec and Knox Counties. When women don't feel safe in their communities, they are fundamentally challenged to provide for themselves and their families.
Programs that address personal safety issues are critical to reducing the devastation these crimes inflict on women and girls, their economic security and by extension our communities.
In addition to the grants listed above, the Fund is also pleased to announce grants in support of the other five areas of focus: public policy, leadership, healthcare, education and entrepreneurship. You can read about all 11 grants in this newsletter.
The Fund is grateful to its community of donors who have made these grants possible, and to the organizations working hard to support personal safety and alleviate the impact of sexual assault for women and girls.
Sincerely, 
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2014 GRANTEES ANNOUNCED
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The Maine Women's Fund has awarded grants totaling $90,000 to organizations working to build economic security for Maine women and girls.
In a noteworthy new dimension of its grantmaking, each grantee will participate in group technical assistance workshops to increase statewide capacity for positive social change for Maine women and girls. The Maine Women's Policy Center (MWPC), supported by a grant from a donor-advised fund at the Maine Women's Fund, will lead the pilot project beginning in the summer of 2014. The project will allow grantee organizations to work together with the MWPC to explore and address the root causes of economic insecurity seen in their work with Maine women and girls. This is the inaugural grant from a donor-advised fund for the Maine Women's Fund.
"In addition to watching the amazing work each of the grantee organizations does on its own, it will be exciting to see what can be accomplished when nonprofits work together for social change that advances economic security for women and girls in Maine," says Maine Women's Fund Grants Coordinator Kimberly Crichton.
This grant cycle also marks the establishment of the Karen Moran Leadership Fund for Women and Girls, created to honor the memory of Yarmouth resident Karen Moran, who died in November. Friends and family established the endowed fund dedicated to reflecting Ms. Moran's commitment to strengthening leadership capacity, which will help to ensure that women and girls of all races and classes have access to opportunities to reach their full potential.
In addition to the grant to the Maine Women's Policy Center, the Maine Women's Fund 2014-15 Economic Security Initiative grants are:
Community Dental Center in Waterville will provide oral health care treatment and education for women in the Somerset Domestic Violence Project and low-income, adult women receiving MaineCare.
Family Crisis Services will facilitate discussion groups at Deering, Portland, and South Portland High Schools on preventing and ending violence against women and girls. Participants will include many English Language Learners and first-generation Americans.
Four Directions Development Corporation, a Native American community development financial institution, will offer Wabanaki women tax preparation, credit and budget counseling, and home buying education, including a home maintenance class. It will also provide women loans to help move families from crisis to stability.
Girls on the Run will maintain and expand its programs giving girls in Cumberland, Kennebec, Sagadahoc and York the chance to participate in leadership building and running opportunities as well as a community engagement impact project.
Hardy Girls Healthy Women's leadership development programming gives girls the knowledge, critical thinking skills, and a platform to drive social change and transform the cultural landscape in order to support their economic security and cultivate a healthier world for all.
Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project (ILAP) will offer legal services and advocacy to help women immigrants obtain legal status, increasing their chances of avoiding and/or surviving domestic violence and human trafficking and improving their economic security.
Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MECASA) will increase resources for sex trafficking victims and providers in Maine by establishing a support fund, a volunteer bank, an online database of resources, and awareness raising tools, and staffing a statewide work group.
Neighborhood Housing League will provide training to women on tenant rights and responsibilities; documenting code complaints; tenant organizing, advocacy and empowerment; bed bug eradication and housing safety, as well as offering monthly tenant meetings in Lewiston.
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England will conduct grassroots organizing, movement building, and community engagement around policy priorities, especially the Women's Health Initiative - a Medicaid benefit expansion that would provide life-saving cancer screenings and access to birth control for low-income women, as well as educating the uninsured about affordable health insurance options.
Wayfinder Schools will continue to offer their Passages Program, an at-home high school educational program with its own practical skill building curriculum for pregnant and parenting teens in Knox, Lincoln, Waldo, Cumberland, Androscoggin, Sagadahoc and Washington counties.
The 2014 grantees will be recognized at the Maine Women's Fund annual Leadership Luncheon on May 21, 2014 at the Holiday Inn by the Bay in Portland.
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MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 11: CELEBRATE AND SUPPORT THE FUND
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Why not skip the flowers this year and honor the mothers in your life by making a gift that helps women and girls in Maine! Make a gift to the Maine Women's Fund in your loved one's name. As part of your gift, the Fund will send the mother you honor a beautiful card that includes a special Mother's Day message.
Click here for more information on how to make a gift.
Double your gift by attending the Fund's ever-popular MOTHER'S DAY FUNDRAISER AT FLATBREAD!
Bring the special moms in your life for a Portland harbor-side meal of wood-fired pizza. Flatbread will donate to the Maine Women's Fund $3 for every pizza sold on Mother's Day. Includes take out.
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PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS NO MAILED INVITATION WITH REPLY CARD THIS YEAR--ONLY A POSTCARD REMINDER TO BUY YOUR TICKETS. CLICK HERE TO PRINT OUT A REPLY CARD.
