It was a perfect match. They exchanged roses, shared secrets, and talked about their plans for the future. It was a Saturday afternoon get-together, not a date or a formal engagement, just 36 pairs of amazing women meeting for the first time at Otterbein University as participants in a new mentoring program that matches college students with local women leaders from the corporate and non-profit sectors.

This mentor match day was part of a larger new local initiative: The Otterbein Women’s Leadership Network. The “NET” was created to provide Networking, Educational, and Transformational leadership opportunities for local girls, students, and community leaders to cultivate a collaborative system of support that will increase the number of women ready to take on leadership positions in the future.

Let’s face the facts: Ohio needs more women leaders and the time is right. The results of a new baseline study on leadership in central Ohio issued by The Institute on Women  uncovered an immediate opportunity to change the local economic landscape by increasing the numbers of women in key leadership positions. However, without the social, emotional, and economic capital to participate in pathways to independence, our community will continue to be under-resourced in university-educated women to move into leadership roles.

We have so many incredible young women ready to create change in our community; we aim to equip them with the tools necessary to reach their full potential.

So what resources do these young women need to propel them forward? Connections, experience, opportunity.

The Otterbein “NET” offers university women a portal to an intergenerational network of community women who will serve as both mentors and partners as students begin to examine possible pathways to leadership.

For students, the journey begins with Otterbein President Kathy Krendl’s Women and Leadership Course, a first year seminar punctuated with panel discussions each week by local women leaders who share their life strategies and help students understand how to navigate and negotiate gendered social, cultural, and political obstacles.

After completing the course the students transition into leadership roles on campus, co-designing new community service programs with local girls, coordinating special women-focused events, and serving as interns at local women’s organizations. Scholars also facilitate Girl’s Clubs at a local middle school, engaging ‘tweens in “girltalk” about self-esteem, body image, friendships, politics, work, and other topics identified as important to the girls.

These scholars are now helping to coordinate an upcoming event, Otterbein’s Women and the New American Dream Summit on March 9^th and 10^th.  The summit is a call to action for all of us who are committed to ensuring that women and girls have multiple opportunities to create a NEW American Dream where they can succeed, flourish, and reimagine their futures.  Registration is now open for the summit — for more information visit the website at:  www.otterbein.edu/opportunitynation.

If you are interested in joining the Otterbein Women’s Leadership Network as a community partner, internship site, or friend, please contact Dr. Melissa Kesler Gilbert at Otterbein:  mgilbert@otterbein.edu.

Written by Melissa Kesler Gilbert

“Sometimes it seem like to tell the truth today is to run the risk of being killed.  But if I fall, I’ll fall five feet four inches forward in the fight for freedom.  I’m not backing off.” -Fannie Lou Hamer

February is Black History Month and this year’s theme is “Black Women in American Culture and History,” chosen by the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.  We are urged to reflect on the many contributions of African American women in shaping our nation and history.

One notable woman, Fannie Lou Hamer, the youngest of twenty children, was born to a sharecropping family in 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi.  Hamer dropped out of school at the age of twelve to work in the fields and in 1961 was sterilized by a white doctor without knowledge or consent as part of an initiative to decrease the number of poor blacks in Mississippi.

Hamer’s life took a turn in August 1962 when she heard Reverend James Bevel speak in Ruleville, Mississippi.  Bevel, an associate of Dr. Martin Luther King and an organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), appealed those at the meeting to register to vote – a request that if acted upon could result in physical beatings, loss of jobs, and even death.  This was the first time Hamer learned that it was legal for blacks to vote in Mississippi.  She volunteered without hesitation and later said, “I guess if I’d had any sense, I’d have been a little scared – but what was the point of being scared? The only thing they could do was kill me, and it seemed they’d been trying to do that a little bit at a time since I could remember.”

Later that same month Hamer traveled on a bus with others who responded to Bevel’s appeal to Indianola, Mississippi to register to vote.  After registering to vote Hamer lost her job, received death threats, and was severely beaten by the police, but this did not intimidate her.

