WRTV celebrates Women's History Month. As we wrap up our month of coverage, we are highlighting a group of women who are making investments in our community.
Women's Fund of Central Indiana exists to help improve the lives of women and girls.
"One of the ways we do that is through grant making. We have awarded more than $10-million in grants over our history," Tamara Winfrey-Harris, Women's Fund of Central Indiana President, said.
That history goes back nearly 30 years.
Winfrey-Harris says the work Women's Fund does is important because organizations doing work to solve challenges women face are under supported.
"The Women's Philanthropy Institute, which is right here in Indianapolis, has said that women and girl's specific issues get less than 2% of all U.S. philanthropic giving. We are more than half of the population," Winfrey-Harris said.
"It's incredibly important for us to ensure that women's voices are heard," Angela Carr Klitzsch, Women4Change Indiana's CEO, said.
Women4Change Indiana is an organization that educates Hoosiers about the democratic process and how to participate.
It's one of 23 grant recipients chosen by Women's Fund last year.
"2024 is an incredibly important year. We have both a presidential and a gubernatorial election coming up this fall. So our big push here is to ensure that we register as many young people and others to vote," Carr Klitzsch said.
Over a two year period, the grant from Women's Fund will help Women4Change increase their volunteer corps.
"It's also allowing us to deploy a curriculum called youth engage," Carr Klitzsch said "It's really equipping young people with the tools they need to understand what the legislative process looks like."
Winfrey-Harris is just over a year into her role as president of Women's Fund. She's focused on the future. She recently led the organization through the development of a new strategic plan.
"Here's what women told us that they were most concerned about: health and underneath that access to reproductive care, infant maternal mortality, and mental health, especially the mental health of girls," Winfrey-Harris said.
Winfrey-Harris says career development, personal safety and intimate partner violence are also priorities for women in central Indiana
"We've heard from women on what they think is important. So, now that needs to be important for us," Winfrey Harris said.
The Women's Fund grants are open to any organization serving central Indiana women or girls. The 2024 round opens on April 1.
Coming up on April 18, Women's Fund is holding a virtual community conversation.
It will focus on infant and maternal health, mortality rates, disparities in health outcomes, and work being done to ensure women and their families can thrive. Women working on the front lines in health care will also share experiences. Click here to sign up.
