Women's Foundation of Alabama 2022 Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

About Us

Mission

Women’s Foundation of Alabama is a communitydriven foundation impacting the world around us by accelerating economic opportunity for women.

Vision

We envision a society where power and possibility are not limited by gender, race, or place.

Values

Insight, Advocacy, Impact, Equity, Inclusion.

Board Welcome

As I reflect on what 2022 signified for Women’s Foundation of Alabama and the hundreds of thousands of women statewide whose power and potential stand to be unleashed, the words that resonate most are catalyze, multiply, and accelerate.

We are blazing a path for the next generation of women to build upon.

Thanks to your support, 2022 marked our first full year of operating as a statewide foundation. With this expanded footprint came expanded opportunity. As you will read in this year’s Annual Report, Women’s Foundation of Alabama produced the state’s first ever economic impact study spotlighting the invaluable role women play in Alabama’s economy and the tremendous opportunity for growth if barriers that preclude women’s full participation in the workforce are addressed.

The Foundation deployed more than $800,000 in community investments, fueling boots-on-the-ground organizations that work to remove barriers for women and families, including our first-ever round of funding for the Girls at the Center Fund focused on serving young women. Leaning deeper into the philosophy that when women lead, change follows, we celebrated the graduation of our third class of Women’s Policy Institute Fellows, propelling our grassroots army to advocate and effectuate change in even more communities across the state.

We also continued our streak of legislative victories by securing four more wins for the women of Alabama, including a historic $17.8 million state investment in child care, the expansion of maternal health coverage to 30,000 more women, increased funding for our two-generation Economic Mobility Model with the Alabama Community College System, and the creation of the Alabama Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force which provided data-driven recommendations to lawmakers for closing the gender wage gap and bolstering female workforce participation.

These groundbreaking findings, system level changes, and transformational funding opportunities would not have been possible without your support.

With your generosity, we continue to shape a new narrative for what’s possible. We move from sitting at the table, to setting the table. Please enjoy this report detailing the work and impact you helped to shape, and thank you for supporting our mission to accelerate economic opportunity for the women and girls of Alabama.

Dawn Helms Sharff, Chair, Board of Directors

Last year, we announced a pivotal shift in scope, formally becoming Women’s Foundation of Alabama. With your support we expanded from a five-county footprint and now touch the lives of women across 46 counties, solidifying our organization’s statewide presence and boldly leaning into our mission to advance women’s economic power.

365 Days of Expansion

Melanie R. Bridgeforth, MSW, President & CEO, speaking at Aspen Ideas Festival

Lawson State Community College Graduation: Community Impact Grantee

Alabama Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force

Women’s Policy Institute Graduation

Clearing the Path Research Showcase

Impact & Overview

365 Days of Expansion

Because of you, our multiplier effect as a place-based funder has never been stronger. Since growing into the state’s most powerful philanthropic voice for women and announcing we would carry out our work without borders:

We doubled our investments to women-serving organizations, moving more than $800,000 to 21 counties, and expanded our grantmaking infrastructure statewide with the launch of community-led Giving Circles in three of Alabama’s most populous counties.

We invested in women-led solutions through our Women’s Policy Institute, equipping our third cohort of grassroots leaders with expert training to spearhead public policy change in their own backyards.

We produced the state’s first-ever study on the economic impact of women in Alabama – Clearing the Path – a landmark report that now serves as a policy roadmap for businesses, government, and civic leaders.

Our rese arch led to us chairing the Alabama Legislature’s Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force, a committee that delivered formal policy recommendations to address women’s labor force participation rate and age-old wage disparities.

Alongside hundreds of volunteers, donors, and supporters, we shaped women-focused policy, securing four significant victories in the Alabama legislature including measures to expand access to maternal healthcare, address the work and wage gap, and allocate a historic multi-million-dollar investment in quality childcare.

Unders tanding true transformation occurs at the enterprise level, we grew our people power, including bringing on the first Chief Operating Officer in the Foundation’s history. Our team expanded not simply in size, but in the depth of knowledge and expertise required to catapult and sustain us at the next level – priming the launch of even bolder plans for targeted grantmaking and policy strategy that accelerate women’s economic opportunity.

Jefferson State Community College Southside Ribbon Cutting: Community Impact Grantee

Women’s Foundation of Alabama awards grants to high-impact organizations and initiatives proven to accelerate economic opportunity for women. In 2022, we strengthened that commitment by awarding $800,000 in 21 counties across the state. As part of our strategy the Foundation continued funding for eight community colleges across the state implementing our two generation Economic Mobility Model which aligns career-specific training programs with wraparound support services, including high-quality child care, transportation, and coaching for student-parents. The Foundation also continued to invest in and galvanize resources to amplify the collective power of young women through our Girls at the Center model. This effort is focused on ensuring young women, specifically young women of color, can lead, prosper economically, and live safe and healthy lives.

Morgan County Giving Circle

Last year we expanded our grantmaking statewide through giving circles, a strategy that empowers passionate individuals to propel resources and spark change in their own communities.

In 2021, Representative Terri Collins and a group of like-minded women reached out to Women’s Foundation of Alabama to explore ways to give back to their community. The Morgan County Giving Circle was established in 2022 to unite the group’s passion and empowers its members to pool resources and award large, high-impact, and strategically selected grants to organizations and initiatives benefiting women and children in North Alabama.

Created out of a desire to harness the collective giving power, influence, and joy of women philanthropists, Morgan County Giving Circle membership currently has 15 members and is actively recruiting more. Membership consists of women of all ages and backgrounds who come together and make funding decisions to enrich the earning capacity for women, promote quality child care for families, and most importantly, change lives.

