Our Work
Founded in 1998, Washington Area Women’s Foundation is dedicated to helping women in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area thrive through philanthropy that invests in and empowers all women, girls and their families. The Women’s Foundation fosters this powerful wave of giving through donor education and engagement, grantmaking and leadership development, and public awareness programs and research.
In 2003, The Women’s Foundation published “A Portrait of Women & Girls in the Washington Metropolitan Area,” to illuminate the challenges facing women and girls in the region. The portrait showed two distinct images. One is of great success. Women in the Washington area are the most highly educated, employed, and well-paid in the nation. But the other image is of women struggling in her role as the family breadwinner, living in or near poverty, with limited access to child care, health care for herself and her children, and no safe place to live.
As a way of bridging the gap between these two groups of women, The Women’s Foundation launched The Stepping Stones Initiative this year. The goal of Stepping Stones is to build long-term economic security and financial independence for low-income, women-headed families. Stepping Stones focuses investing in four areas: financial education and wealth creation; jobs and business ownership; child care and early education; and health and safety.
Through initiatives like Stepping Stones, by fostering a powerful wave of philanthropy, by focusing the power of giving together, Washington Area Women’s Foundation believes that every woman and every girl can have the tools they need to reach their full potential.
Following are some links that will allow you to learn more about us and participate in what we are doing!