Blogs

Information on Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)

Because many of you work with children and families, we are drawing your attention to a CDC webpage: Frequently Asked Questions and Answers: Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Children.

2020 Leadership & Capacity Building Institute – Registration Opens Next Week

Registration has launched for associations who are eligible for the travel stipend! If you believe you are eligible for this benefit, please look for this message with instructions from lcbi@ywca.org. If you don’t see it, please check your junk/spam folder.

YWCA USA Welcome Reception at CSW64!

Will you be in the New York City area on Sunday, March 8, 2020? If so, please join YWCA USA and the World Service Council for a welcome cocktail reception following the NGO Consultation Day at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

31 Days of Women's Impact and Women's History Month

On Sunday, we will launch our 31 Days of Women’s Impact initiative, during which we’ll highlight the achievements of women past and present in a wide range of industries while highlighting how we’re continuing the work of empowering the women of today and tomorrow.

Through this initiative, we are also encouraging donations specifically to local associations by donating $1 per day for the entire month of March for a total of $31. Individuals will still be encouraged to make a contribution of any amount to help us continue to serve over two million women, girls, and their families.

YWCA Dayton – First YWCA to be Accredited for Social Justice Work

YWCA Dayton has achieved national re-accreditation through the Council on Accreditation (COA)! Additionally, two of their programs – behavioral health and social advocacy – received individual accreditations, marking the first time a YWCA in the U.S. has been accredited for its social justice work.

Social advocacy plays a critical role in the YWCA Theory of Change. We know that it's not enough to provide excellent frontline services that address immediate needs but we must also address the systemic gaps that result in the need for those frontline services in the first place.

YWCA Greater Cleveland 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge
March 2 – March 20, 2020

Last year, YWCA Greater Cleveland launched a 21-Day Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge with 1,500 participants and grew to 2,500 by the end with both individuals and organizations taking part.
Registration is now open for 2020 and you are invited to join them for this year’s challenge!

View a special message to YWCA's across the region and check out this year’s toolkit to get fired up and ready to go for the 2020 Racial Equity and Social Justice Challenge!

Register for Stand Against Racism

Have you registered for Stand Against Racism? We are seeking 100% participation in this year's campaign. Your initiative can be any size and take place anywhere from a local school or community center to a coffee shop.

We encourage you to utilize the materials and resources provided in our toolkit, and to thoughtfully engage with the ways we can each do better to confront and fight racism in our communities, in our families and circles of friends, and within ourselves.

To get started, simply click here. Upon registering a profile, you’ll gain access to a toolkit of downloadable materials, including templates, promotional materials, and other resources to support your event and advocacy. Once you’ve settled on a date and event, come back to register your event to gain access to a personalized event page.

Racial Justice Design and Co-Facilitation Train the Trainer
July 27 – August 1, 2020

For more than 18 years, YWCA Madison has been offering opportunities for racial justice learning in their community. Some of their most known public offerings are the Annual Racial Justice Summit and the Racial Justice Design and Co-Facilitation Train the Trainer series.

The Racial Justice Design and Co-Facilitation training features direct facilitation, consultation support, curricula development, professional development as well as capacity building for teams and organizations committed to deepening their race and gender equity practices.

This unique training and peer mentoring process is offered to YWCA sister associations interested in developing racial justice workshops that are responsive to the needs of the communities they serve.

Through a unique train-the-trainer process, YWCA Madison integrates key learnings from 19 years of multi-modal and multi-tiered racial justice programming to provide:

• In-person training to deepen self-awareness as well as racial justice workshop design and facilitation skills.
• License for use and contextualization of YWCA Madison racial justice curricula.
• In-person experience of a three-day Racial Justice Series as offered to the general public in Madison.
• In-person peer-mentoring and practice to use YWCA Madison's holistic process for racial justice workshop design.
• Virtual peer mentoring for the facilitation of a racial justice workshop as designed during this train-the-trainer.

This year, YWCA Madison will accept up to three YWCA sister associations to register up to four people for this opportunity offered in three phases:

• Phase 1(May-June): Facilitation Self-Assessment and Exploration of Context for Racial Justice Programming (virtual)
• Phase 2(July 27-Aug 1): Week-long Train-the-trainer in Madison, Wisconsin
• Phase 3(Aug-December): Peer Mentoring for First Racial Justice Facilitation Experience (virtual)

Available spots are limited. For more information, email Gery Paredes Vasquez or Libby Tucci.

