grant partners 2024
The Women’s Fund envisions Greater Milwaukee as a place that is committed to the well-being and advancement of women, shining as a beacon of progress where all women, girls, and gender expansive-people thrive and realize our full potential. In 2024, the WF is investing $126,700 through organizations advocating for gender equity in our community.
“With just 2% of all philanthropy in the USA in direct support of women and girls, our commitment to exclusively addressing issues and barriers that impact women, is critical.” says WF Board Chair Monica Shah-Davidson.
We are proud of our grant partners. Thank you for the work you do to address issues at their core.
NAVIGATION
CENTER FOR LEADERSHIP OF AFRIKAN WOMEN’S WELLNESS, CLAWW Operations Grant, Healthy Equity for Black Women
The Center for Leadership of Afrikan Women’s Wellness (CLAWW) is a predominately African American women-led organization whose mission is to increase awareness and develop a network of services and circles of individualized support for Black/African American women affected by trauma in Milwaukee County.
The organization is working to address the health disparities of Black women through its Health Equity for Aging Women program, which focuses on women 50+. The Center also advocates for women, teaches them how to advocate for themselves, how to talk to their doctors, build a rapport, and navigate the racial and gender discrimination they face in our society.
CONVERGENCE RESOURCE CENTER, Convergence Advocacy and Self-Care
Convergence Resource Center (CRC) provides support services for women rebuilding their lives after trauma with an emphasis on human trafficking survivors and justice-involved women. CRC also provides an avenue for men to take a visible stand against human trafficking and values collaboration by providing training, education, awareness, and partnership to the community at large.
To promote employee retention, CRC provides wellness and self-care activities to its staff, which includes survivors and justice-involved women. Additionally, these activities raise the level of survivor engagement and completion of its SEAS program, which trains survivors to speak about their experiences, inform the community, and support other survivors.
DISABILITY JUSTICE, Staff Organizer
By hiring a part time organizer Disability Justice will be able to develop organizational strategies to educate the public to build an inclusive community for all persons.
Disability Justice was founded to bridge the gap between the federal law and implementation of the law. It also advocates for dismantling systemic barriers, advancing the rights and well-being of individuals with disabilities. By fostering dialogues on intersectionality, conducting basic research, and promoting equitable policies, the organization contributes to the realization of a more just and accessible society for all.
The organization’s current work involves working directly with the government, both elected and appointed officials. In 27 other states in the U.S., the state attorney general was given additional authority by state legislature to handle some of the simpler ADA complaints. Wisconsin’s attorney feneral is interested but has not yet been granted the authority; Disability Justice continues to work on policy at the state level.
GIRLS ROCK MILWAUKEE, Staff Development
Girls Rock Milwaukee is dedicated to empowering girls, transgender, and gender non-conforming individuals of all backgrounds and abilities through music education and performance. Guided by this mission, the organization is currently at a crossroads.
Increased enrollment and participation within programming has caused a need for paid staff to alleviate the stress on its overextended volunteer base and to create positions dedicated to advancing the mission.
Over the past year Girls Rock Milwaukee has been able to hire three part-time staff members who are dedicated to volunteer, marketing, and programming management. The goal of the organization is to better fund these positions to allow for additional work hours, volunteer and operational software to increase efficiency, and expand the overall reach of the organization.
MAHOGANY C.A.R.E.S FOUNDATION, Financial Education
Mahogany C.A.R.E.S Foundation’s mission is to end the silence and generational cycles of sexual and domestic violence/abuse by advocating, educating, and empowering the community. The organization serves to provide education and employment training to women who have experienced trauma such as domestic violence and sexual assault, to empower and prepare them for successful health relationships in their community.
Financial empowerment is a needed service for survivors. Financial abuse is crippling for many survivors of domestic violence and sexual violence. Financial education and credit building services are important to ensuring that survivors are empowered to lead lives free of control or abuse. As such, Mahogany C.A.R.E.S offers a program that focuses on self-love, self-worth, budgeting, credit building, healing skills and techniques, intentional growth and self-sufficiency for a better quality of life.
The organization also has employment readiness, search enhancement and retention programs, and an empowerment support group co-facilitated by a domestic violence and sexual assault advocate and a licensed professional counselor.
MEDICAL COLLEGE OF WISCONSIN, Speaker Series
The Medical College of Wisconsin’s (MCW) mission is to strengthen the culture for women at MCW through data-informed strategic projects that enhance opportunity and improve workplace climate.
Advocacy requires visibility to build networks and strengthen relationships between leaders on and off campus. The CWA subcommittee on professional advancement created a speaker series in 2022 called “A Seat at the Table: Women’s Leadership Series” to provide advocacy and political skillsets to students, staff, and faculty.
AWSM and the CWA will strengthen this series by bringing speakers to discuss coalition building skills, advocacy best-practices, proficiency in lobbying and negotiation, and familiarity with public policy procedures to show our commitment to the advancement of women on campus and the women of southeastern Wisconsin.
MILWAUKEE BAR ASSOCIATION ON BEHALF OF MILWAUKEE JUSTICE CENTER, Mobile Legal Clinic Coordinator
The Milwaukee Justice Center utilizes volunteers to address the unmet legal needs of Milwaukee County’s low-income unrepresented litigants through court-based programs and legal resources. The Mobile Legal Clinic (MLC) was founded in 2013 to bring services provided by the Milwaukee Justice Center out to isolated neighborhoods where it is difficult for those residents to receive legal assistance.