Hamer went on to organize voter registration drives and the “Freedom Summer” initiative, helped create a new political party in Mississippi, worked to help blacks achieve financial independence by starting food cooperatives, and ran for Mississippi Senate in 1971.  This captures only a small portrait of Hamer’s significant impact on the American Civil Rights movement, and African American history.

Fannie Lou Hamer’s story is one of many, that when weaved together represent the passion and power of women working together to change history.  Her story teaches us that creating change is not easy, but it is possible.  We’ve highlighted one woman’s story, but we want to honor all African American women who’ve worked to make impossible things possible; Ella Baker, Carol Moseley Braun, Shirley Chisholm, Septima Poinsette Clark, Toni Morrison, Vivian Malone Jones, Phillis Weatley, Constance Baker Motley and countless others who fought to reach their full potential and, through their legacies, empower others to do so as well.

Written by: Charis Steffel

Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. It is a day to offer support to victims of human trafficking, recognize the triumphs and resiliency of its survivors, and celebrate the amazing work being done in our communities to bring about awareness and restoration. Let us introduce you to our grant partner doma International and Freedom a la Cart.

FREEDOM

Freedom is hummus.  Perhaps not to you.  But to me, hummus is what Freedom tastes like.  The relationships I have built with survivors of Human Trafficking have propelled me to redefine Freedom, as it exists from their perspectives. Watching a survivor taste hummus for the first time brought so much joy to me. In a room of 25 survivors, no one had ever tasted it; many were hesitant to even dip a chip in it, let alone a carrot stick or pita bread.   But the wide smile on the face of the first survivor who ‘dove in’, was all they needed to form a new love for this strange chick-pea blend.   And that one smile led the rest of the women into a new world of ‘healthful’ eating.  It was a bold move early on by one of our volunteers—but she knows that part of her volunteer work is to continue to introduce the survivors to freedom and choices that have been unknown and unavailable to them.

Their lives have been filled with abuse, neglect, pain, control, slavery, and trauma starting at such a young age—most entering into forced and coerced sex trade (trafficking) at an average age of 12-14.  At these unmentionable ages, many had freedom taken away from them.  So I have taken much delight over the last few years observing and participating in the newfound freedom that empowers them on so many levels of existence – food being one of them.

Freedom a la Cart is the new doma initiative to continue introducing survivors to more and more “Freedom”.  (THANK YOU TO OUR SUPPORTERS, and particularly to THE WOMEN’S FUND OF CENTRAL OHIO!)

Freedom now tastes like fresh, local, and organic food. Freedom is learning how to chop vegetables and slow cook meats.  Freedom is learning the word, ‘Chimichurri’ and roasting red peppers. Freedom is networking with local businesses and the community, and even problem-solving and thinking through, “Where can I park a food cart in the winter, and make money selling our amazing food?”  Even better yet—Freedom is owning a “Carhartt” jacket to keep warm (volunteers and survivors alike!)  Freedom is the warm, genuine smile on two survivors’ faces as they greeted our first customers at the first Gallery Hop of the year downtown at our cart debut last Saturday.  (And it’s a pretty snazzy cart, if I must say so myself.  You’ll have to come visit it in person to see our dazzling twinkle lights…)

Freedom is opening a bank account, saving, and learning how to budget.  Freedom is buying a car for the first time, and then asking your support network of mentors and friends to help you get a license.  Freedom is driving to a custody hearing to fight for the relationships that mean so much to you.

Freedom is dreaming!  Freedom is saving up money to go to college.  And perhaps Freedom is starting a business, or maybe running the register at our first standalone Freedom restaurant, or branching out and having a franchise of a Freedom cart.

But most of all, Freedom is having choices.  And Freedom is having new choice, when at one time, all choice was taken from you.

Happy 2012 and National Human Trafficking Awareness Day!   This is truly going to be a “FREE” year.

