Measuring Impact in Women’s Economic Security

Worldwide, the face of poverty belongs to women and children. Our members are changing this —community by community, woman by woman. Explore their stories.

From Poverty to Prosperity

Increasing the economic security of women and their families will take more than job training, wrap-around services at community colleges, or diversity programs in the workplace. While those programs are critical, lasting change requires shifts in how people think and act, and in the policies that support women.

We make lasting change by:

Redefining economic security by challenging social assumptions and beliefs that, for example, keep women out of nontraditional fields, such as construction, plumbing, and transportation.
Affecting behavior by supporting women through programs that provide tools, skills, education, and services for women to gain access to living wage jobs—and keep them.
Promoting policies that support working families and women’s equality in the workplace, such as equal pay and paid family and medical leave.
Building critical mass by engaging advocates, forming cross-sector alliances, and training diverse groups of women leaders.
Maintaining past gains in advancing women’s economic security—often in the face of opposition.

Strategies

What makes women’s foundations so effective is their integrated approach – incorporating a community and gender-specific lens as they invest in multiple strategies and programs.

View the top strategies that women’s foundations use to advance the economic security of women and girls. Each strategy lists the most commonly funded programs.

Research

Baseline Data
Needs Assessment
Benchmarking

Framing of the Issue
Identifying Solutions

Thought Leadership

Policymakers
Elected Officials
Community Leaders

Donors
Media

Education + Training

Job Training
Post-Secondary Education
Certificate Programs

Credentials
Wrap-around Services

Employment + Earnings

Licenses and Credentials
Apprenticeships
Financial Skills

Asset Acumen
Job Placement
Wrap-around Services

Workplace Policy

Engage Leadership in Best Practice
Corporate Policy Implementation
Evaluation

Policy

Policy Research
Bill Writing/Language
Testimony
Coalition Building

Advocacy Days
Bill Passage
Implementation
Evaluation

Community Organizing

Alliance Building
Cross-Sector Partnerships
Establishing Coalition
Communications and Media Strategy

Leadership

Training Diverse Advocates
Training Diverse Leaders

Assessment

Outcomes & Impact
Effectiveness
Efficiency

Accountability

Directed Resources
Outreach & Communications

Strategies in action

Most Common Programs

The three most reported grantmaking programs advancing women’s economic security are:

Financial Literacy

Job Training

Trades Training and Placement

Measuring Impact

Within these three programs, the most reported indicators for measuring impact, as reported by women’s foundations, are:

The number of women:

Participating in job or trade training

Completing job or trade training that leads to placement

Participating in financial literacy training

Obtaining credentials or degrees that better position them in the workforce

Who secure a job

Obtaining non-traditional or higher-paid jobs

Earning higher wages than at time of entering a program

Retaining jobs for 90 days or more

Gaining access to work supports, such as childcare and transportation

And:

Average wage increase of women that complete training

Total dollar increase in income for women who secure jobs

Investing in change

Strategy

Education & Training

Program

Financial Literacy

Indicator

Number of women participating in financial literacy training

Example

Between 2012 and 2015, 4104 women completed Washington Area Women’s Foundation’s financial literacy training.

2160 Memphis women

2160 Memphis women have received job training and job placement assistance as part of Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis’s HOPE model, which provides comprehensive, personalized, and proactive case management and wrap-around services designed to meet the needs of families as identified by the family members themselves.

The model facilitates families’ access to GED/High School Equivalency preparation; counseling; addiction recovery meetings; anger management class; and Touch, Talk, Read, Play early education series allowing programs to address almost every aspect of a participant’s life that will contribute to overall economic stability.

Since 2004, the Women’s Foundation has invested $7.7 million into the Memphis HOPE model.

Support Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis

Maria’s Story

Maria*, recently divorced, began a new job as an assistant store manager in a local jewelry store late in 2014. She worried about how she would be able to pay for child care for her two daughters. The cost of full-time care for her girls would run $280 a week, impossible for her to manage on her weekly pay of $246 and monthly child support of $81.

Many families in America face the same challenge and do not have access to high-quality, affordable child care that would allow them to handle demanding work schedules. This challenge limits the potential of families, businesses and economy. Programs exist to mitigate this situation for working mothers, but the waitlists are daunting. For instance, women in Texas wait an average of six months for relief.

Dallas Women’s Foundation developed the Child Care Access Fund to bridge this gap. The Fund provides grants that allow women to work with the assurance of quality care for their children. With this assistance, Maria was able to keep her job and continue working without having to worry about whether she can afford quality child care. This summer Maria plans to enroll in a nursing program and pursue further training in the medical field with the U.S. Air Force.

*Names have been changed to protect identity.

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29,867 women supported through education, job training, & employment

Since 2012, Partnership for Women’s Prosperity (PWP) has provided 29,867 women and girls with education, job training, and employment opportunities through a variety of economic security programs. So far, this means:

12,092 women received job training and placement
5,764 women obtained education, credentials, or degrees
11,450 women accessed benefits and work supports
8,836 women participated in financial literacy and asset building training
4,099 women completed leadership training

PWP brings together six leading women’s foundations and the Women’s Funding Network to support economically vulnerable women to gain financial and economic security:

Partnership for Women's Prosperity