The Community Fund for Women and Girls: A Look at Key Issues

...and What We Can Do Locally

"Feminism: The Common Denominator?"

The Fund for Women & Girls Annual Meeting: We've listened and learned this year. Data shows women leading the way.

Status of Feminism: Progress is circular, not linear. This women's movement is not new — it existed well before the current presidency. It currently is shining a light on the leadership of women of color who were not always given credit for their contribution

READ

• Rebecca Traister's New York Magazine post-election profile of Hillary Rodham Clinton
• Rebecca Traister's All the Single Ladies: Unmarried Women and the Rise of an Independent Nation

ACT

• Make an effort to meet and know our neighbors
• Donate resources to social justice organizations locally, especially to those led by women of color
• Check the media sources we read before sharing
• Work to get more women in elected office — ourselves or other women
• Talk about the importance of voting

Local Women Leading Change

Women are called to lead in a variety of ways – helping young people and honoring others who helped us along the way; being a community role model that all the kids look to for guidance; and collaborating with others to bring about systemic changes in public policy.

LEARN

• CT Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
• Higher Heights Youth Empowerment Programs
• Mothers for Justice

ACT

• Connect a woman or girl needing support in our community to assistance
• Align our spending to our values. Download the Buy Up Index app to learn which companies support women
• Volunteer to help local organizations like Higher Heights develop a sustainable strategy for the next chapter of their growth
• Be an ally. Need help finding a network for a cause such as early childhood education, youth empowerment, etc.? Contact The Community Foundation to learn of local nonprofits doing that work

Reproductive Rights and Women's Health Care

Unintended pregnancies and abortions, along with teen pregnancy rates, have declined dramatically. This has been attributed to the Affordable Care Act's provision for women's health and wellness coverage, including quality contraceptives, with no out-of-pocket cost. Reproductive rights are still vulnerable, despite the recent failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and tax reform uncertainties.

LEARN

• Physicians for Reproductive Health
• Planned Parenthood of Southern New England

ACT

• Sign up for text action alerts from Planned Parenthood regarding federal issues

Gender, Voting and The Voting Rights Act

There is a difference between voter disenfranchisement and voter suppression. While someone's right to vote may not directly be taken away, seemingly innocuous policies such as demanding a government issued ID from voters result in voter suppression because of the practical difficulty for some people to obtain government-issued IDs. Waiting to get involved in the 2020 election is too late. In 2018, the entire House of Representatives is up for re-election. The results of the 2020 U.S. Census, which counts both citizens and residents (including the undocumented), will be used as the basis for redistricting. It is critical for trusted community organizations to be involved in the actual counting as well as getting accurate information to their communities.

READ

• 50 Years of The Voting Rights Act: The State of Race in Politics
• Don't Ignore Black Women (open letter to Tom Perez)
• Why the Census Matters Now More Than Ever (Time, May 29, 2017)

ACT

• Get involved in the 2018 election and the run up to it
• Contact your elected officials and tell them you want to serve on the Census Commission
• Sign up to receive updates about The U.S. Census
• Sign up to be a U.S. Census counter
• If you work for a community organization, sign your organization up to participate in the U.S. Census count
• Register to vote and encourage others to vote

Learn more about the Community Fund for Women & Girls.