And a shameless plug:

Call us for catering gigs at 614-343-3442.  Email us at freedom@domaconnection.org.   Find us on facebook and twitter:  freedom a la cart. Visit doma’s website- domaconnection.org.  Invite us to set up at lunchtime at your business—or beg and bug your business to let us in.  Consider becoming an investor or a ‘careholder’ in a standalone Freedom restaurant, which we’re looking to launch in a few months (contact julie@domaconnection.org)  One taste of our food, and you’ll wonder where this Freedom has been all your life.

Written by Julie Clark

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio is proud to announce our 12 new 2012 Grant Partners

CMAA Refugee Services: Capital Park Women’s Empowerment Project

The Capital Park Women’s Empowerment Project will impact 380 families living in Capital Park Apartments by empowering and training Somali refugee women to become leaders around the issue of safety in their surrounding neighborhood.

Doma International: Freedom a la Cart

Freedom a la Cart is a social enterprise project which will provide women exiting the sex trade with workforce development skills through a catering and food cart business. Women will train for a family-sustaining livelihood while the general public becomes educated about human sex trafficking.

Girl Scouts of Ohio’s Heartland Council, Inc.: Power Up: Doing Nothing? Not an option!

The Power Up program will reach third-through-fifth-grade girls in Fairfield County, empowering girls to resist bullying and defend against it. Girls are specifically taught how to move from a bystander to a powerful, confident defender of girls.

Hard Hatted Women: Leadership Development for Tradeswomen TOOLS

This program will train women working in underrepresented fields, such as energy, utilities, transportation, construction, logistics, and skilled manufacturing, to become speakers, mentors and advocates. These women will then work with employers to increase the number of women working in high-wage earning fields, while helping build the pipeline of women coming into the trades.

HelpLine of Delaware & Morrow Counties and Youth to Youth: Thank Goodness I’m Female (TGIF): The Year of GAL

A teen led and developed approach, Thank Goodness I’m Female (T.G.I.F.), emphasizes the development of healthy female friendships and peer relationships. High school and middle school girls use open dialogue, skill building, youth mentoring, art exhibitions, a social-norm campaign, and social networking “Youtube-like” videos to change aggressive attitudes and behaviors among girls.

John Glenn School of Public Affairs: NEW Leadership Ohio

NEW Leadership Ohio is a week-long residential summer program for college students throughout the state, addressing the underrepresentation of women in elected office. NEW Leadership Ohio inspires and challenges women to run for office, take on public leadership roles, and support other women in their endeavors to do the same.

Mental Health America of Licking County: Licking County Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative

Bridges Out of Poverty engages the whole community in conquering the systemic causes of poverty. Women in poverty learn the hidden rules of the middle class, public institutions change policies reinforcing poverty, and businesses, churches, and other organizations volunteer as Allies to help low-income women escape from poverty.

Otterbein University: Women’s Leadership Network

The Otterbein Women’s Leadership Network will provide educational, networking, and transformational leadership opportunities for middle school girls, college students, and community leaders to create a pipeline of support that will increase women’s upward social and economic mobility.

PAST Foundation: The GEM Project: Girl Empowerment Mural

The Girls Empowerment Mural (GEM) will help young women of the Linden community create and manage community murals. Public art as social change will transform the perception of girls’ roles in the community, redefine their place in Linden, strengthen their community, and provide a unifying voice for women to continue to be agents of change.

Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio: Peer Education Project

PPCO will engage teenage women as Peer Educators, developing them into informed leaders that will provide comprehensive sex education to their female peers and advocate for change in government and school policy. The educators focus on delaying sexual activity, non-violent relationships and protection from sexually transmitted diseases.

Ruling Our Experiences, Inc.: Ruling Our eXperiences Empowerment Program for Girls (ROX)

The ROX Ruling Our eXperiences program empowers young women on issues of self-esteem, self-concept, body image, gender roles, female leadership, career development, dealing with harassment and discrimination, healthy relationships, sexual violence, and physical self defense.

