And the winner is...

And the grantees are…

Dress for Success San Diego that assists low-income women with job acquisition, job retention, career building and life management. WGSD awarded $10,000 to underwrite the equipment needs for the Career Search Computer Lab.

Supportive Parents Information Network promotes self-sufficiency through emergency loan funding, access to banking opportunities and advocacy. WGSD awarded $10,000 for board development and general operating expenses.

Just in Time for Foster Youth (JIT) provides emancipated foster youth with opportunities for self-sufficiency through emergency support, essential resources, and caring personal guidance at critical junctures on their path to independence. WGSD awarded $26,000 to the development of the Career Horizons for Young Women program, which supports young women in their transition from foster care to independent adulthood.

The grantees were announced at the Women Give San Diego Christmas Party hosted by Nancy Spector.

We were honored to have Don Wells (Executive Director), Jeanette Day (Founder) and one of the program recipients attend the party and speak about how JIT has made a real difference in our community.

We look forward to working with our granting partners over the next year!

Women Give San Diego Grants Committee

Women Give San Diego Grants Committee

The Women Give San Diego Grants Committee had a busy time of it this last fall but with everyone’s commitment, along with impressive skill sets and hard work, we managed to review 36 applications. Lucky for us we are a large group so the whole process went smoothly and the work was shouldered by many. Jan took the leadership role this time out but she drew on everyone’s field of expertise. Anita Broughton and JoAnne Berg provided the group with wonderful spreadsheets for easy scoring and helped to ensure that each grant was graded against specific criteria. JoAnn Berg also reviewed all of the financial statements which was a huge timesaver for those of us that might blanche at that particular task. Sussana and Kitty, with their acute analysis and keen observations helped subtly guide us in our decision making. Joann, Amy and Sheona and others showed great skill in “active listening” that proved instrumental in moving the group towards consensus in a very fluid and natural way. Not to mention all of the tasty and healthy treats that Jan, Renee and others brought in to keep us going. Last but not least, I applaud the committee’s use of box.net which meant the applications were available online and hard copies were kept to a minimum.

I can only say that I wish all of my professional meetings went as smoothly as the grant committee meetings did. The group as a whole was very focused and driven to weed out the best groups that would move the WGSD mission forward. It was fun to observe all these wonderful women with amazing skill sets come together, listen to one another and then proceed to get the job done efficiently and effectively. Within the span of 5 meetings we managed to review 36 grants over the summer, meet with grantees and finally put forth the best prospects to the WGSD membership.

Once we had the field narrowed to our top seven picks, each organization was invited to come to a meeting to give a 10-15 minute presentation in mid-September to discuss why their particular organization was the best fit with WGSD. This allowed the committee to put faces to the proposals and allowed the grantees to personalize their proposals. Again the scoring sheets provided by Jan and Anita really helped keep the project on track. We were evaluated the presentations using the following criteria;

· Program Fit: do the programs contribute to the economic empowerment of underserved women and girls in a measurable way?

· Impact Fit: do the programs have a significant impact such as increasing the number served, creating leverage, is the model replicable elsewhere or is the approach innovative?

· Organization Fit: does the group meet our criteria for size, sector focus, outcome measurements, financial stability, leadership and organizational independence?

· WGSD Impact factor: Would the award make a meaningful difference in the success of the organization?

· WOW factor: what is our gut feeling about the project/ organization?

In October we conducted a site visit to the four selected organizations. This is where the process really got interesting. Here we are – armed with our prepared set of questions which of course went by the wayside once we are on site listening to the amazing “herstories” of women and girls that have overcome tremendous adversities in their lives. Some things just have to be fluid. Truly, I think we would all say that we were immensely moved and impacted by the women we met on the site visits. They were from such varied backgrounds, rising above horrendous barriers, yet incredibly motivated to change not just their own lives but the lives of other women and girls. Their stories were so moving, the women were so poised, so real, that all of us on the committee were touched to our core. It is amazing to see such care and compassion at work in our community.

Mid-November, the entire membership voted to select which grantees would received funding. The final grantees were:

• · Dress for Success http://www.dressforsuccess.org/ which assists low-income women with job acquisition, job retention, career building and life management. Funds for a career search computer lab. $10,000 grant.
• · Supportive Parents Information Network http://www.foundation4change.org/video-joni.htm promotes self-sufficiency through emergency loan funding, access to banking opportunities and advocacy. Funds for board development and general operating expenses. $10,000 grant.
• · Just in Time for Foster Youth jitfosteryouth.org and its Career Horizons for Young Women program, which supports young women in their transition from foster care to independent adulthood. $26,000 grant.

At the beginning of December, WGSD hosted a holiday party at member Nancy Spector’s home and highlighted each of the grantees. We were honored to have Don Wells (Executive Director), Jeanette Day (Founder) and one of the program recipients attend the party and speak about how JIT has made a real difference in our community. We look forward to working with our granting partners over the next year!

