Women’s Foundation of Boston Releases First-Ever Greater Boston Women and Girls Philanthropy Index
Based on the Women’s Philanthropy Institute’s national model, WFBoston’s proprietary index measures philanthropic giving to Boston-area nonprofits solely serving women and girls
Media Contact:
Jessica Petro | jpetro@issuesgroup.com | (617) 981-2649
Boston, MA – November 8, 2022 – The Women’s Foundation of Boston (WFBoston) is proud to announce the release of its inaugural Greater Boston Women and Girls Philanthropy Index, the first local database of its kind, benchmarking and evaluating women- and girls-focused philanthropic giving against overall philanthropic giving in Greater Boston. As the primary vehicle for investing in women and girls in Greater Boston, WFBoston creates, funds, and accelerates economic empowerment, leadership and mentoring programs that equip women and girls to be financially independent and successful leaders.
Using a model created by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, WFBoston engaged a team of professional volunteers for six months to build its proprietary index. WFBoston plans to use the database to help refine its long-term strategic goals, as well as inform and inspire others in Greater Boston’s philanthropic community to increase giving to nonprofits that serve women and girls. Research shows that when philanthropic support for women and girls increases, it leads to economic growth for women and girls and lifts whole communities. WFBoston plans to update its index annually.
“The national Women & Girls Index from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute was eye-opening and inspired us to launch WFBoston five years ago,” said Christina Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Boston. “As a data-driven grantmaking organization, we knew we needed to look at real data to understand the status of philanthropic giving in Greater Boston. The Greater Boston index will help shape our organization’s future and show our community the importance and impact of our work.”
“Since we created the Women & Girls Index, organizations serving women and girls have consistently received less than 2% of total charitable giving in the U.S.,” said Jeannie Sager, director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute. “To change that, we need to draw attention to this funding gap not only nationally, but locally. We are thrilled that WFBoston built this index based on our model, and hope it inspires other women’s foundations and funds to use the Women & Girls Index to make a case for support in their communities.”
WFBoston’s 2022 Greater Boston Women and Girls Philanthropy Index findings:
- The percent of philanthropic giving to nonprofits serving women and girls in Greater Boston is aligned with national statistics
- Local giving to nonprofits serving women and girls as a percentage of all philanthropic giving is 2.16%, having increased in 2021 following three-years of decline
- In 2021, there were nearly 8,800 nonprofits in Greater Boston, 368 of which (4.3%) solely serve women and girls
- Higher education dominates philanthropy to women and girls, both in total dollars donated and in organizational assets
The full methodology and results of WFBoston’s 2022 Greater Boston Women and Girls Philanthropy Index are available on the WFBoston website.
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.