The MLC is led by the coordinator, a salaried position funded by organizational partners, not by Milwaukee County. The MLC coordinator cultivates relationships with necessary community partners, including those prioritizing the safety and prosperity of women, to address legal issues disproportionately affecting low-income individuals.
The success of the Mobile Legal Clinic hinges on the expertise, time, and partnerships formed by the coordinator, including those with the organizations serving women in Milwaukee. With this grant, the MLC coordinator can be supported in their existing full-time role and services will continue to grow.
MUJERES CON PODER DE TRANSFORMACIÓN SOCIAL, WOMEN WITH THE POWER OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION,
Sustaining Latina leadership for community health and transformation
Mujeres con Poder de Transformacion Social exists to educate, empower and organize Latine residents to access and utilize existing resources in order to create safe, healthy and engaged neighborhoods.
The WF grant supports organizational development and continued power building as the Mujeres transition into an independent organization, with operational funding providing backbone support for its team as they outline and implement outline a strategic plan and framework for the future through a Technical Assistance Program (TAP) from the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Partnership program.
This support allows for continued strategic planning process into 2025, supporting salaries and contract stipends for the Mujeres leadership and members to continue meeting and planning. As the organization continues to define its organizational priorities, it is seeking the space and support to creatively imagine its future – whether that includes incorporating as its own 501(c)3 organization or not.
NEW MOON PRODUCTIONS, Most Dangerous Women
New Moon Productions creates a range of diverse collaborative partnerships around film projects that expand critical thinking and actions within local, regional, and global communities.
The films are intended to live long productive lives of engagement and impact, inspiring non-partisan, solution-seeking dialogue at the heart of the issue. The Most Dangerous Women (MDW) documentary series advocates for women’s equity by tapping the power of story, amplifying the often untold and little-known stories of diverse women change makers who were, and often are still, labeled dangerous — yet whose resilient persistence continues to be essential in creating positive change.
MDW focuses on historic and contemporary women’s journeys to become assured, visible leaders, confronting the critical issues of their time. This WF grant will allow the organization to:
- Create a successful pilot episode, models of exceptional engagement, and a unique toolkit
- Build and implement an integrated public relations and social media campaign, with an interactive web platform as its hub.
- Enhance efforts and outcome while continuing to network with a wide range of organizations, classroom and community groups.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD WISCONSIN, Advocacy to Increase Sexual and Reproductive Health Access
Planned Parenthood Wisconsin (PPWI) provides high quality reproductive health care, comprehensive, medically accurate, culturally relevant and age appropriate sexual and reproductive health education and training, and advocacy to protect confidential access to comprehensive family planning services and create an atmosphere that fosters legislative support of, and activist engagement around, policies that enhance the reproductive health of our state.
PPWI advocates on a non-partisan basis to ensure that Wisconsin residents have access to medically accurate, comprehensive, and non-judgmental health care regardless of their ability to pay. It works diligently on issues of importance in sexuality and reproductive health care, as well as issues of importance to our community partners in our commitment to social justice.
Specific advocacy actions in 2024 are to:
- Mobilize the public through community outreach and presentations.
- Increase digital advocacy on sexual and reproductive health issues.
- Continue education and legislative accountability around restoring access to abortion in the state and repealing Wisconsin’s criminal abortion ban.
VEL PHILLIPS LEGACY INITIATIVE,Vel R. Phillips Statute Project
Velvalea “Vel” Hortense Rodgers Phillips achieved numerous groundbreaking milestones during her remarkable life, making history in a number of ways:
- She was the first Black woman to graduate from University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
- She became the first female and first Black leader elected to the Milwaukee Common Council.
- Vel Phillips was also the first Black judge in the State of Wisconsin.
- She was the first Black woman to be elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin, setting a national precedent.
Now, in yet another historic moment, a sculpture honoring Vel Phillips will be the first of its kind on the grounds of a U.S. State Capitol, proudly displayed in Madison.
With unanimous support from the Wisconsin State Capitol and Executive Residence Board across party lines, a significant decision has been made to grant historic designation to a sculpture dedicated to honoring Vel Phillips. A volunteer task force will commission and install a permanent artwork at the Capitol in 2024. However, both funds and awareness are required for this important endeavor to be realized.
By supporting this initiative, the WF is helping the state of Wisconsin embody Vel Phillips’ trailblazing spirit, and is playing a pivotal role in ensuring that her legacy remains eternally visible, celebrated, and accessible to all who visit it.
Photo: State Journal Archives
WISCONSIN WOMEN’S NETWORK, Policy Institute, 2024 and 2025
The Wisconsin Women’s Network (WWN) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes the advancement of women and girls in Wisconsin through communication, education, advocacy, and connections. The goal is to forward and champion the often-underrepresented truth: that all issues are women’s issues.
The organization provides advocacy training opportunities for those from diverse socioeconomic, LGBTQ+, generational, racial and ethnic backgrounds who may not otherwise have the means to participate. As such, priority in Policy Institute selection is always given to women of color, low-income women, and women who have not had access to similar leadership, policy and advocacy training and educational opportunities.
WWN seeks to address and support every aspect of women’s lives through all ages, life stages, and backgrounds.