Rwandan Women in Action: Refugee Women Transitional Support Program

Refugee Women Transitional Support, in collaboration with Children’s Hunger Alliance, will certify refugee women to become childcare providers and start their own cooperative daycares.

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,

and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

~Melody Beattie

As we approach this season of giving thanks, we recognize and pay tribute to the many sources of support in our lives. We are grateful for the positive social change happening in our community each day. We are grateful for our shared vision of a world where all women are empowered and all voices are heard. We are grateful for you.

Thank you for your continued belief in our mission to transform the lives of women and girls, by mobilizing the collective power and passion of all women working together.

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio and The Limited share very similar missions; we both believe in empowering women and investing in their potential.

Plan some time for shopping and social change. Join us this weekend during The Limited Easton Town Center location’s Grand Re-Opening. A percentage of all sales from the weekend, Friday, November 4th through Sunday, November 6th, will be donated to The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio.

As the Chinese proverb states, “Women hold up half the sky.” Although women are half the world’s population, we bear the brunt of injustice around the world.   

 The John Glenn School of Public Affairs will host Pulitzer Prize winner, Sheryl WuDunn at The Barbara K. Fergus Women in Leadership lecture series. The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio is proud to sponsor the event.

Sheryl WuDunn is co-author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, a New York Times best-selling book about the challenges facing women around the globe. Half the Sky is a passionate call to arms against the global oppression of women.

Together we will hear the heart wrenching tales of the major abuses of women throughout the world, listen to the inspiring stories of extraordinary women turning their oppression into opportunity, and learn how together we can make a difference-- join us.

When:  Monday, November 14, 2011at 4:00 p.m.

Where: Ohio Union, Archie Griffin Ballroom

1739 North High Street

Columbus, OH 43210

The lecture is free of charge and open to the public, but seating is limited. Follow this link to reserve your space today! 

October 7, 2011 was a historic day. On that Friday morning three women– Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni protest leader Tawakkul Karman– were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

As we celebrate this victory, we must also recognize their journey. Share in this moment– tune in to WOSU on Tuesday, October 18th at 9pm for the second film in the Women, War and Peace series, Pray the Devil Back to Hell, starring Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee.

Join us on Monday, October 24th from 5:30-7:15pm at the Arena Grand Theatre as we continue this important conversation with producer of Women, War and Peace, Abigail Disney.

The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio is 10 years old — join us in this year of celebration!

How can you celebrate our 10^th Birthday?

-Make a $100 gift, $10 for each year

-Introduce us to 10 women who haven’t heard of The Women’s Fund

-Celebrate your relationships with a Tribute

What is a tribute? We have so many important people in our lives: our mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends. In these relationships we share our happiness, our sorrow, and our jubilation during milestone moments in our lives. 

Celebrate your relationships. Send a wedding tribute tomorrow or schedule a year worth of special birthday tributes. We send them your beautifully written words (on time!) and you get the tax deduction.  She realizes she is cherished and you know your gift strengthens women and girls in our community.

We have enough stuff– give a gift that matters. It matters to you. It matters to your friends. It matters to your community.

10 years. Celebrate! Our Work. Your Relationships.  

You know that show that catches you on television; the one that you didn’t know you cared about but was so compelling, you couldn’t stop watching?  Or the video that becomes viral because it touches something in each of us we didn’t know was there?  Or the group of women you don’t see often enough but when you do, it feeds you for months afterwards? 

That feeling, that profound connection with our humanity, is why you want to see Abby Disney.  We see the violence on television, war torn countries with bloody streets and white sheet-covered bodies.  For us the story may be a two minute news spot.  For those living in war torn countries, it is their life. 

We often hear of military casualties, we might even hear the language “collateral damage”.  Abby Disney puts a face and a story to the women who are disproportionately impacted by war and subsequently left out of the peace-building process.  You will feel the intensity of the situation and you will also hear the stories of hope, reconciliation and deep, lasting peace.