I highly recommend that you consider joining a WGSD committee. Believe me, the time commitment is much less than you think, the women you meet will inspire you and you will discover that one person truly can make a difference. I hope you will consider joining the grant committee for 2011. I really would hate to hog all the fun!!

-- Blog written by: Dana White, Grants Committee member

Meet the Grants Committee

The Women Give San Diego Grants Committee met throughout the fall to narrow down 40+ applications in order to select three grantees. This group met on a weekly basis, received presentations from each applicant and conducted site visits for the final four applicants.

“Granting to organizations in San Diego that serve women and girls in the area of economic security

and self-sufficiency is where WGSD will have our greatest impact in the community. Our members trust the grants committee to perform due diligence and make informed decisions.”

-- Jan Tuttleman

Committee Chair:
Jan Tuttleman, Ph.D, MBA. Jan Tuttleman, founding President of Women Give San Diego, currently serves in leadership roles for many organizations in San Diego including the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, the San Diego Jewish Women’s Foundation, The Burnham Institute for Medical Research, and The Vision of Children.

Members:

JoAnne M. Berg, CPA – Founder and CEO. JoAnne Berg is a sought after business advisor, speaker, teacher, and facilitator. With over 30 years of professional experience as a CFO and COO, she brings a “big picture” view to creating and running successful small businesses which work FOR their owners, not the other way around. I joined the committee since I have extensive experience with the process through my involvement with San Diego Social Venture Partners and felt I could be useful in establishing the WGSD process. Additionally, it is something I enjoy doing.

Anita Broughton, REA, EIT, CIH. So far, I’ve had a 28-year career in the environmental engineering andconsulting field, and am a scientist, manager, and part-owner of Haley & Aldrich, Inc., mostly focused on the redevelopment of contaminated industrial properties. In my spare time, I manage a local volunteer resource website, angelbeing.com, and joined the WGSD Grants Committee to meet like-minded women and to learn more about our non-profit community.

Susanna Flaster. In a former life I was a Speech and Language Pathologist and now I am involved in a family real estate business in Los Angeles and a member of several non-profit boards and committees. I joined the Grants Committee to have direct contact with community organizations that do meaningful work to benefit women and girls and broaden my understanding of the unmet needs.

Amy Harmon. I've been a professional fundraiser for over 10 years. Having grown up in a low-income family and then been given access to education through a college scholarship, I'm thrilled to give back by helping other women and girls in need through the WGSD Grants Committee. Also, it just feels so good!

Renee Herrell, M.A., CFRE. Professionally, I am a nonprofit consultant who works with nonprofit organizations to help them with major fundraising projects, strategic planning and board development. I joined the WGSD Grants Committee because I wanted to experience the other side of philanthropy from my professional job and be able to give (instead of ask for) a donation.

Jennifer Levitt, Doctoral Candidate. My professional background is in academia, specifically, I have studied and lectured on the intersection of gender, race, class, and sexuality, particularly in the context of family relations. In recent years, I have focused on local family and gender-related issues through women's philanthropy and non-profit service: I am currently Chair of San Diego Jewish Women's Foundation and serve on the board of Jewish Family Service. I participate on the WGSD Grants Committee to engage with and address issues that face San Diego's most vulnerable women and girls.

Sheona Richardson. I am a nonprofit professional with a background in fund development and communications. I’m thrilled to be a member of Women Give San Diego and support their efforts to improve the economic health of women and girls in our community. Serving on the Grants Committee has given me the opportunity to play an active role in connecting women and girls to programs and services that will provide them with the tools they need to thrive and be economically self sufficient.

Dana C. White, CPA. Professionally I started as a State Auditor for the Higher Education team in the State of Washington and then moved on to the controllership position at a community college. I moved into research administration about ten years ago and remain committed to this area. I have lead research centers both at the university and hospital setting as well as in the not for profit sphere. I joined WGSD due to my interest in working on political and societal issues that impact the lives of women.

Next week, Dana White will be posting about the process that the grants committee went through in order to select the final three grantees.

Posted by WGSD member, Renee Herrell, reneeherrellwordpress.com

California Gets Lousy Marks for Women's Health

California — A new report card on women's health shows California has plenty of room for improvement. The state received failing grades in a number of categories.

The report card comes from the National Women's Law Center. It grades and ranks states on 26 different measures of health status.

California got an "F" for the 22 percent of women who don't have health insurance. It also got lousy marks for obesity, health eating, and for the percentage of women who haven't had a pap smear in the past three years.

The report says the state needs to do a better job managing chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes.

California ranked 12th in this year's report, just behind Nebraska.

Among women nationwide, screening rates for colorectal cancer are up, and smoking rates are down.

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Men Still Outnumber Women

By California Capitol Network

December 2, 2010

In its sixth annual survey of women in the workforce, the UC Davis Graduate School of Management found that men continue to outnumber women in top management positions by a wide margin.

Steven Currall, Dean of the Graduate School, said in tough economic times, California’s companies don’t seem to be looking for women who have new leadership ideas.

