Women’s Foundation of Boston Announces 2022 Catalyst Grant Recipients
Leading philanthropic nonprofit investing in the economic empowerment of Greater Boston’s women and girls awards $275,000 in supplemental grants to 11 local nonprofits.
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Jessica Petro | jpetro@issuesgroup.com | (617) 981-2649
Boston, MA – November 21, 2022 – The Women’s Foundation of Boston (WFBoston) is proud to announce that it will award a total of $275,000 through its supplemental Catalyst Grants program to 11 nonprofits that exclusively serve women and girls. WFBoston’s Catalyst Grants are outcome-driven, one-year funding opportunities of $25,000 intended to act as a “catalyst,” impacting an entire nonprofit and propelling it forward in fulfillment of its mission.
Founded in 2017, WFBoston is a nonprofit public charity that creates, funds, and accelerates economic empowerment, leadership and mentoring programs that equip women and girls in Greater Boston to be financially independent and successful leaders. In just four years of grantmaking, WFBoston has awarded a total of $4,347,696 among 30 organizations and 72 grants.
“WFBoston is singularly focused on moving the needle toward economic empowerment for women and girls in Greater Boston and Gateway Cities across Eastern Massachusetts,” said Christina Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Boston. “This supplemental alternative grant offering allows us to deepen our impact and support a greater number of effective women- and girl-serving nonprofits. As with our annual multi-year grants, the rigorous process for choosing recipients of our Catalyst Grants is based on mission-alignment and proven outcomes.”
On September 13, WFBoston’s Board of Directors voted to approve a change in the organization’s grantmaking policy to allow this supplemental grant opportunity. In future years, Catalyst Grants may be awarded if funding is available after completion of WFBoston’s multi-year grant cycle, which is announced annually in early June. WFBoston’s Board of Directors approved the Catalyst grants at its November 15 meeting.
The 2022 recipients of the Catalyst Grants include:
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 help fund a remediation specialist to support students experiencing learning gaps in ELA and math as a result of the pandemic. OSS is a current grantee partner of WFBoston.
WE CAN. WE CAN is a Cape Cod based nonprofit focused on supporting and empowering women going through life transitions and challenges. This grant will fund an impact and program measurement study to assess their programs and better align their offerings with the needs of the community and with their mission. WE CAN is a new grantee partner for WFBoston.
Esperanza Academy. Esperanza Academy is a tuition-free middle school for girls from low income communities in Lawrence. This grant will help fund hiring an additional math teacher beginning in January 2023. The teacher represents a doubling of math teachers at Esperanza and a key component of the overall plan to develop a more robust mathematics and STEM program. Esperanza Academy received a Covid response fund grant from WFBoston in 2020.
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 pilot program for job training as a Medical Administrative Assistant. MUA is a new grantee partner for WFBoston.
Women’s Lunch Place. Women’s Lunch Place is a day shelter supporting the development of self-sustaining skills for women experiencing hunger, homelessness, and poverty. This grant will help to fund the creation of a dedicated, onsite Workforce Development Center. Women’s Lunch Place is a new grantee partner for WFBoston.
Girl Scouts of Central and Western MA (GSCWM). Girl Scouts of Central and Western MA is a Girl Scout organization in Central and Western MA building courage, confidence and character. This grant will fund new technology software to improve fundraising efficiency, donor engagement, and volunteer awareness. GSCWM is a current grantee partner of WFBoston.
Science Club for Girls (SCFG). Science Club for Girls provides free STEM after-school programming for K-12 girls from underrepresented communities in the Greater Boston area. This grant will fund an in-person intensive Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics Program school vacation week camp for middle school girls during the April 2023 school vacation. Curriculum developed will also be available for use in their regular after school programs and for SCFG Live!. Science Club for Girls is a current grantee partner of WFBoston.
SG United Foundation. SG United Foundation (“Strong Girls United”) empowers girls and young women to be strong, confident and resilient through sport alongside mental health and wellbeing activities. This grant will fund the creation of “Next Level FAM,” a Female Athlete Mentoring programming for high school girls. SG United Foundation is a new grantee partner of WFBoston.
Dress For Success Boston, Dress for Success Boston empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and development tools. This grant will fund upgrading technology, including the wifi, server, laptops and iPads to improve effectiveness and efficiency. Dress for Success Boston is a current grantee partner for WFBoston.
Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE). Center for Women and Enterprise helps women business owners and aspiring women entrepreneurs in New England launch and grow their business by providing greater access to resources, tools and support. This grant will fund the roll out of a strategic marketing project to expand CWE’s reach and impact. Yet unreached audiences who might not use traditional communications avenues will be better addressed with this plan. CWE is a new grantee partner of WFBoston.
YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts. YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts is an organization in Lawrence, Haverhill, and Lynn that provides resources to over 15,000 women and their families including gender-specific programming for girls. This grant would help fund the hiring of a program director for their Girls Center which provides programming for girls age 10-14 in STEM and other areas. YWCA Northeastern Massachusetts is a new grantee partner of WFBoston.
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 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.
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.