Women’s Foundation of Boston Announces 2022 Grant Recipients
Leading philanthropic nonprofit investing in the economic empowerment of Greater Boston’s women and girls awards close to $1.3 million to 10 local nonprofits.
Media Contact:
Jessica Petro | jpetro@issuesgroup.com | (617) 981-2649
Boston, MA – June 14, 2022 – The Women’s Foundation of Boston (WFBoston), 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, is proud to announce that it will award a total of $1,262,653 to 10 nonprofits through its 2022 grant cycle for an average term of 2.6 years. In just five years of grantmaking, WFBoston has committed a total of $4,072,696.
WFBoston’s 2022 grants will enable local nonprofits that serve women and girls to expand their impact through leadership and mentor programming, professional development, and STEM and finance education. The 2022 grants will continue WFBoston’s reach beyond Greater Boston and into Gateway Cities, which lack sufficient women and girl serving programming to address the need.
The 10 grantees were selected through a rigorous process that evaluates each organization’s operations leadership and financial stability, along with the program’s impact potential and scalability. WFBoston’s grant-making process focuses on multi-year awards, giving women and girl-serving nonprofits the ability to build momentum and increase the impact of their programming over time. WFBoston’s Board of Directors approved the grants at its May 24 meeting.
“For too long women and girls have been underfunded by the philanthropic community. WFBoston is proud to be changing that through supporting and scaling the impact of these mission-driven and effective local organizations,” said Christina Gordon, Co-Founder and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Boston. “It is vital that we invest in the empowerment and advancement of the current and future generations of local women and girls.”
The 2022 grantees include:
Strong Women, Strong Girls, one of Boston’s largest mentorship programs, empowers girls to imagine a broader future through a curriculum grounded on female role models delivered by college women mentors, who are themselves mentored by professional women. This three-year grant totaling $225,000 will fund the launch of the curriculum in Gateway Cities north of Boston where there is a crucial need. The program will enhance skills related to the 6 Cs of positive youth development—connection, caring, contribution, character, competence, and confidence, which are research-demonstrated capacities that promote asset-building and boost protective factors in young people, leading to more positive social, emotional and academic outcomes.
Girls Inc. of Greater Lowell is part of a national organization that combines research-based programming with long-lasting relationships to equip girls to overcome barriers and reach their potential. WFBoston will award a three-year $150,000 grant to fund a year-round STEM curriculum for 120 middle school girls—the only STEM-related program in the area—that will serve as a runway for offering the successful national Eureka! Program in the future.
Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) is a national non-profit that dramatically improves the lives of people struggling to make ends meet. WFBoston currently funds EMPath’s successful economic mobility program, and will now award $150,000 over three years to fund the organization’s AMP Up Boston program. AMP Up Boston is an extension of EMPath’s partnership with the Boston Housing Authority focused on economic mobility mentoring, especially for single mothers. WFBoston will fund coaching for 266 residents from BHA housing and Section 8. The program will track income gains, rent payments, savings, debts, and educational attainment of participants compared to a control group. The program’s results will be part of a randomized control study in conjunction with MIT and Harvard that will produce important findings about the efficacy of economic mobility mentoring.
Girls on the Run Greater Boston (GOTRGB) in the City Expansion – Boston and Beyond is an afterschool, physical activity-based youth development program designed to enhance girls’ social, emotional, and physical skills. WFBoston is awarding a three-year $135,000 grant to fund growth outside of Boston, with a focus on Gateway Cities such as Lawrence, Lowell, Brockton, Everett, Lynn, and Chelsea. These new programs will serve 360 girls, where in some areas, GOTR will be the only afterschool program offered.
Budget Buddies is a nonprofit serving women and girls over the age of 14 living on low-incomes. The organization builds financial wellness, confidence, and security through a unique group-based program that combines financial health workshops, peer support, and personal one-to-one coaching. A three-year, $127,220 grant from WFBoston will support the creation and rollout of a series of in-depth workshops, where topics range from buying a home and retirement planning, to resume building and the job application process. The funding will also be used to develop and launch a community-building platform and app.
Girls With Impact (GWI) works to prepare under-resourced young women, ages 14 to 24, with leadership and college-readiness skills to succeed in school and the workplace so they can become the leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators of tomorrow. WFBoston has committed $120,000 over three years to expand GWI’s reach into Greater Boston with its 10-week Business and Leadership Academy program, serving 100 young women annually. This program gives young women the knowledge, skills, and confidence to present a business plan, develop leadership skills and be better prepared for college. GWI will supplement this offering with post-program mentors to help the young women develop and refine their learned skills.
Big Sister Association of Greater Boston (BSAGB) works to ignite girls’ passion and power to succeed through positive mentoring relationships with women and enrichment programs that support girls’ healthy development. WFBoston continues its multi-year support of BSAGB with a three-year, $120,000 grant to support “Big for a Day,” a program that lets girls waiting for a permanent match engage in an enrichment activity in the areas of Health & Fitness, STEM, Civic Engagement, Career & Education and the Arts, hosted by local organizations. This program serves to bring in new volunteers, spark corporate interest, and increase the number of girls served by the organization.
Girlstart is a national female-led organization offering out of school STEM programming for free to girls in grades 4-8. These STEM experiences are designed to accelerate academic progress in girls furthest from opportunity by providing meaningful exposure to STEM through afterschool programs and summer camps. Following a one-year grant in 2020, WFBoston will award $80,000 over three years to further expand Girlstart’s capacity and impact in Greater Boston and Gateway Cities. Girlstart will also host STEM-related activities at local Boston community events.
Girls on the Run (GOTR) Worcester County has successfully offered the nationally recognized GOTR confidence and positive youth development after-school program in Worcester for seven years. The program uses a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident. WFBoston provided a one-year grant to serve 92 girls in Worcester Public Schools in 2021. In 2022, WFBoston is granting $80,433 to fund the entire cost of the program for 240 third to eighth grade girls in the school district.
Mother Caroline Academy (MCA) is the only tuition-free independent school for girls in grades four to eight in the City of Boston that serves traditionally under-resourced neighborhoods. WFBoston’s grant of $75,000 will fund a professional consultant to develop a marketing and admissions strategy to best execute MCA’s new expansion plan to serve girls in grades K-3. MCA has significant long-term results, with a 100 percent graduation rate at independent, parochial or exam schools, and a 96 percent graduation rate from college.
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.