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A MESSAGE FROM THE CEO
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The staff, board and volunteers are still catching their breath while beginning to savor the memories of the 2015 Leadership Luncheon attended by more than 700 people May 19. We are so honored that founding board members Ellen Wells, Carol Ward, Anne Zill, Destry Oldham-Sibley, Nancy Anderson, Nancy Herter, Tracy Booth and Cindy Lang joined us to celebrate 25 years of investing almost $2,000,000 in the power of women and the dreams of girls. Carol Ward's challenge to guests to share three words to describe the Fund to win a "vintage" Maine Women's Fund bag with the charming former "quilt" logo was won by none other than Adam Lee, who insists his wife gave him the words "I WANT BAG" and that she will use the tote with pride! Carol said, "He was slightly outrageous. He wasn't afraid to put it out there and state what he wanted." It was another great event of inspiration from and celebration of women's leadership in Maine. The incomparable Suzanne Nance was our gracious emcee; Rashida Zagon from the ILAP program grounded us in what it takes to flee one's home country, come to the US as a refugee, and what it means to be able to live freely in the United States; Melissa Smith, CEO of WEX shared how her mother and growing up in rural Maine shaped her to be the corporate and community leader she is today; Lamey Wellehan was featured as a nationally-recognized small business with exemplary workplace policies; Judy Kahrl inspired the room with her gratitude for all of the GRR grandmothers who make Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights a force in Maine's activist community, while the mother/coach-daughter team of Jen and Chloe Libby from Girls on the Run "stole the show". Those highlights and more made the day a memorable event and raised $116,000 to support the Fund's mission of social change investing in the power of women and the dreams of girls- for the next 25 years. You can see more images of the day at the Fund's Facebook page, and at our website. Thank you to everyone who made the day so special and successful: Judy Woodbury, chair of the Luncheon Sponsorship Committee, and Heather Shields, chair of the Luncheon Planning Committee, their committee members, volunteers, event sponsors (including Lead Sponsor BonTon, who made sure there was a $25 gift certificate at each seat!), program advertiser, board members and our friends who filled the room with energy to support women and girls. Jill McGowan provided a $25 gift certificate at each table, too! Thank you for all you do for Maine women and girls. I hope we will see you at next year's Luncheon: stay tuned for the date to be announced soon! As our fiscal year closes on June 30, please consider a gift to support the Fund, and help us keep moving forward to create a Maine with a just and caring society where women and girls thrive, so communities prosper. Sarah Ruef-Lindquist
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On Tuesday, May 19th, the Maine Women's Fund honored awardees Melissa Smith, Nicole Maines, Judy Kahrl, and Lamey Wellehan, along with grantee speakers and 700 women and men of the Fund's amazing community. To see more photo highlights, visit the Fund's Facebook page, or our website.
Thank you to the 2015 Leadership Luncheon Sponsors!
Cornerstone Sponsors:
Gift Underwriter:
Spinnaker Trust
Volunteer Underwriter
Hurley Travel Experts/Direct Travel
Video Underwriter:
Benefactor Sponsors:
Rep. Chellie Pingree and S. Donald Sussman
Supporter Sponsors:
Gayle Brazeau, Dean, College of Pharmacy, University of New England
Friend & Nonprofit Sponsors: |
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2015 GRANTEES ANNOUNCED
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The Maine Women's Fund has awarded grants totaling $98,000 to organizations working to build the economic security of Maine women and girls. This includes grants from donor-advised funds, resources established by individuals who make recommendations as to how the funds are spent.
"The funded organizations serve a broad range of ages and geographic locales and apply innovative solutions to central problems faced by women and girls throughout Maine," noted Candace Walworth, MD, of Lewiston, Grants Committee chair, secretary to the board and member of the Fund's Executive Committee.
This grant cycle included $30,000 in funds from the Karen Moran Leadership Fund for Women and Girls, created in 2014 to honor the memory of Yarmouth resident Karen Moran, who died in 2013. 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 backgrounds have access to opportunities to reach their full potential. Last year, the first grant was awarded to Waterville based nonprofit, Hardy Girls Healthy Women, to focus on leadership opportunities for girls in Maine.