TICKETS ARE SELLING QUICKLY! LAST YEAR'S EVENT SOLD OUT BEFORE THE END OF APRIL.
BE SURE TO PURCHASE SOON.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2014
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Holiday Inn By the Bay | 88 Spring Street, Portland
Celebrate four Maine leaders who create and encourage social change for women and girls. Be inspired by success stories from Fund grantees.
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Networking Reception
2014 Economic Security Initiative Grantees
12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Lunch and Program | Suzanne Nance, Emcee
Tickets $65 | Tables available
For information about sponsorship or advertising opportunities, please click here or call 207.774.5513.
ASL Interpretation Provided
Thanks to our generous sponsors:
Lead Sponsor
Cornerstone Sponsors
Volunteer Underwriter
Benefactor Sponsors
Supporter Sponsors
Friends/Nonprofit Friends
In-Kind
Email Lauren Dietlin, COO, for sponsorship and advertising opportunities.
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MEET THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Catherine Richards Olney
Why do you support the Fund?
After being on the founding board of Coastal Studies for Girls, a science and leadership semester school for 10th grade girls, I saw the tangible and powerful impact of supporting young girls' growth. The Fund is a way to effect larger change, and something I desire. As the Chinese proverb states, "Women hold up half the sky." With that in mind, supporting young women and girls is the right thing to do.
What do you enjoy about board service?
Board service is about collaboration, creative problem solving, visioning, "active" listening, brainstorming and maturing a skill set. Instantly you are part of a new network of interesting, dynamic and thoughtful people. This work also allows you to dive deeper into vital aspects of a community. It is intellectually challenging and emotionally rewarding.
What do you know about the Fund that you think most people don't, and should?
The Fund's goal is to represent and support young women and girls in all of Maine. This focused growth will be seen by its Board composition, regional needs assessment and asset mapping as well as broader grant making ability. The Fund aims to touch and support all corners of the state.
What is your vision for the Fund?
Twenty-five years ago, the Fund was created by a group of forward thinking women. This tradition has continued and the potential of our collective impact feels energizing and important.
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Catherine Richards Olney, of Freeport, a graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall and Kenyon College, is a community leader who has served on the board of Coastal Studies for Girls in Freeport.
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SPOTLIGHT: 2014 VISIONARY PARTNER AWARD WINNER BOYS TO MEN
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The Fund is pleased to announce the new Visionary Partner Award, for a person or entity who has helped to advance the Fund's vision of a just and caring society in which Maine women and girls thrive so communities prosper. The inaugural 2014 recipient is Maine Boys to Men, a nonprofit with a mission to prevent sexual and domestic violence by supporting the healthy development of boys, providing assistance and educational resources to boys and those who help raise them, and to increase community awareness about the specific needs of boys.
Maine Boys to Men facilitates numerous programs, often in conjunction with statewide community partners, including Boys Outdoor Leadership Development (BOLD), a week-long program offered to boys ages 7-10 years old; the Maine Boys Network, a statewide coalition with Bates, Bowdoin and Colby colleges, the George Mitchell Institute and other organizations to support boys' academic achievement through education and research; and the Reducing Sexism and Violence Program (RSVP), a school-based violence prevention program for young men and women. Additionally, the organization offers online webinars in partnership with (Fund grantee) Hardy Girls Healthy Women.
"Our communities need the absolute best we have to offer. This requires women and men working as allies to foster health, opportunity and full equality," said Drew Wing, Executive Director. "Our programs support empathy, tolerance, respect, leadership and critical thinking."
 According to Boys to Men's website: The prevalence of male violence, academic decline, and an alarming rate of emotional and behavioral problems lead many to believe that boys (or males) are broken. We could not disagree more! Boys are creative, emotional, empathetic and intellectual. The challenges facing boys point more to a cultural problem, not a biological one. To that end, Boys to Men is a social change organization. Our programs support the happy, healthy development of boys and those who help raise them. By working with parents, teachers, coaches, boys and girls, we are challenging the pervasive messaging that defines masculinity in terms of violence, harassment, stupidity and sexual conquest.
According to trustee Kim Simmons, the nonprofit not only encourages healthy boys' development, but also works to support feminist social change:
As a feminist mother of daughters and a teacher of women and gender studies, I came to realize that the lives of girls and women have changed tremendously over the last few decades, but deep bias and gender discrimination exists nonetheless. For my daughters to be free to develop as whole people, to be free from violence in their intimate relationships, to excel in their careers and care for children of their own will require more than for them to simply lean in. Changes need to also occur in the expectations of boys and of men and of society. Boys to Men supports feminist social change by emphasizing the harm that narrow gender boxes inflict on boys themselves and by opening up space for all of us to reconsider the conventional norms of masculinity in light of 21st Century goals for equity, integration and holistic empowerment of all people.
Congratulations to Boys to Men! Come to the Leadership Luncheon on May 21 to see the organization accept the inaugural award. Photos courtesy Maine Boys to Men.
