Changing the World for Women and Girls

We believe in the power of women and girls to make a difference and to improve our democracy. On Tuesday, November 15, 2011, The San Francisco Foundation and nearly 100 of our donors affirmed that belief at the Second Annual Women Changing the World Luncheon at the Futures Without Violence Conference Center in the Presidio.

Guests gathered to celebrate the achievements of women and girls and hear from our two inspiring speakers: philanthropist and activist Deborah Santana and Katie Albright, executive director of the San Francisco Child Abuse Prevention Center. Santana, who founded the Do a Little donor advised fund at The San Francisco Foundation, spoke about her passion for giving and her support for girls’ education at a school in Kenya. Quoting one of the students, she said, "The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination." She also encouraged everyone to create "communities of resources" to have greater impact.

Albright shared two stories that motivate her work against child abuse – one about a mother who sought refuge from an abusive husband at the Center one Saturday morning; and the other about Albright’s experience teaching math to Kenyan students who had just recently received clean running water. Albright described a new Center for Youth Wellness, due to open in the summer of 2012, that will serve the thousands of children in San Francisco who are abused each year with a child-centered, multiservice agency that has been lacking in the city for too long. "We all have a role to play," said Albright, choking back tears as she explained the value of providing state-of-the-art services to children under one roof at the center, which will be located in the Bayview.

The speakers were followed by brief introductions from the Foundation’s program leaders to our main issue areas: education, the Koshland program, community development, arts and culture, immigrant integration, the environment, and community health. Each program lead stood and shared their vision and strategy for creating change in our communities. Foundation CEO Dr. Sandra R. Hernandez concluded by inviting guests to support our Women and Girls Impact Fund, a new strategy to focus resources on the needs of the most vulnerable women and girls in the Bay Area.

The Women and Girls Impact Fund invests in the tools that give women and girls the social and economic opportunities they need to transform their lives. Through economic empowerment, self-expression and esteem training, reproductive rights, and freedom from domestic violence, together we can improve the possibilities for women and girls, and thereby lift up the entire community.

Learn more about the Women and Girls Impact Fund here, and find out more information about how to support the fund on Donor Center.