Susan B. Anthony once said “I do not demand equal pay for any women save [for] those who do equal work in value. Scorn to be coddled by your employers; make them unders
tand that you are in their service as workers, not as women.”
Susan B. Anthony’s words were as true in her time as they are in ours. Women are still fighting for their right to be equal not only in society, but also in the workplace. Most importantly, they simply wish to fully realize their potential and help others do the same.
The Women and Girls Foundation (WGF) is a non-profit organization that hopes to raise awareness about gender inequality in the workplace. Members of the organization “promote social change by addressing fundamental social inequalities and raising the awareness of these inequities to the media, voters, legislators and corporate and non-profit decision-makers.” The organization hopes to serve as an independent but clear voice that can bring both men and women together to “find solutions to create sustained equity for all of its citizens.” WGF works with donors and investors by gathering their donations to make investments that support women and girls.
The organization members pursues their mission of gender equality by “raising their voices, educating the public, building relationships with legislators, helping legislators understand the perspective of those who will be most impacted by new law or policy, and [by] sharing their knowledge and perspective with others.”
GirlGov is a program sponsored by WGF that was created in order to teach teen women in Pittsburgh about the government, philanthropy, women’s history, and leadership. The program gives these girls a chance to participate in and experience a variety of activities, like meeting career women in politics, exploring career options, and interning in local legislators’ district offices. GirlGov is “open to all girls entering ninth to twelfth grade.” There is no fee to participate.
The Women and Girls Foundation is a foundation that brings people together “to help them learn that if we can include more women in the process of writing the laws and policies that govern our communities, if we can use a gender lens when making public policy decisions, and if we can fix inequities at the systemic level alleviating root causes, then we can tackle obstacles and knock them down – not just for individual girls – but for every girl growing up in our region for generations to come. This young foundation is about investing [in] and creating lasting change.”
To become involved with the foundation you can donate, volunteer, join the mailing list, or take action by telling your elected officials about issues that are important to you and to the women and girls in your community. Visit the website to learn more about how you can get involved with the Women and Girls Foundation.
Featured Image by Stacie DaPonte on Flickr
Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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