Congratulations to our 2024 grant recipients! Thank you for your ongoing commitment to empowering women and girls across Massachusetts!
- Asian Women for Health* – Three-year $300,000
- Dream Big! – Three-year $225,000
- Dress for Success Western Massachusetts* – Three-year $133,000
- Girls Inc. of Boston and Lynn* – Three-year $150,000
- Girls Inc. of the Valley* – Three-year $300,000
- Girls on the Run Greater Boston – Three-year $165,000
- Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts* – Three-year $150,000
- Science Club for Girls – Three-year $300,000
- Women’s Money Matters – Three-year $300,000
- YWCA Central Massachusetts* – Three-year $150,000
*New Partner
The Women’s Foundation of Boston’s impact continues to reach new heights each year! In the 2024 grant cycle, the Foundation awarded $2,173,000 to 10 nonprofits across the Commonwealth, funding programs focused on leadership & mentoring, education, and career & financial empowerment.
Leadership and Mentoring Programs
Girls on the Run (GOTR) inspires elementary and middle school girls to be healthy and confident with its research-based curriculum that combines confidence building, social-emotional wellness, and running. In the 2024 grant cycle, the Foundation awarded two three-year grants to GOTR programs: $165,000 to Girls on the Run Greater Boston and $150,000 to Girls on the Run Western Massachusetts. Both organizations will be working to expand to new sites and improve program accessibility to under-resourced communities.
Education Programs
The Women’s Foundation of Boston continues to invest in educational programming that increases access to STEM activities and higher education opportunities. With a three-year $300,000 grant, Science Club for Girls (SCFG), an active supporter of the next generation of women in STEM, will be expanding their free STEM education and mentorship programming to reach more girls in Greater Boston and Massachusetts Gateway Cities. The Foundation’s investment in STEM programming will also extend to Hampden County with a three-year $300,000 grant awarded to Girls Inc. of the Valley. This exciting new partnership will support the organization’s new MakerSpace and Library Learning Center, an incredible resource in downtown Holyoke to boost elementary and teen girls’ access, interest, and engagement in STEM-related activities. Girls Inc. of Boston and Lynn, a new Foundation grantee partner, received a three-year $150,000 to fund Project Accelerate, a 6 year program that will support and mentor young women as they navigate the transition from high school to college to career. Lastly, Dream Big!, an organization whose outstanding resume includes impacting over 80,000 girls and young women since its inception in 2010, has received a three-year $225,000 grant to hire a Program Director who will support the organization’s ongoing growth and manage equipment grants, program scholarships, and Leadership Conferences.
Career & Financial Empowerment Programs
Our 2024 grant cycle highlighted several organizations providing beneficial programs related to workforce development and financial literacy. Asian Women for Health received a three-year $300,000 grant to support its Community Health Impact Program, a Fast-Impact model that will provide Community Health Worker training and job placement opportunities over a 2-3 week period for under-resourced and marginalized women. The Foundation awarded Dress for Success Western Massachusetts a three-year $133,000 grant for the expansion of the organization’s Workforce Development programming, introducing a Tech Goes Home Initiative as well as a Women’s Career Center. YWCA Central Massachusetts was awarded a three-year $150,000 to fund Girls CHOICE Money Smart, a 38-week financial literacy program for middle school girls in Worcester Public Schools. A three-year $300,000 grant will fund Women’s Money Matters’ Life Launch program,providing under-resourced girls and young women with the tools and resources to build long-term financial security for themselves and their families.
“Thank you all for being such an integral part of our journey and growth as an organization. Your multi-year funding is magic to WMM as it allows us to plan for the future and gives us the security to be able to grow and meet the unmet need and demand in our community.” – Danielle Piskadlo, Executive Director, Women’s Money Matters
The Foundation’s Grantee Community
As one of the leading investors in economic empowerment for women and girls in Greater Boston and across the Commonwealth, the Women’s Foundation of Boston has now committed a total of $8.3 million to 38 nonprofits and 101 programs since its inception in 2017. We are so grateful for the wonderful partnerships we have developed with women and girls-serving nonprofits over the years.
Two of our 2024 grant recipients received their seventh Foundation grant during this year’s cycle! Science Club for Girls, the Foundation’s first grant recipient in 2018, continues to serve as one of the leaders for STEM programming, and Women’s Money Matters is moving the needle for financial wellness programming for women and girls.
The Foundation is also thrilled to announce the new additions to our grantee community! The 2024 grant cycle represents organizations making meaningful impact across the Commonwealth, with 27% of funding supporting programs exclusively serving women and girls in Western Massachusetts. To our 2024 grant recipients, thank you for incredible work and your dedication to changing the trajectory of women and girls in Massachusetts!
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.