Supporter Spotlight: Meet Jennifer Rice

WOMEN’S WAY wouldn’t be where it is today without the support of our staff, board members, committee members, donors, Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) members, partnering organizations, grantees, and more. In our series “Supporter Spotlight,” we are highlighting individuals who have made a substantial impact within our organization through service, involvement, and commitment that has helped shape WOMEN’S WAY into the leading non-profit organization committed to advancing gender and racial equity in the Greater Philadelphia region.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with longtime supporter and Gender Wealth Institute Advisory Committee Member, Jennifer Rice. In the interview, Jennifer shares how she initially became involved with WOMEN’S WAY, her vision for the future of the organization, and why she believes so strongly in leveraging philanthropy to advance gender equity.

What first brought you to WOMEN’S WAY?

The WOMEN’S WAY Annual Celebration was my first introduction to WOMEN’S WAY. I attended and just loved it. I came away so inspired by the people and the stories. It’s always been an event that has a tremendous amount of energy around it. For many years, I was always a supporter of the Annual Celebration. I would invite friends or colleagues to join me for the dinner. I also have three daughters, so as my kids got older, it morphed into me bringing them and their friends and sometimes their friends, and their friends’ mothers…

The Annual Celebration and POMP [a video tribute honoring women that is played every year at the Annual Celebration] have become such a WOMEN’S WAY touchstone for so many people because it really reminds you of how many important, powerful, influential, and impactful women there have been. When you see the women all brought together in POMP it has even more of an impact. I’ve always been inspired by that video.

Then, I got to know Diane [Chief Disruptor at WOMEN’S WAY] which is ultimately how I ended up getting involved with the Gender Wealth Institute Advisory Council. From the time I attended one of the annual celebrations to the present day, I’ve been involved with WOMEN’S WAY for about 15 years now.

Tell us a bit more about how your relationship with WOMEN’S WAY has changed from attendee and supporter of the Annual Celebration to member of the Gender Wealth Institute Advisory Council.

The change has really been through Diane and getting to know Diane. I have so much respect for her, and I think she does such a great job. We share the same passion and values about a lot of the same issues. Diane’s leadership has lifted the voice of WOMEN’S WAY to connect with people like me to better understand what WOMEN’S WAY is, why it’s impactful, what they do, and so on. Under her leadership, I’ve gotten more and more involved and have tried to connect WOMEN’S WAY with other people that I know would be interested in supporting them, too.

In your own words, can you share the impact that you see WOMEN’S WAY making in the Philadelphia region?

Diane shared with me a statistic a while ago that was just shattering to me. It’s a statistic that talks about philanthropy, and the slice of the pie in philanthropy that goes to women’s initiatives.

If you look at the whole philanthropic pie, giving to organizations that advance gender equity is smaller than animal rescue. Even as somebody who is an animal advocate and cares deeply about animals, this was shattering to me. I appreciate that WOMEN’S WAY is unapologetic about their focus on women and girls, and the importance of lifting them up and their voices, too.

I also appreciate that WOMEN’S WAY is so committed to the region and has a strong regional voice. I’m a diehard Philadelphian. I’m not born and raised in Philadelphia, but my husband and I have lived in Philadelphia for well over 30 years. We have three daughters. We’ve raised our kids in the city. The city is near and dear to us. WOMEN’S WAY is like a marriage between the region I’m devoted to, and the issue that I feel really passionate about.

What motivates you to stay involved with WOMEN’S WAY?

I’m going to contradict myself because I’m going to say one of the reasons I am motivated to stay involved with WOMEN’S WAY is because I was raised by a single mom, I have three sisters, and I have three daughters of my own. I’ve always been surrounded by women and really strong women.

At the same time, and here’s where I’m going to contradict myself, it rubs me the wrong way when people say that they have to advocate for women’s rights. For example, when men say they have to advocate for women’s rights because they have a wife or a daughter or a sister or a mother. Instead, it should be that you advocate for women’s rights because it’s humanity. We are equal parts of humanity. Don’t do it just because of your sister. Do it because of yourself. Do it because you know it’s the right thing to do. I’m going to hedge my bets there a little bit, but I do think that raising the voices of women and making gender equity a driving issue is fundamentally important — for everyone. We’ve seen what happens when we don’t.

Let’s go to the Supreme Court Decision that came out recently. Many people that I know who are near and dear to me, and that I think fundamentally share a lot of the same values, hopes, and dreams with me, don’t see women’s rights as a voting issue. It’s not something that they vote around, or vote for. They vote for somebody. They find a way to convince themselves that voting for someone, for example, that is anti-choice but that they agree with on other issues, is okay. I’ve never been okay with that. It’s just so foundational and so fundamental to a human being’s experience.

For this reason, I think WOMEN’S WAY is more important now than ever. We’ve seen what happens when we take those who advocate for gender equity for granted. I’ve gotten so angry over the years when I talk about freedom of choice, women’s rights, and all those things, and men especially pat me on the head and say “Oh, don’t worry, about that. Roe V Wade is never going to be overturned.”

Now we see what happens when people don’t take that seriously and don’t see women’s rights as a voting issue.

Where would you like to see WOMEN’S WAY go as an organization?

I think they’re on the right path. I think they really are. WOMEN’S WAY is advocating both in big ways and small ways for all the right issues. I love the work around the Gender Wealth Institute, because I feel like it’s touching people on an individual level, it’s laying the groundwork for systemic change, and also collecting data to inform public policy. I think as an organization, you must do all of that — you have to have the micro and the macro view.

What do you wish others knew about WOMEN’S WAY?

Anytime I sit in a meeting with Diane and she talks about her work, all I can think is: “I wish there were hundreds of people sitting behind me hearing this because you need to take the time to listen to what WOMEN’S WAY is doing.” If you hear the message, it’s very hard to walk away and not want to support the work.

My wish would be to connect more people with the message of WOMEN’S WAY. Once you understand the work they’re doing, it’s not hard to convince people to give and support it. One of the reasons to support WOMEN’S WAY is it’s one of the only really impactful organizations in our region that is doing work specifically to raise the voices of women and support issues that impact women.

There’s so much research and data that shows how helping women is such a tipping point. You’re not just helping that one woman. The support you show a woman impacts families, children, etc. This impact is exponential. Helping women is such a fulcrum. If you want to leverage your philanthropy, help women because they will make sure that the donation you make and what you give is given back tenfold.