Grant and Executive committee and board member Marilyn Bronzi of Yarmouth, a long-time friend of Karen's, explained "Whether it's girls learning to be financially savvy, girls and boys working together to prevent violence, teen mothers graduating high school, or incarcerated women being readied for work, the goal of the Maine Women's Fund is simple: provide every chance to reach full potential. Karen would be smiling at the scope of these grants."
The Maine Women's Fund 2014-15 Economic Security Initiative grant recipients are:
Elder Abuse Institute of Maine - Transitional Housing for Elder Victims of Abuse to provide transitional housing and support services to older victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation, including domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking. These services are critical to helping older victims - typically an underserved population - escape abusive relationships and find avenues to live free of violence.
Girl Scouts of Maine - Sharing the Wealth: Financial Literacy for Girls where volunteers will be trained by GSME to deliver a series of financial literacy programs to girls 5-17. 200 volunteers could potentially participate affecting the lives of over 1,000 girls. Groups will meet at various locations. The program will be piloted with up to four events in late 2015 with 25 volunteers per session.
Mabel Wadsworth Women's Health Center - Supporting Mabel's Clinical Care. This project will help the Center continue seeing uninsured and clients with MaineCare through these tough economic times. These clients often delay preventative care, such as cancer screenings and birth control. The support will ensure that the Health Center can see these clients and meet their mission of providing care regardless of economic resources.
Maine Boys to Men - Reducing Sexism & Violence Program (RSVP). This program supports delivery and enhancement of their evidence-based Reducing Sexism and Violence Program (RSVP). RSVP empowers diverse groups of female and male student leaders to play a central role in recognizing and stopping behaviors that can lead to abuse, harassment, and interpersonal violence.
Maine Women's Policy Center - Advancing Women's Economic Security. Operating support for the ongoing effort to improve the economic well being of Maine women and girls. In 2015 they plan to host the second Maine Women's Summit on Economic Security; to recruit and support Regional Leaders and local groups; to distribute Building a Prosperous Maine.
Next Step - Innovations in Youth Education. Will gather information from the students about gender-based attitudes and behaviors in the school and use that information to develop and implement curriculum on domestic, sexual, and dating violence.
ROiL dba Maine Inside Out - Transitional employment program at Long Creek Youth Development Center. The program will help support Maine Inside Out's theater-based reintegration and transitional employment program for young women incarcerated at Long Creek Development Center.
SeniorsPlus - Money Matters for Women. SeniorsPlus will expand Money Minders, a financial education/support program that helps older women (low-moderate income) maintain financial independence by assisting them to create a monthly budget. The program ensures bills are paid, connects eligible consumers to benefits, and reduces the chance of foreclosure, bankruptcy and exploitation.
Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Services - Bridging the Gap. During the school year, they will provide individual advocacy and support to students affected by sexual abuse and sexual assault. When the school year ends, students do not have the same kind of access to services. The organization will be establishing outreach sites in the summer in their communities to ensure that students have access to ongoing support.
Wayfinder Schools - Passages Program for Teen Parents. To advance the economic security of women and girls in Maine through support of Wayfinder Schools' Passages Program for teen parents. Passages is a home-based high school diploma program focused on academics, parenting and life skills and helping to reduce dropout in Maine.
Women Unlimited - WorkReady, Set, Go! Maine Department of Education certified Women Unlimited as a WorkReadyME training facility to offer standards based training and employment support. They plan to offer the 60 hour course to incarcerated women with the intent of preparing them for employment. Women will emerge with a portfolio, employment referrals, and other tools for success.
"The slate of grantees in 2015 represents the Fund's 25th year of grants of almost $2,000,000 to roughly 200 organizations improving economic security for women and girls in Maine. We know that when women and girls thrive, communities prosper, and that is our goal for Maine." said Maine Women's Fund CEO Sarah Ruef-Lindquist.
The 2015 grantees were recognized at the Fund's annual Leadership Luncheon on May 19, 2015.
