WOMEN’S WAY: 2022 In Review
From the lingering economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to attacks on reproductive justice, 2022 felt like it had more downs than ups. Yet, we remain hopeful and strong because of the incredible community that surrounds us and your ongoing commitment to advancing gender and racial equity. That’s why, as 2022 comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate and honor the events and milestones that marked this year at WOMEN’S WAY — and that you made possible.
WOMEN’S WAY Welcomed New Board Chair and Board Member
In 2022, we welcomed Myra Brown as our new Board Chair. We also welcomed Laura LaRosa as our newest Board Member. We are thrilled to have their leadership on our Board of Directors.
The Gender Wealth Institute Launched Phirst Market Ventures (PMV) Fund
Mom Your Business, Zenith Wealth Partners, and WOMEN’S WAY launched Phirst Market Ventures — an investment fund for Women of Color entrepreneurs that addresses the current gaps in accessing venture capital dollars and other needed resources. The PMV Fund will deliver early-stage capital to WOC-run startup companies in the form of grants. The grants will serve as seed funding for these startup companies.
10 New Fellows Completed the Change the Narrative Fellowship Program
Throughout 2022, 10 new Fellows (selected through PHA’s Family Self Sufficiency Program run in partnership with Compass Working Capital) completed the WOMEN’S WAY Change the Narrative Fellowship program. Some highlights of the year included presentations at national and local conferences, interviews with the media, and a graduation ceremony to celebrate all their hard work.
All 10 of the Fellows' powerful videos are now available to watch.
Read this Inquirer article featuring Change the Narrative Fellow, Akirah Pressley.
Watch the Fellows present at the National FSS Conference.
WOMEN’S WAY Selected as the Forum Ally
WOMEN’S WAY is honored and thrilled to be selected as The Forum of Executive Women’s 2022–2024 Forum Ally! The Forum Ally initiative aligns The Forum of Executive Women with one non-profit entity over the course of two years to build a mutually beneficial relationship providing a source of talent and support for The Forum Ally.
44th Annual Celebration Held, Honoring Dr. Ala Stanford and Paula Crowley
The Annual Celebration is our signature annual event, and one of the most highly anticipated and attended non-profit events in the Greater Philadelphia area. On May 11th, WOMEN’S WAY held our 44th Annual Celebration, The Way Forward: The Power of Solidarity. We are so grateful for all of the individuals (over 400!) who joined us to uplift the power of solidarity. Thanks to the generosity of attendees, we were able to raise $204,000 this year!
WOMEN’S WAY Chief Disruptor Honored in 2022 Greater Philadelphia Social Innovations Awards
Diane Cornman-Levy received 2nd Place in the 2022 Greater Philadelphia Social Innovation Awards for the Racial Justice category. Nominated for her work with the Gender Wealth Institute, she was recognized for promoting collaborative practices that promote racial equity and justice.
The General Operating Fund (GOF) Launched and Funded First Round of Grantees
Following our commitment to equity in grantmaking and in direct response to input from our community partners, WOMEN’S WAY launched the General Operating Fund in 2022 to provide 2-year grants to organizations primarily serving women, girls, and/or the gender-expansive community. Out of the 11 organizations that received funding in 2022, 8 are led by women of color and only 2 have budgets of over $500,000. 8 of the organizations have budgets under $200,000.
WOMEN’S WAY Chief Disruptor and Board Chair Record “Confronting White Supremacy” with PhillyCAM
On April 14th, WOMEN’S WAY Chief Disruptor, Diane Cornman-Levy, and WOMEN’S WAY Board Chair, Myra Brown, sat down at PhillyCAM for a live-streamed conversation about anti-racism, white supremacy, and their journey to overcome racism. Watch here.
14th Annual Book Prize Held, Honoring New York Times Best-Selling Author, Imbolo Mbue
On October 20th, 2022, WOMEN’S WAY held the 14th Annual Book Prize to honor Imbolo Mbue. This event brought the WOMEN’S WAY community together for a virtual conversation and Q&A session moderated by Jeannine A. Cook, author and shopkeeper of Harriett’s Bookshop.