Organize Your Butterflies Podcast

Episode 30
Extensions for the Table: Using Experience as Motivation for Change

In this discussion, Host Alejandra Y. Castillo and Virginia Kase, CEO of the League of Women Voters, delve into how the past 100 years of women’s work has been a down-payment on the future, and how important it is that every person (regardless of background) has the ability, the right, and the opportunity to participate in the shaping of this country.

Episode 30’s Spotlight is on YWCA Northern New Jersey (formerly, YWCA Bergen County), where they are fearlessly led by CEO Helen Archontou. Helen has worked tirelessly to ensure that the needs of the greater community are recognized and encompassed with this name change. #YWCAButterflies

Organize Your Butterflies is available wherever you subscribe to podcasts, including:
APPLE PODCASTS | GOOGLE PLAY | STITCHER | SPOTIFY | TUNEIN | RSS

Register for the Next Association Network Meeting

Association Network Meetings are held to to bring us together in person to discuss current initiatives, share and support each other, and to connect on ways we can all work together to strengthen our entire network as we work to implement YWCA USA’s Strategic Business Plan and increase synergy.

2020 is an important year for YWCA and participation in an Association Network Meeting allows us a moment to pause and set our intentions. Now is the time to register for the next Association Network Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 1 - 2, 2020.

New Map Feature: YWCA Opportunity Zones

Have you seen the latest update to the YWCA Opportunity Zones map? The map now shows 85 YWCAs headquartered in Opportunity Zones across 33 states that serve over 680,000 women, girls, and their families.

Check out the map, which aims to connect Opportunity Zones stakeholders with YWCAs serving Opportunity Zones residents nationwide.

Help us spread the word about the map by sharing this video infographic via your social media networks. Please use the hashtag #YWCAOZ so that we can we uplift social media postings from our network.

Watch or Re-watch the February Public Policy Webinar

This week, the Public Policy and Advocacy Team hosted the February Public Policy webinar. On the webinar, we shared recent updates from Capitol Hill and the federal administration, highlighted some ways to use our new field engagement technology, shared important census engagement opportunities and days of action, recapped Black History Month, and previewed all that is to come in Women’s History Month. Watch or rewatch the webinar now to get involved with YWCA USA advocacy!

YWCA Local Leaders Take Action for Safe and Inclusive Workplaces

This week, local leaders from YWCA Northwestern Illinois and YWCA Mahoning Valley took to Capitol Hill as part of a coalition effort led by a diverse group of national organizations to advocate for the passage of the bi-partisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 2694). Women currently make up almost half of the workforce, many employed in a range of physically demanding jobs. Pregnant workers have been forced out of their jobs and denied reasonable accommodations that would enable them to continue working and supporting their families. If passed, the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (H.R. 2694) would end this discrimination and protect the economic security of pregnant women and their families. The bi-partisan Pregnant Workers Fairness Act recently passed out of Committee favorably and is expected to head to the floor for a full vote in March 2020.

YWCA Retirement Fund

Elliott Buchholz, executive director for YWCA Retirement Fund joined our Association Network Meeting in San Diego last week to help educate YWCA staff and leadership on the invaluable employee benefit provided by the YWCA Retirement Fund and your YWCA.

The sole purpose of YWCA Retirement Fund (YWCARF) is to provide retirement benefits for employees of participating YWCA associations in the United States. YWCARF is one of the oldest pension plans in the country, the first pension fund for women, and it predates Social Security. YWCARF is proud to support YWCA’s mission by allowing its workforce to complete careers of service then retire with dignity.

Atlantic Council - Millennium Fellowship Accepting Applications

There are only a few weeks left to apply for the 2020 Atlantic Council Millennium Fellowship. The Millennium Fellowship is the Atlantic Council’s flagship initiative for future leaders. The fellowship is a two-year, part-time program requiring three weeks of in-person activities supplemented with virtual convenings and distance learning, executive coaching, and optional events that take place around the world and throughout the year.

Subscribe to YWCA: We Do the Work, A Monthly Update

Last month, YWCA USA released the first issue of YWCA: We Do the Work, A Monthly Update. Through this electronic newsletter, we hope to elevate and increase awareness of the YWCA brand, increase clarity about YWCA’s work to drive real change, and increase support of our mission to eliminate racism and empower women.

YWCA Employment Opportunities

Check out these featured employment opportunities and all of the YWCA job openings around the country listed in our jobs center.

• Director of Financial Capacity Building - Remote
• Director of Member Services - Remote

Important dates for your calendar

• March: Women's History Month; YWCA's 31 Days of Women's Impact
• April 1 – 2: Association Network Meeting - Charlotte, NC
• April 23 – 26: Stand Against Racism
• June 17 – 20: YWCA LCBI in Chicago

Questions about what you read today? Contact communications@ywca.org.