A Gender Lens at the Table
Co-facilitated by the Community Fund for Women & Girls, the Workforce Wraparound Supports Roundtable event allowed for a robust, collective conversation about the often-overlooked needs of women in workforce programming.
Representatives from 20 organizations gathered for the Workforce Wraparound Supports Roundtable in October. The event was co-facilitated in partnership with The Community Foundation, The Prosperity Foundation and United Way of Greater New Haven, and included nonprofit partners of the Community Fund for Women & Girls, allowing for a robust collective conversation about the often-overlooked needs of women in workforce programming.
Prominent at the table were six Fund for Women & Girls Pathways to Economic Security nonprofit partners: All Our Kin; Collab; Havenly; Spanish Community of Wallingford; Urban Community Alliance; and Women and Family Life Center.
Together, they networked, shared information about their work, talked about challenges, and discussed ways they could collaborate to bolster their services. The nonprofits also provided insights for a collaboration of local workforce funders.
The event was a chance for organizations to plug into the expansive ecosystem of workforce development providers who prepare Greater New Haven area residents for employment, economic stability and growth, and to explore the essential wraparound services that are necessary to support individuals, and women in particular, in securing and maintaining employment and pursuing entrepreneurship.
“A program like this helps to inform the way we shape our requests for proposals and how we can support collaboration,” said Kara Straun, director of program and evaluation at The Community Foundation. “Having the Fund for Women & Girls’ nonprofit partners present supports an intersectional way of looking at workforce development that is critically needed.”
This story is part of the Winter 2023 edition of the Community Fund for Women & Girls' newsletter.