2022 Grantees

Beulah Baptist Church

Bevill State Community College

Calhoun Community College

Child Care Resources

Community Care Development Network

GirlSpring

Hudson’s 1st Class Academy

Jefferson State Community College

Lawson State Community College

Learning Zone Christian Academy

Lurleen B. Wallace Community College

Shelton State Community College

Snead State Community College

Sunshine Kids Development Center

Wallace Community College Selma

Morgan County Giving Circle Kick-Off

Research

In 2022, Women’s Foundation of Alabama released its latest research endeavor, Clearing the Path: Galvanizing the Economic Impact of Women. This report spotlights the substantial role women play in Alabama’s economy and the tremendous opportunity for growth if, and only if, barriers are addressed that preclude women’s full participation in the workforce. The report outlines Alabama’s current economic landscape, provides tangible solutions to strengthen women’s economic impact, and includes statewide and county-level data to ensure state and local leaders have relevant information to address the most pressing barriers within their regions.

Did You Know?

Clearing the Path highlighted four key strategies to eliminating these barriers, which would have an immediate and tangible impact on the state’s workforce and economy:

1. Close the gender pay gap.

2. Pave the way for women to participate in the workforce.

3. Create fair access to occupations.

4. Close the wealth gap between men and women.

Findings from Clearing the Path: Galvanizing the Economic Impact for Women were instrumental in justifying the creation of the Alabama Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force and helped inform policy recommendations put forth by the Task Force.

If Alabama closed the gender pay gap the state would see almost 59,000 new jobs, $15 billion in new income, and the state’s overall economy would grow by almost $22 billion.

Advocacy

Building on three consecutive years of legislative victories for women, Women’s Foundation of Alabama’s championed its 2022 Agenda for Women focused on non-partisan, commonsense policy solutions that advance economic equity through workplace supports and access to maternal healthcare.

Thanks to our tenacious advocacy, we were successful in securing the following wins for women:

A his toric $17.8 million state investment in child care, a significant first step towards expanding access and quality of child care for Alabama families.

Cre ation of the Alabama Workforce and Wage Gap Task Force, chaired by Women’s Foundation of Alabama President and CEO, Melanie R. Bridgeforth, which met throughout 2022 and provided data-driven solutions to assist lawmakers in implementing laws to close the gender wage gap and bolster female workforce participation.

Expanding ma ternal health coverage to 30,000 women by expanding postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to one year.

Helping t o propel more women through the workforce pipeline with expanded funding for our two generation Economic Mobility Model with the Alabama Community College System.

Clearing the Path Report

Governor Kay Ivey Addresses Advocates

Capitol Heels Advocacy Day

2022 WPI Fellows

Women’s Policy Institute

We continued to fuel women-led solutions through our Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) graduating our third cohort of grassroots leaders – champions equipped with expert training to spearhead public-policy change in their own backyards. The power and efficacy of the WPI was showcased this year with two successful Fellow-led advocacy campaigns including legislation to begin eliminating the use of restraints on incarcerated women who are pregnant and a $200,000 budget appropriation to combat period poverty by funding hygiene products for students in Title I schools.

Unleashed & Gatherings

Unleashed

2022 Unleashed: A Philanthroparty was a major success. We honored ten Changemakers who influence and shape the state in all that they do. Our 2022 Changemakers included Alka Bhargav Charisse D. Stokes, Dorothy Pak, Eleanor Estes, Jamie Ison, Kellie Hope, Maeci Walker, Dr. Michele Kong, Wendi Ward Boyen, and Yasmin Anders.

Because of your generosity, we raised over $350,000 ~ targeted funds that empower the Women’s Foundation of Alabama to fuel catalytic change in communities across the state.

Gatherings

Like flowering vines, Women’s Foundation of Alabama also spent 2022 nurturing networks through new approaches. As part of our statewide expansion strategy, we took Unleashed on the road, hosting a series of intimate “Gatherings” in Huntsville, Montgomery, Mobile, and Birmingham. These local meetups served to honor our 2022 Unleashed Changemakers and explored how to mobilize women’s equity for unique pockets of our state.

WPI Graduation Video

Women’s Foundation of Alabama leaned into our statewide footprint in 2022. View the recap video of some of our proudest moments.

Huntsville Gathering

Unleashed Changemakers

2022 Board of Directors

Lajuana Tucker Bradford, Secretary Regions Bank

Tiffany Johnson Cole

Law Offices of Robert Simms Thompson, PC

Brooke Coleman Community Volunteer

Rosanne Crocker, Immediate Past Chair Community Volunteer

Dr. Nancy E. Dunlap Professor Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Jessica M. Friedman Friedman Law Firm, PC

Brantley Fry, Chair Southern Research

Elizabeth Cole Goodrich Thank You Books

Maye Head Frei, Treasurer Ram Tool

Cathy Randall Pettus Randall Holdings, LLC

Quentin Riggins

Alabama Power Company

Guin Robinson Jefferson State Community College

Dawn Rock Encompass Health Corporation

Dawn Helms Sharff, Vice Chair

Bradley

Hampton Stephens Hampton Stephens Design

Britney Summerville Community Volunteer

Cindi Vice Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama

Nancy Watts Community Volunteer

Melanie R. Bridgeforth , MSW

LaShundra Pinkard

Rachel Bunning Zhaundra C. Jones

Macy Vintson, CFRE

Bryna Reid

Elizabeth Hubbard

Kim Holt Cochran

Blakely O’Connor, Ph.D.

Katy Galloway

Philanthropy and Learning