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FUND AND RELATED NEWS YOU CAN USE
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 Across the U.S., April marks Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), during which activists aim to raise awareness about sexual violence and educate communities and individuals on how to prevent it. The National Sexual Violence Resource Center provides tools on healthy adolescent sexuality and engaging youth. Learn how you can play a role in promoting a healthy foundation for relationships, health and sexual violence prevention. Note: the NSVRC is partnering with the Media Education Foundation for Sexual Assault Awareness Month to offer reduced pricing on select films.
Partnership Launched to Help End Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault 
The Avon Foundation for Women and several corporations have announced new pledges totaling millions of dollars in support of domestic violence prevention efforts. Announced as part of No More Week, a week-long (March 17-24) initiative designed to raise awareness of domestic violence and sexual assault in the U.S.
>>Read more
"The life": Sex trafficking survivors tell their stories in Bangor Daily News, ahead of Not Here: A Conference on Human Trafficking
The conference is taking place April 10-11 at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine. Featuring investigators, scholars and advocates, the conference is designed to promote awareness of human trafficking.
>>Read more
Women Investing in Women Initiative Surpasses $20 Million Goal
The Calvert Foundation in Bethesda, Maryland, has announced that it has surpassed more than $20 million in loans made through its Women Investing in Women Initiative. Launched on International Women's Day in 2012, the initiative has pursued two goals - to lend $20 million to organizations that empower women through affordable housing, access to finance, health care, education, and environmental stewardship; and to help others make impact investments in women.
>>Read more
Maine Women's Fund is Hiring a Spring/Summer Intern
This is a volunteer opportunity, with no specific experience necessary; however, we seek candidates who are passionate about working for social change and developing professional skills related to fundraising and philanthropy. Applicants must have strong verbal and written communication skills and an eye for detail. Computer skills are a must. Time commitment is 8 to 20 hours per week, and hours are flexible. Accepting applications through April 30. For the full job description and application instructions, please click here.
Grantee Coastal Studies for Girls is Hiring
The semester-long science and leadership school for tenth grade girls, located in Freeport, seeks to fill the following positions: Director of Teaching and Learning; Director of Student Life and Leadership Faculty; Head Resident; and Resident Assistants. Visit the school's website for more information on how to apply.
Fund Board Member Robin Lin Hodgskin was quoted in a recent article about grantee Women Standing Together:
Women Standing Together was founded to provide advice, connections and confidence to take local women entrepreneurs and their businesses from good to great....It has been such a pleasure for us to work with and see so many local women go on to greater success with their business after being a part of our program.
Ensuring Health Coverage for Maine Families with Children in 2014: A Health Policy Brief from Maine Children's Alliance
Report argues that to keep Maine children healthy, Maine must assure that their parents have health coverage. The premium tax credit on the Marketplace will be helpful for many families, but many more will be unable to access it.
Accenture Awards $1.7 Million to Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
The London-based Cherie Blair Foundation for Women has announced a grant of $1.7 million from management and technology consulting firm Accenture and the Accenture Foundations to provide women business owners in Rwanda with the entrepreneurial skills they need to be successful. "Helping to increase the access to skills training, technology, and capital will contribute to the greater, ongoing financial success of Rwanda's women entrepreneurs and help to inform the expansion of skills training to women in need around the world," said Cherie Blair Foundation CEO Sevi Simavi. >>Read more
10 Findings about Women in the Workplace
Read about ten key findings from a new Pew Research Center survey and analysis of Census data that explores the views, values and economic realities of women and men in the workplace.
>>Read more
 Fastcompany: The Dos and Don'ts Of Fundraising From Three Crowdfunding Masters
Crowdfunding is more than holding out a hand--it's a balance of finesse and expertise. Know your stuff, be precise, and don't freak out: The advice of Charles Best, Tim Ferriss and Alexis Ohanian . >>Read more
Six Apps to Simplify Fundraising Tasks
Via The Chronicle of Philanthropy: three nonprofit experts share some of their favorite mobile apps to help fundraisers save time and get organized. >>Read more
In case you missed it: view the Maine Women's Fund 2012-2013 Report to the Community. If you'd like to receive a copy by mail, please email Katie@mainewomensfund.org or call 207-774-5513. Errata: The March E-Newsletter contained inaccuracies about the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation and its founder, Elmina B. Sewall in its tribute to women philanthropists of Maine. Kennebunk is referred to as Mrs. Sewall's hometown on the Foundation's website because that is where she settled and lived for 55 years, but she was born and raised in Connecticut. Also, the figure of $300 million was erroneous. The Fund regrets these errors.
Follow and connect with a community dedicated to investing in the power of women and the dreams of girls.
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The Maine Women's Fund thanks MaineShare for its ongoing support. MaineShare makes it easy to donate to more than 30 statewide organizations working every day to make Maine a better place to live. For more information, please visit the website. |
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On behalf of the staff and board of the Maine Women's Fund, thank you for reading and for all you do to support Maine women and girls.
Office locations:
565A Congress Street, Suite 306, Portland, ME 04101 | 41 Mechanic Street, Suite 328, Camden, ME 04843
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