Greetings!

At the Women’s March in Montpelier this January, Governor Kunin said, “Losing hope is the most dangerous thing we can do.” 

At present, I do not see us losing hope. In fact, given all of the upcoming events and activities around the state, hope abounds! You can read about just a sampling of them in this newsletter.

Also this month, the Women’s Fund Council chooses our annual grant winners for 2017. We received more than 30 applications from nonprofits from all over Vermont. These applications give us an insider’s view into today’s needs and who in the state is providing for them. Our hope is that our grants will help young women and girls dream bigger, aspire to higher education, learn marketable job skills, and achieve economic self-sufficiency. 

Thank you for helping us in our quest to bring hope and opportunity to young women and girls in Vermont. 

~Meg

Meg Smith, Director

Grants Day 

Every year the Vermont Women’s Fund gives grants to nonprofits around the state. Giving away money - gee, that must be easy and fun!

Well, not exactly. It takes time and thoughtful consideration to be effective grantmakers. This is the primary role of the Women’s Fund council, a group of women who volunteer to determine the direction of our funding dollars. Weighing the pros and cons of a grant application and measuring impact is an ongoing education in philanthropic giving. At the Women’s Fund, everyone has a voice and a vote in the decision-making. This is collective philanthropy at work!    

We will announce the 2017 grant winners in our April newsletter.  

Also, many thanks to our wonderful council - Allyson Laackman, Dana Donaldson, Judy Warriner Walke, Katelyn Atwood, Marissa Parissi, Missy Kraus, Susan McCaslin and Liz DeMarco Weinmann - for the great work they are doing! 

Dream, Girl Screening to Benefit the Vermont Women's Fund

Dream, Girl is a documentary with a mission: tell the stories of amazing entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of leaders. The Vermont Women's Fund, Milk Money, M. Kraus & Company, Main Street Landing, Seven Days, and Mary Evslin are co-sponsoring a special screening of this film to show what it takes to make a dream turn into a bonafide livelihood. Following the film, there will be a Q&A panel of local women business owners where they will discuss how they made it happen for themselves with specifics on financing and resources.

March 29, 2017
5:30 - 7:30 pm
Main Street Landing Film House, Burlington

More details are available on our website.

The first 100 guests will receive awesome swag bags thanks to the generosity of Urban Salon Team Beauty Bar, Mini Spa VT, The Vermont Juice Company, Periwinkle’s, Leonardo’s Pizza, Ecco Clothing, TomGirl Juice, Jess Boutique, and Ben & Jerry’s.
This special event is proudly sponsored by
Change The Story Fourth Report: Women In Leadership
Change The Story, the statewide initiative that aims to fast-track women’s economic security here in Vermont, will release some of the details of its fourth report on Women in Leadership in the next several weeks.* 

As a reminder, Change The Story is funded by the Vermont Women’s Fund in collaboration with the Vermont Commission on Women and Vermont Works for Women. To date, the reports on women’s work and wages, occupational segregation and women-owned businesses in Vermont are having a significant effect in all sectors of the state. Most recently, Governor Phil Scott and his transition team read the reports and consulted with the Change The Story team about gender representation in the new administration.  

Women in Leadership presents a comprehensive view on where women are found in leadership positions in higher education, public safety, on corporate boards, in senior management, and on state and municipal boards and commissions in Vermont. See a sneak peek of the early data and stay tuned for more!

*If you are in the Burlington area, you can catch a preview of this report at the Greater Burlington Women’s Forum on March 21st at Contois Auditorium from 12 p.m. Pre-registration is requested.
Marching Into March

The upcoming month provide a wealth of opportunities to learn and support important issues affecting women’s economic security.

The Vermont Commission on Women has an excellent event calendar you should check out regularly. Here are just a few highlights for March:

March 10 - 19: International Women’s Film FestivalNew England Youth Theater, Brattleboro

March 15: Women of the Counterculture Movement in 1970s Vermont roundtable discussion: Goddard College, Plainfield 

March 19 - 20: Beginning Blacksmithing for Women with Caitlin Morris: Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, Vergennes

March 21Greater Burlington Women’s Forum Lunch featuring Change The Story: Burlington City Hall, Burlington

March 23 - 24: Women in Higher Education ConferenceKillington Grand Resort, Killington 

March 29: Dream, Girl Film Screening to Benefit the Vermont Women's Fund: Main Street Landing Film House, Burlington

Again, this is just a sampling of events, see http://www.vtwomen.org/events/ for more!

SAVE THE DATE: Equal Pay Day, April 4th

Equal Pay Day is April 4th. The Vermont Commission on Women is organizing activities at the Vermont Statehouse. More details will be posted on their site soon.


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