Women, War and Peace is a series that you will want to record and watch with your family (not for young children!)  Share the experience of listening and learning from Abby Disney on October 24^th.  Bring your partner, your girlfriends and your humanity to spend some time with a woman who brings the often silenced voices of women to public television.

You won’t want to miss the opportunity to meet Abby Disney in person on:

October 24^th, 2011

5:30-7:30 p.m.

Arena Grand Theater

Click here for tickets.

Program provided with support from The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio and WOSU Public Media.

We walk down the aisle at the grocery store and pick up a box of Cheerios. Cheerios = a healthy heart, right? (Those precious commercials of children feeding their parents cereal to show how much they love them have obviously had an effect on me.) Healthy choices are important in all of our lives, but how much do we really know about the health issues which affect us the most?

Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans. According to a survey recently completed by Ohio State’s Ross Heart Hospital, only 22 percent of Ohio women understand the danger of cardiovascular disease. Close to 75 percent of women surveyed reported at least one risk factor for heart disease, but only about 25 percent identified themselves at risk. When 500,000 American women lose their lives to heart disease each year, knowledge of the risk factors is incredibly important.

On Wednesday, September 14 from 9-11am, join an amazing team of female cardiologists, dietitians, and researchers at The Blackwell Inn for a free presentation: Strong at Heart—What Every Woman Needs to Know.

Topics will include:

• Heart at Work: Understanding How to Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
• Recipe for Life: Heart-Healthy Recipes and Tastings
• Groove Is in the Heart: Moving Your Way to a Healthy Heart
• Hormone Rage: Understanding Issues Related to HRT
• 2011 American Heart Association Guidelines: How They Apply to Women

We all want to be healthy, for our friends, for our families, for ourselves. Call 1-800-293-5123 to reserve your seat and join us on September 14^th!

Written by Kathleen Kishman

On this day in 1920, women gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution. August 26^th is not only a day to celebrate this monumental legislation; it is a day to reflect on the past and continuing struggles faced by women, while looking toward a future where all people– regardless of sex, class, race, sexual orientation, or ability– are equal.

Today may mark the 91^st anniversary of women’s voting rights, but this work for equality began well before the amendment passed and still continues today. Women have a long history of organizing for social change. 

Until 1964 when Title VII of the Civil Rights Act barred workplace discrimination on the basis of race and sex, searching for employment meant looking in the newspaper’s “Want Ads for Women” section. Before Title IX banned sex discrimination in schools in 1972, college was a distant dream for any woman who imagined a future outside of nursing or teaching. The women behind these movements have changed the landscape of the world for every woman and girl today.

Last year, we reported that health insurance was more likely to cover Viagra than birth control. In recent months, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced health insurance plans will be required to cover women’s preventative services – an amazing victory for women’s health. Now we must work to ensure every woman benefits from this decision.

Without the collective power of women working together, these pieces of legislation may have never passed. Today we must celebrate these victories, hold the line and forge ahead to guarantee that these acts are not just laws on the books, but are being implemented in our world.

At the end of this year, the Violence Against Women Act will expire. Passed in 1994, the VAWA was the first federal legislation to acknowledge the severity of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and other violent acts against women. Through the work of our grant partner Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), abused immigrant women in central Ohio have an increased awareness of the rights granted to them under VAWA. This program is effectively dispelling the belief within the community that immigrant women must remain dependent on their abusers for survival in the United States. The Violence Against Women Act is vital to our safety and must be reauthorized to protect the basic rights of us all.

Take a moment to honor the women who made our many victories possible and reflect on how we can continue to work toward a future where full equality is a reality.

Written by: Kathleen Kishman

Imagine yourself as a teenager, sitting in the office of Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown (former office of President Barack Obama) lobbying for your rights, the rights of your peers and the rights of the people in your state. At that age, I believe I probably would have been biting my fingernails and hoping no one asked me a question. That wasn’t the case for the six peer educators from Planned Parenthood’s Peer Education Team. Instead, it was an opportunity to speak up and make a difference by participating in Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s Youth Organizing and Policy Summit in Washington, DC this summer.