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EVENTS, NEWS & GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
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Girls on the Run 5K at Cumberland Fairgrounds, June 7th, 9:30 AM. This untimed, non-competitive run is the celebratory culminating event for 2015 Spring Program participants but is also open to public runners as a fundraiser for Girls on the Run-Maine. >>Register here
Next Step's Blueberry Fun Run and Road Race is August 18th starting at 8:00 AM in Machias. This run is the kick off to the annual Machias Wild Blueberry Festival, which features craft vendors, exhibits, and food. There are a variety of routes and prizes for finishing. >>Register here
NEWS & RESOURCES Opportunities at the Maine Women's Fund Spend your summer getting to know the Fund's work firsthand! Apply for our Summer Office Volunteer position here. First Installment of IWPR's 2015 Status of Women in the States Report Women make up nearly half of the U.S. workforce, and their earnings are essential to the economic security of families across the nation. Yet, gender equality at work remains elusive. Women who work full-time, year-round still earn only 78 cents on the dollar compared with men, and during the last decade little improvement has been made in closing the gender wage gap (DeNavas-Walt and Proctor 2014). The glass ceiling persists, and occupational segregation-the concentration of women in some jobs and men in others-remains a stubborn feature of the U.S. labor market (Hegewisch et al. 2010). These national trends show up in states across the nation. This report examines women's earnings and the gender wage gap, women's labor force participation, and the occupations and industries in which women work. It also considers areas where women have experienced progress toward gender equity in the workforce and places where progress has slowed or stalled. >>Read the Report  2015 Report on Status of Women and Girls in Maine by the PCSW The Permanent Commission on the Status of Women is a nonpartisan, independent advisory board, statutorily charged with: "Serving as an advocate for women in making recommendations on proposed budgetary, legislative and policy actions to the Governor, the Legislature and other officials of the State and the Federal Government with respect to state and federal policies, programs and other activities affecting or relating to women in the State." The Commission gathered surveys from more than 3,000 women and girls across the state, reviewed data and research to supplement the survey findings and worked to build consensus around policy recommendations, offering a roadmap to leaders and policy makers to move the needle on key issues affecting women. >>Read the Report Women Unlimited Offering Job Counseling Women Unlimited, a Maine Women's Fund grantee and non-profit organization out of Augusta is running a program that works one-on-one with both men and women in Washington County who are looking for jobs. Anne Favolise is available in the Career Center in Machias on Wednesdays to help job seekers with job searches, interview skills, mock interviews, application preparation, and resume writing. >>Email Anne Favolise
To End Extreme Poverty, Target Women and Girls, Report Urges To achieve the United Nations' goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals must specifically target women and girls, a report from the ONE campaign argues. According to the report, Poverty Is Sexist: Why Girls and Women Must Be at the Heart of the Fight Against Extreme Poverty, extreme poverty disproportionately affects women and girls in the developing world, many of whom face structural, social, economic, and political barriers to improving their lives that men - and women in wealthier countries - experience to a far lesser degree. "Poverty and gender inequality go hand-in-hand," the report's authors write, and addressing gender gaps in poor countries is not only a moral imperative but also a practical one, given the growing body of evidence which supports the idea that targeting investments in girls and women can help lift entire families and communities out of poverty. >>Read more
 Celebrate Women's History Month with the New York Times Special Section Use this page to quickly find Learning Network lesson plans, crosswords and archival materials - as well as links to current Times articles and multimedia and great resources around the Web. >>Read more Obama Administration Expands 'Let Girls Learn' Initiative The Obama administration has announced that it is expanding its efforts to help adolescent girls around the globe attend and complete school. The Let Girls Learn initiative will build on existing girls'  empowerment programs run by US AID, the U.S. State Department, the Peace Corps, and Millennium Challenge Corp.; leverage partnerships with public- and private-sector partners; and challenge other governments to commit resources to help adolescent girls complete their education. Today 62 million girls - half of them adolescents - are not in school and, as a result, face diminished economic opportunities and higher risk of early and forced marriage. Studies have found that, for girls, secondary school attendance is correlated with later marriage and childbearing, lower birth rates, lower maternal and infant mortality rates, and lower rates of HIV/AIDS. >>Read more Older Women Workers and Economic Security On average, women earn less than men with each paycheck, which causes a significant gender disparity in earnings over a lifetime. As a result, women often lack the financial resources needed in old age. This fact sheet addresses the economic needs of older women, their sources of income, and the gender wage gap by race and ethnicity. It discusses factors that impact the lower average lifetime earnings of women and policy changes that could increase the economic security of older women. Lower earnings than men for full-time work, lower likelihood than men to work full-time, and a greater likelihood than men to have had time out of the labor force because of caregiving all contribute to women's lower lifetime earnings. >>Read more GRANT OPPORTUNITIES Foundation for Women's Wellness
