Women’s Foundation of Boston Announces 2024 Catalyst Grant Recipients
Boston, MA – November 25, 2024 – The Women’s Foundation of Boston is proud to announce that it will award a total of $429,000 through its biannual Catalyst Grants cycle to eight nonprofits that exclusively serve women and girls. The Foundation’s Catalyst Grants are one-time funding opportunities intended to act as “catalysts,” to improve the quality and growth of the organization.
Founded in 2017, the Women’s Foundation of Boston is a nonprofit public charity that creates, funds, and accelerates economic empowerment, leadership and mentoring programs that equip women and girls in Greater Boston and throughout Massachusetts to be financially independent and successful leaders. In seven years of grantmaking, the Foundation has awarded a total of $8.5M among 39 organizations and 111 grants.
“Philanthropic giving to women and girls remains staggeringly low in Massachusetts, with only 1.4% of all giving going to organizations that serve women and girls,” said Christina Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Boston. “As the only Massachusetts funder specifically focused on supporting women- and girls-serving nonprofits, we’re dedicated to moving the needle. The Catalyst Grants enable efficient and effective organizations and programs to achieve even greater impact, enhancing their ability to transform lives.”
The 2024 recipients of the Catalyst Grants include:
The Care Center. The Care Center (TCC) is an innovative educational program in Holyoke, MA, providing opportunities for young mothers who have had their education interrupted by a lack of support and systemic barriers. TCC offers a Hi-Set program, part-time college courses, and an associate degree program (Bard Microcollege Holyoke), all with extensive wrap-around services which allow women to acquire the education, resources and skills for life-long growth, wellness, and economic stability. This grant will fund a new multi-year strategic plan for the program. The Care Center is a new grantee partner for the Foundation.
Dress for Success Boston (DFSB). DFSB empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools. This grant will fund a mobile boutique van which will remove the transportation barriers which prevent many women and girls from accessing DFSB’s suiting and career services.
Esperanza Academy. Esperanza is a tuition-free, independent, lottery-based middle school for girls from low-income communities in Lawrence. This grant will fund a website upgrade to better engage donors and improve accessibility for prospective students and families. The grant will also be used to upgrade the donor and graduate management system to ensure better tracking, and to develop an annual report and a graduate-focused publication.
Girl Scouts of Eastern MA (GSEMA). GSEMA builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, providing positive outcomes in Life Skills/Leadership, STEM, Entrepreneurship, Financial Literacy, and the Outdoors. This grant will help fund STEM ON-THE-GO, a mobile learning center that will bring the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and math directly to Girl Scout troops and summer camps in underserved communities across Eastern MA, who would not otherwise have access this programming. The STEM programming will include space science, engineering, robotics, coding, and environmental stewardship
Girls Inc. of Worcester (GIW). GIW works to inspire all girls to be strong (healthy), smart (educated), and bold (independent). This grant will fund a program impact evaluation to ensure GIW is providing the most effective and engaging programming possible to their participants.
Mujeres Unidas Avanzando (MUA). MUA provides low-income Latina and other women English Language Learners the tools to empower themselves through mentoring, education, and job training. This grant will fund a new website and social media rollout to reflect MUA’s dynamic, life-changing work for women and girls, and to better position MUA with potential donors and interested participants.
Our Sisters’ School (OSS). Our Sisters’ School is a tuition-free nonsectarian middle school for girls from low-income communities in Greater New Bedford. This grant will fund a comprehensive marketing plan to enhance the visibility and awareness of the school, which will increase admissions and enrollment, and will better engage volunteers and donors.
WE CAN. WE CAN empowers and supports Cape Cod women to build pathways to stability and self-sufficiency. This grant will fund the development and implementation of a new economic mobility program, which will focus on goal-setting and coaching to gain financial literacy, secure employment, and access educational opportunities.
About Women’s Foundation of Boston:
The Women’s Foundation of Boston, Inc. is a nonprofit public charity that creates, funds, and accelerates high-impact economic and leadership programs that equip Massachusetts women and girls to be financially independent and successful leaders. The Foundation is becoming the primary vehicle for investing in women and girls in Greater Boston and across the Commonwealth and is building a fast-growing network of female nonprofit and business leaders.
Laurie H. Glimcher, MD, was named President and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in 2016. She is also Director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Previously, she was the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean and Professor of Medicine of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs of Cornell University. Dr. Glimcher is a distinguished immunologist, widely renowned for her work in one of the most promising areas of cancer research.
Linda Henry is the CEO of the Boston Globe Media Partners. She is a co-founder of HUBweek, a civic collaboration between the Boston Globe, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MIT that explores the future being built at the intersection of art, science and technology. Linda is also an early-stage impact investor, an Emmy-Award winning television producer with two shows currently airing, and a community activist. She serves as a director of the Red Sox Foundation, is a trustee of the Liverpool Football Club Foundation, chair of the Boston Globe Foundation, and chairman of the John W. Henry Family Foundation. In addition, she is a founder of the Boston Public Market, serves on the advisory board of MassChallenge, and is on the board of the Engine at MIT. She earned a BS from Babson College and her MS from MIT.
Bekah Salwasser joined the Red Sox Foundation as the Executive Director in January of 2018. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Brown University and has extensive experience in philanthropy and both professional and semi-professional sports. After four years working as Community Relations Director for the Boston Celtics, Bekah went on to lead Scholar Athletes as its Executive Director, a program that supports public high school athletes with both their athletic and academic achievements. Earlier in her career, Bekah served as a professional soccer player for the Boston Breakers and as Executive Director of the Charlestown Lacrosse and Learning Center.
Kimberly Fay Boucher is a business executive who has driven high performance organizations in technology, consumer products and social enterprise/nonprofit industries over the past 25 years. She is currently the Technology Commercialization Business Leader for the CTO at Analog Devices, where she is responsible for driving new technologies from incubation stages to successful businesses. Kim is also a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where she teaches Disciplined Entrepreneurship in the Martin Trust Center. She holds a BS in Management Industrial Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She is a NCAA Academic All-American Women’s Basketball player and has been inducted into the WPI Hall of Fame.
Ami Kuan Danoff (Co-Founder and CFO) is a private investor and the trustee of a foundation. She is a Harvard Quantum Founder and a member of the Harvard FAS Dean’s Council. Ami earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in Visual and Environmental Studies and holds a dual master’s degree in Applied Economics and International Finance from the Sloan School of Management at MIT. She was a portfolio manager in global equities at Putnam Investments and co-manager of the Putnam International New Opportunities Fund, and also worked as an international equities analyst at Fidelity Investments.
Christina Heenan Suh holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, a bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania in English and Marketing and a master’s from Columbia University. A former management consultant, her work focused on strategy and implementation projects for Fortune 100 clients. She was also an account executive at Hill+Knowlton (WPP) marketing consumer packaged goods. As an Executive Board Member of the Brookline Education Foundation, which funds professional development in the Brookline Public Schools, Christina led their Grant and Oversight Committees. She currently sits on the board of the Brookline Library Foundation and teaches ESL at Rosie’s Place in Boston.
Christina Gordon (Co-Founder and CEO) holds a dual master’s degree in International Finance and Applied Economics from MIT’s Sloan School of Management. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Boston University and also studied for a joint master’s degree in Women’s Studies and Sociology at Brandeis with a focus on women in the workplace. Christina is a former assistant fund manager and technology industry equity analyst at Wellington Management. She also worked as a stock analyst at Fidelity Investments. She is a trustee of a private foundation, a member of Women Moving Millions and currently sits on the board of Rosie’s Place, a sanctuary for poor and homeless women in Boston.