Opportunity for All: Letter From the Executive Director
Dear Friends of WFA,
This certainly is an interesting time for our country. It is both a time of energy and hope in our country's bold new leadership and a time of continuing concern around the economic climate. I'm sure you - like all of us - have been feeling the emotional and financial effects of this wild economic roller coaster ride.
These events have made me reflect on the many women and families I've met during my 20 years in non-profit work. Women like Sandy, a low-income single mother of an autistic son who had a love affair with cars and wanted to open a used car lot. Sandy was gutsy, tenacious, and facing a mountain of barriers. When I met her I was directing a women's micro-enterprise organization designed to help women like Sandy become self-sufficient. It was going to take a lot to fulfill Sandy's dream!
Several years after I left that organization I returned for a 15 year anniversary celebration. Sandy greeted me, grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't opened one business, she told me, she had opened three: a used car lot, a towing company, and an auto body repair shop.
Women like Sandy are the backbone of this economy, and yet they are incredibly vulnerable. These women, particularly women of color, faced challenges to their economic security even before the stock market turmoil: they make up the majority of the poor, they comprise the majority of the low-wage workers, they have fewer pensions, and they are more likely to have received sub-prime loans. [1]
A financial situation like this underscores the need for organizations to address the unique economic conditions facing women and their families. At WFA, we continue to hold ourselves to the highest standard, using our resources in the most strategic way to have an impact on women and girls. We want you to know how we are responding to these economic challenges:
- In the first half of 2009 we will be distributing nearly a quarter of a million dollars to organizations in our area, almost 2/3 of which will be going directly to efforts which promote economic opportunity for women.
- We are forming partnerships with groups like the City of Seattle to determine how to get more women into skilled trades training programs that pay a higher wage.
- We are convening groups working on economic issues to talk about the unique needs of women and how they might address those more specifically in their programs.
- We are working with our civic engagement grantees to ensure more women are engaged in the political process, which can lead to better economic policies for women and their families.
To make lasting change, however, we need to encourage our political leaders to commit significant resources toward this effort. Providing quality, affordable child care, work supports, health care, and creating a fairer tax system is a start. Ensuring that an economic stimulus package provides a safety net to women and their families is also critical: extended unemployment benefits and support to programs like Food Stamps that many women depend on. Most importantly, we need more women at the policy tables - women courageously can forge a different way to building a more stable economic environment for women, their families, and their communities.
These are tough times; I'm sure you're feeling it as we are. Fortunately, we can all remember other challenges we faced, knowing that things always get better. And we will – together – continue to build a stronger community and make a difference in the lives of women, girls and their families.
Thank you for being there for us and for the women and girls we serve.
Warmly,
LeAnne Moss
[1] These statistics are available in WFA's report, A Closer Look.