“For a state that considers itself hip, progressive and a trendsetter, California looks like anything but that when you peak inside the executive suits and the boardrooms of those companies,” Currall said.

The study looked at 400 of California’s biggest companies. Among those, men hold more than 90 percent of board room seats and executive positions. More than a third of the companies had no women on their board or in highly paid executive roles, and only four percent of the companies are led by a female CEO

‘Ruined’ Is The Play To See This Season.
By Angela Carone

November 29, 2010

The first thing you should know about "Ruined" is that it's not a holiday play, which sets it apart from what's currently on the majority of stages in San Diego. If you staunchly adhere to "Tis the season…," this is not the play for you.

To which I say, shelve your holiday cheer for one night and go see "Ruined." It's an important play and it gets a top-notch production at the La Jolla Playhouse (LJP), where it runs through December 19th. Kudos to the LJP for offering such relevant, profound fare, and for once again going against the holiday grain.

Seeing "Ruined" is an extraordinarily rewarding experience at the theater, which is not to say it's an easy one. It incites anger, sadness, despair, hope, and laughter in the course of two hours. There were moments that shattered me, and others of surprising joy.

"Ruined" opened off-Broadway in 2009, and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama (as well as many other awards). I wanted to read the script immediately after to see how playwright Lynn Nottage achieved the richness in character, pacing, and exposition about a very complicated war (the ongoing war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, acknowledged to be the deadliest world conflict since World War II). Plus, it's just beautifully written.

"Ruined" is set in a bar/brothel in the Eastern Congo, run by a formidable woman named Mama Nadi, played in the LJP production by Tonye Patano. Readers might remember Patano from her television role as Heylia James, a pot supplier to the drug-dealing protagonist in the Showtime series "Weeds." This was back before "Weeds" jumped the shark. In fact, Patano was one of the best things about "Weeds."

Mama Nadi is not unlike Heylia James. She shares the same no-nonsense demeanor, practicality, and tough exterior. She feeds and houses a group of women who in turn work for her, including servicing the men and soldiers in the region.

"Ruined" is about the female experience of war, which often goes unreported. In fact, playwright Nottage went to the Congo to document the experiences of women precisely because she wondered what was happening to them during the long war.

And what was happening is unfathomable. The title "Ruined" refers to what happens to a woman's body when she's been raped multiple times. One after another, we hear how war has been waged on the bodies of women. The most powerful – and lyrical – monologue comes from the character of Salima, played by Pascale Armand, who endured five months of captivity by rebel soldiers only to escape and be shunned by her family and village. I can't shake her story.

Ruined" may refer to a physical state, but it also illustrates a lasting psychological trauma, which we witness in the play's monologues and relationships.

As grim as all of this sounds, "Ruined" is full of joyous moments. Those moments have the urgency of people needing escape from the horrors of war. There is dancing (some incredible, energized scenes), song, and A LOT of humor. Nottage writes about "Ruined:" "My play is not about victims, but survivors."

The LJP production is directed by native South African Liesl Tommy, who we recently had on These Days. She talked about her staging of the play, which I found excellent. And the performances are terrific across the board. For me, Tonye Patano (Mama Nadi) and Oberon K.A. Adjerpong (who plays Christian, a supplier/salesman to Mama Nadi's) steal the show.

"Ruined" is the best play I've seen in San Diego this year. I've noticed San Diegans tweeting about it – many of whom recommend bringing tissue. It's true, there were some tears in the audience this past Saturday night. But the play manages to discover hope, resilience, and lyricism among the ruined.

Have any Culture Lust readers already seen "Ruined?" If so, what did you think of it? I'd love to hear from you.

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4 Critical Issues, 4 Ways To Make a Difference Today

As early as this week, Congress may vote on key issues that will overwhelmingly affect women, families and communities -- particularly those still struggling to survive the ongoing economic crisis. Readers of this blog know that we've been highlighting a number of ways you can take action to ensure just policies are put in place before positive change becomes more difficult to achieve; below we offer a recap of four of those actions, and hope you'll help urge Washington to protect the interests of women and families across America.

1.Congress must protect access to child care and Head Start for more than 300,000 children and their families. Let our government leaders know how important quality, affordable childcare is to our country's future. Learn more about how to take action.

2.Beginning today, emergency unemployment insurance expires, affecting millions of long-term jobless workers. Meanwhile, legislators are still debating who among the richest of the rich will get to keep their tax cuts. Tell Washington that real economic recovery should benefit women, families and communities, not the wealthy or Wall Street.

3.Urge Congress to retroactively renew the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Emergency Fund, which has helped create more than 250,000 subsidized jobs and increase services for low-income families wounded by the economic crisis.

4.Comprehensive immigration reform is still the goal, but the DREAM Act is a step in the right direction. Tell Congress they must pass this important legislation and grant citizenship rights to at least a million undocumented youth who are working tirelessly on behalf of their families, communities and country.
Together, let's capitalize on the window of opportunity presented by the Lame Duck session and secure changes that will make a real difference in women's lives.