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    • Women’s Foundation Eschews Investments in Companies Without Female Directors
  • Women’s Foundation Announces 2011-2012 Grant Recipients
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Impact

• Current Grant Recipients
• Past Grant Recipients
• Unidas
• Grant Application
• Grantmaking FAQ

WFSA Grants

The Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona is a vibrant, active organization that is alive with events and programs that support our mission of fostering equity and opportunity for women and girls. We sponsor inclusive activities to bring about social change now and in the future. These include special leadership and empowerment programs for youth, fundraising events, recognition of outstanding female leaders, advocating political change and conducting important research.

Our main method in fulfilling our mission to foster equity and opportunity for women and girls is to seek out and invest in organizations striving to create long-term, positive change.

Using research about women in Southern Arizona and nationwide, we set funding priorities for each year’s grant selection process. Grant proposals submitted to the Women’s Foundation are reviewed by a community-based group of volunteers based on those priorities. They then make funding recommendations to the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Our grants allocation committee is made up of individuals with a wide range of experiences and knowledge as well as diversity in ethnicity, race, income, sexual orientation, and age.

In 2011, we made grants totaling $115,000 to eight organizations covering a wide range of needs.

Our time line for the 2011-2012 grant period is now available on the application page.

If you’d like more information about our grants application process please visit our FAQ page or contact us.

Equity and Opportunity Fund

In response to the Status of Women in Southern Arizona research results, WFSA established the Equity and Opportunity Fund in 2008 to address women’s economic self-sufficiency. At least 17 percent of females in Southern Arizona live in poverty; the rate more than doubles for female-headed households with children, placing families at risk for poor health, unstable housing, and poor academic outcomes.

The Fund’s first two grants were awarded in 2009 to New Beginnings for Women and Children and the Primavera Foundation for programs to help lift women and their families out of poverty. The grants, totaling $75,000 over three years, are the Women’s Foundation’s first multi-year grants and reflect the Foundation’s belief that economic security is crucial to the health and well-being of women and girls.