Our Story
Overview
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 Greater Boston women and girls to be financially independent and successful leaders. WFBoston is becoming the primary vehicle for investing in women and girls in Greater Boston, and is building a fast-growing network of female nonprofit and business leaders.
WFBoston awards high-impact grants to nonprofits that economically empower women and girls in Greater Boston. The grants target new programs or new groups served by the expansion of existing programs, and have a transformative effect on the grantee nonprofits and their beneficiaries. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $100,000 annually for one to five years. During 2020, grant awards included funds specifically designated for COVID-19 relief. As of December 31, 2021, WFBoston has committed almost $3M to eighteen nonprofits serving women and girls in Greater Boston.
WFBoston creates and operates programs including: the Women’s Nonprofit Network (WIN), a partnership with the Red Sox Foundation to convene and connect women leaders of local nonprofits in order to promote sharing of best practices, strategies and resources, and advance leadership and mentorship; and the Young Women’s Leadership Program, a year-long professional development program for Boston’s next generation of nonprofit women leaders.
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 Greater Boston women and girls to be financially independent and successful leaders. WFBoston is becoming the primary vehicle for investing in women and girls in Greater Boston, and is building a fast-growing network of female nonprofit and business leaders.
WFBoston awards high-impact grants to nonprofits that economically empower women and girls in Greater Boston. The grants target new programs or new groups served by the expansion of existing programs, and have a transformative effect on the grantee nonprofits and their beneficiaries. Grants typically range from $10,000 to $100,000 annually for one to five years. During 2020, grant awards included funds specifically designated for COVID-19 relief. As of December 31, 2021, WFBoston has committed almost $3M to eighteen nonprofits serving women and girls in Greater Boston.
WFBoston creates and operates programs including: the Women’s Nonprofit Network (WIN), a partnership with the Red Sox Foundation to convene and connect women leaders of local nonprofits in order to promote sharing of best practices, strategies and resources, and advance leadership and mentorship; and the Young Women’s Leadership Program, a year-long professional development program for Boston’s next generation of nonprofit women leaders.
I have worked in the nonprofit world for over 30 years and I truly believe that the creation of the Women’s Foundation of Boston is one of the best things that has ever happened for nonprofits that serve girls and women in Massachusetts.
– Linda Driscoll, CEO Dream Big!
Our Timeline
WFB Established
The Women’s Foundation of Boston was established in 2017 by longtime Boston residents and philanthropists Kim Boucher, Ami Danoff, Christina Gordon, and Christina Suh.
$2M in seed funding raised
Women in Nonprofit (WIN) Network launched
In 2019, we launched the Women in Nonprofit network. Throughout the year, 200 Women Nonprofit Executive Directors joined WIN and participated in professional development seminars.
Covid Response Fund Created
Expansion
Multi-Year Grants Continue
Our Unique Approach
The Women’s Foundation of Boston invests in the power of women and girls.
Multi-Year Grants
Outcome Focused
Similar to venture capital, our approach embraces financial and qualitative analysis to optimize ROI.
Unique Financial Model
With foundation grants covering all administrative costs, 100% of donations go directly towards serving women and girls in underserved Greater Boston communities.
Engaged Partner
Via networking and consulting, we share best practices and tools with our grantee partners to help optimize their efforts and improve organization effectiveness.
We are committed to maintaining low administrative overhead and ensuring that your donations are used thoughtfully and efficiently.
Why Women & Girls
Investing in women supports not only the women themselves, but also their families and communities on a greater scale. Statistics show that investing in women creates positive economic returns across generations and throughout communities.
There’s a gap nationwide in philanthropic funding:
- Only 1.9% of all U.S. charitable giving is directed specifically towards women and girls
- Nearly 40% of general foundation giving is sent overseas - twice the rate at which other giving is internationally directed.
- 70% of households living in poverty are led by single women
Investing in women and girls impacts everyone:
- Women reinvest 90% of their incomes in their families and communities (vs. 30-40% for men)
- Gender equality is associated with faster economic growth, higher per capita incomes, and greater levels of health and education.
The city of Boston has a revolutionary past. By creating and advancing opportunities for its women and girls, we can help it have an equally revolutionary future. Join us!
Research
For more research about the power investing in women and girls, look here.
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.