WOMEN’S WAY Supports Community Following the Overturning of Roe v. Wade
After the devastating news of Roe V. Wade, WOMEN’S WAY mobilized to keep our community informed with up-to-date resources, advocacy opportunities, and other ways to support the local community and reproductive justice organizers. The fight continues to restore (and expand) access to abortion. See here for educational resources related to reproductive justice and for ways to get involved.
15 Nonprofit Organizations Participated in the Financial Coach Training Program
Through our Financial Coach Training Program (FCTP), WOMEN’S WAY trained 15 organizations to integrate financial coaching into their programs and services for women and girls. Collectively, organizations that have participated in FCTP have provided financial coaching to 1,770 women with 74% of clients experiencing improved financial capability. This year, we also translated program materials into Spanish and trained new facilitators in order to continue growing the impact of the program.
WOMEN’S WAY Hosted Inaugural Gender Wealth Summit
On Friday, September 16th, WOMEN’S WAY hosted our (sold-out!) Inaugural Gender Wealth Summit at Quorum at the University City Science Center. The goals of this inaugural event were to 1) generate meaningful, unique, and interactive conversations between people in positions to influence/reduce the gender wealth gap, 2) forge an understanding of the drivers of the gender wealth gap and action steps participants could take to help close the gap and 3) build meaningful conversation and connection between summit participants. The event was a huge success and we can’t wait for the next one! Learn more about the event here.
Read this article from Technical.ly for coverage of the event.
The Gender Wealth Institute Launched its Gender Wealth Index Research Project
In August, the WOMEN’S WAY Gender Wealth Institute launched a large-scale regional research campaign to identify and address key drivers of gender wealth inequity. This multi-phase comprehensive research strategy will culminate in the creation of the Philadelphia region’s first Gender Wealth Index.
“Our research design intentionally centers women and girls in systems-impacted communities who experience the disproportionate effects of community divestment and deprioritization. Leveraging research to measure and address these issues will position the Gender Wealth Institute at the intersection of understanding the lived experiences of women and advancing effective policy solutions and strategies to address them.” — Dr. Kendrick B. Davis, Lead Researcher
WOMEN’S WAY Hosts 2nd Year of Closing the Gender Wealth Gap Forum
The purpose of the Closing the Gender Wealth Gap Virtual Education Forum is to educate different stakeholders on both the key drivers of the gender wealth gap and accelerators that help close the gender wealth gap in our region. Since its inception, the series has attracted over 1600 registrants. Forum topics for 2022 included:
Why the Student Loan Crisis is a Gender Justice Issue | Dismantling White Supremacy | Intersections of Reproductive and Economic Justice | Why Narratives Matter: Shaping Change by Sharing our Stories | We Need to Talk About Retirement — A Gender Justice Issue
All recordings can be found here.
6 Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) Events Held Throughout 2022
The WOMEN’S WAY Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) is a dynamic group of people between the ages of 21 and 45 who identify as women or gender expansive / gender non-conforming / non-binary. YWI works to develop its members as community and business leaders, advocates for social change, and civically-engaged philanthropists raising critical funds for WOMEN’S WAY. This year, they organized and held 6 events, including a volunteer event with General Operating Fund Grantee — The Greater Philadelphia Diaper Bank.
Together, we will work to advance gender and racial equity.
Whether you attended one of our events like the Inaugural Gender Wealth Summit, watched one (or all) of our Change the Narrative Fellows’ stories, supported our Financial Coach Training Program, donated to the General Operating Fund, sponsored the Annual Celebration and/or everything else in between, we are so grateful to have a community with you in it! We can’t wait to see what we can accomplish, together, in 2023.
To donate or learn more about other ways to get involved with WOMEN’S WAY, visit here.