The Foundation for Women's Wellness is dedicated to improving women's health by raising support for innovative early-stage research and education. To advance this mission, FWW is inviting proposals for its 2015 Women's Health Research Awards, an annual program that supports small, short-term studies with promise for improving medical knowledge in cardiovascular disease, leading female cancers, the role of hormones in disease and stage-of-life health issues such as pregnancy and menopause, and diseases disproportionately affecting women. In 2015, FWW will award two one-time research awards of $25,000. >>Read more
Intel Corporation has announced a $300 million initiative aimed at boosting workforce diversity at the company and in the technology and gaming industries. Through its Diversity in Technology initiative, Intel will work to build a more robust pipeline of female and minority engineers and computer scientists; actively support the hiring and retention of more women and minorities; and fund efforts to increase the number of positive representations of these groups within the technology and gaming industries. To that end, the chip maker will collaborate with education programs focused on underserved neighborhoods and communities as well as computer science and engineering programs at higher education institutions, including historically black colleges and universities.
Deep Foundations Institute Educational TrustThe Deep Foundations Institute Educational Trust is accepting applications from women in the industry for a professional development opportunity related to the design and construction of deep foundations. One grant of $2,500 will be awarded in 2015. The grant must be used to cover registration fees, lodging, meals, travel, and other related expenses for the recipient to attend DFI's 40th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Oakland, California, October 12-15, 2015. The recipient will be featured in the DFI magazine Deep Foundations and will be recognized at the Women in Deep Foundations Committee's inaugural reception in Oakland. To be eligible, applicants must be a female currently employed within the deep foundations industry or academia. In addition, applicants must be recommended by their current employer's leadership. >>Read MoreDeadline: July 15, 2015
Open Meadows Foundation
Open Meadows Foundation is a grant-making organization seeking projects that promote gender, racial, and/or economic justice. The projects must be led by and benefit women and girls, particularly those from vulnerable communities. Grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded for projects that are designed and implemented by women and girls; reflect the diversity of the community served by the project in both its leadership and organization; promote building community power; and have limited financial access or have encountered obstacles in their search for funding. Small and start-up organizations are strongly encouraged to apply. >>Read More
Deadline: August 15, 2015 The MetLife Foundation
Launched a new global campaign to bring financial inclusion to low-income communities.
Invites applications for STEM programs.
For 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.
Invites applications for programs that engage youth and communities in learning opportunities.
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SAVE THE DATE! THE POWER OF SHE 10K - OCT. 11
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READ THE 2013-14 REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY
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We have another amazing year of successes to report for fiscal year 2013-2014 on behalf of the Fund, all of which were made possible with the generous support of corporate, foundation and individual philanthropists, like you.
Click here or on the image to the right to read the report.
We thank you for your participation as a donor, volunteer, or for attending the Luncheon or our county conversations. We could not do this work without you. Together, we will make Maine the best it can be for all who live and work here by ensuring that women and girls thrive so our communities prosper. Thank you for your commitment to creating better lives for women, families and communities in Maine.
Consider giving a gift to the Maine Women's Fund today.
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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: 74 Lunt Road, Suite 100, Falmouth, ME 04105 | 41 Mechanic Street, Suite 328, Camden, ME 04843
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