The Women and Girls Foundation will award 20 grants throughout 2022 as part of its 20th anniversary celebration. In honor and memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the first 10 grantees were spotlighted on social media beginning on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and support BIPOC-led organizations in the Pittsburgh region.

During its two-decade history, the Women and Girls Foundation has awarded more than $2 million in grants to community organizations that work to advance gender equity and increase the rights of women and girls. This first group of 10 grantees are former grantees of WGF and are being recognized for their efforts to protect and advance voting rights and improve civic engagement and education in the Southwest Pennsylvania region.

Each of the following organizations will receive $2,500 to support their voter engagement work in the spring 0f 2022, and help ensure that accommodations can be provided at these public programs to ensure equitable, inclusive access to people of all abilities. Furthermore, these funds will be used to center voices of caregivers in economic recovery debates, increase access to voting and support disability justice and accessibility work engaged in by all of these community partners by ensuring public programs and advocacy events are accessible to all.

RECIPIENTS INCLUDE:

  • Landless People Alliance/Pittsburgh Union of Regional Renters: Working to build tenant power capacity to solve the everyday and urgent realities of renting and policing within housing communities.
  • When She Thrives: Engaging single moms in organizing and advocacy efforts.
  • New Voices for Reproductive Justice: Advocating for women and femmes of color for reproductive justice
  • Healthy Start: Supporting the black women’s breastfeeding circle and maternal health advocacy activities.
  • Latino Community Center: Supporting the rights and advancing opportunities for non-documented families in Southwest Pennsylvania.
  • SisTers PGH: Providing advocacy, housing and other services for homeless trans people and organizing the annual Peoples Pride Pgh event.
  • Rangoli Pgh: Working to uplift voices of LGBTQ+ South Asians in Pennsylvania.
  • Association for Police Accountability: Engaging in year-round efforts to advocate for racial justice, criminal justice and freedom from police violence.
  • 1 Hood Media: Leading Black Activist/Organizer Collective advocacy efforts for police accountability in Allegheny County and other Black youth-led advocacy initiatives.
  • Casa San Jose: Advocating for the rights of non-documented families in Southwest Pennsylvania and empowering Latinx youth in our region.

“It is a privilege and honor to support these remarkable organizations in our community doing the real work of building equity toward a more just future. WGF is proud to support these thought leaders who are centering the experiences, amplifying the voices and increasing access and opportunity to those traditionally most marginalized by current inequitable systems in this country,” said Heather Arnet, CEO of the Women and Girls Foundation. “Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy lives on because of organizations like these, and we wanted to show our commitment – not just in words – but through our resources and our actions in spaces where they are needed most.”

The Women and Girls Foundation partnered with FamilyValues@Work to make these grant awards possible to help develop the capacity of this statewide coalition by investing in the organizational development of local grassroots organizations; building their core capacities; and boosting the power, knowledge and access of voters in 2022.

Grantee organizations listed above will not have to submit a new application this year. These activists work hard enough as it is. They do not need more paperwork. They need more resources. That’s why we are asking you to invest in their work by donating to the WGF grant pool today.  Throughout the year, as funds are donated to the WGF grantmaking pool, we will send renewed grant checks to past grantees to support their continued work in our community. If an organization is interested in learning how to apply to WGF for a new grant, you can email info@wgfpa.org. However due to the extreme needs created by Covid-19, and the diligent work of our current grantee organizations, we cannot guarantee that we will have additional funds available for new organizations to apply who have not received a grant from our organization in the past. We will try, however, to respond to all inquiries. To make a donation to support the WGF grantmaking pool, click here.