Thanks to funding from The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio and The Columbus Foundation, the Peer Education Team has worked to create social change throughout Central Ohio over the last year and a half. They reach thousands of their peers and community members with information about preventing pregnancy and STIs, building healthy relationships and much more. Sitting in the Senate office was another great experience for these six young women. It was just one of many opportunities they shared in DC.

We left Columbus with a group of nineteen – two adult chaperones, six high school students (five of whom had never been on a plane prior to their DC experience) and eleven college students who intern for Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio or are members of the college group VOX (Voices for Change). That afternoon, the young ladies attended the Opening Plenary where they were excited to see other youth from all over the country and share stories about their programs. From there, the Peer Educators attended a number of workshops including: Bossypants-Getting What You Want on the Hill; Reproductive Justice: Beyond the Choice Paradigm; Media 101: Utilizing Media to Drive a Message; and Hire Me, Please- How to Find and Land an Internship in Public Policy. They all enjoyed their sessions and were excited to share their new information with one another.

Thursday was the big day – lobby day. The ladies were lobbying Congress members to make sure family planning was not cut from Medicaid. This is a pretty lofty subject for most teenagers, but not for these young women. They were all willing and able to speak – and when they spoke, people listened. They spoke of how family planning could or has made a difference in their lives as well as the lives of their friends and families. But they weren’t done there. They went on to discuss the need for comprehensive sexual education courses for young people, and wanted to make sure that the members of Congress knew just how important the peer education program has been. One of the peer educators, Brooke, said: “I can’t imagine my life without the peer education program. It has taught me to believe in myself. I know that I can make a difference in this world. Young women at our school come to us because they need our help.  They want to know how to prevent pregnancy. They want to know how to keep themselves safe. And I’m doing that. I’m teaching them how to do that for themselves. This program has made me realize that I’m capable of coming to Washington, DC and telling Congress what young people want and what they need. I am a teen, but I’m also a woman, and I want to make sure women get the care they not only need but deserve.  Women are smart enough to trust with birth control.”

Even the college students in the room were blown away by Brooke’s conviction, maturity and poise. They all congratulated the high school peer educators.  I later asked Brooke why she felt able to do what she did and how she was able to do it so well. She said, “The peer education program has empowered me to be a woman. I have grown so much, and I know that I am not only capable, but also responsible for the changes I want to see in my world. It has made me realize that I should be heard.” How amazing is that?!? 

We mixed in some sight-seeing before two more workshops on Friday. As we rode the train back to the airport, I looked at this group of six high school students, and I realized they are women. They are the women who will be the leaders of businesses, governments, non-profits and schools in the years to come. I couldn’t be happier to have such excellent female representation!

Written by: Lynn Feils

Community Health Educator

Planned Parenthood of Central Ohio

Have you seen the Autism Speaks commercials – the ones that start with a distant connection to Autism gradually becoming a very personal one? That’s sort of how I feel about LGBT issues. Maybe 10 or 15 years ago, conceiving the notion of same-sex marriages was still far-out. Today – not so much.

Picture your life now. Picture what you day-dreamed about when you were a little kid. Probably somewhere in there, you imagined your wedding day down to the smallest details – the flowers, the hair, the music, the kiss. There might not be too many of us who pictured sharing those moments with a partner of the same sex. Now as adults, you might have friends or relatives who do picture their big day like that.

On the heels of National LGBT Pride month and local equality celebrations, same-sex marriage remains at the fore-front of many a debate. In a time when some states revoked their acceptance, New York recently legalized same-sex marriages. As Pride month winds down, I encourage you to consider your stance on the matter. Research, reflect, the whole bit. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, just make it informed.

So to our Friends of the Fund affected by this movement – here’s to the progress made, and the progress yet to come.

Written by: Hallie Kloots