2016 Capacity Building Initiative
As an early funder of emerging, women-led, community-based nonprofits, The Foundation is fiercely committed to ensuring our grantee partners’ programmatic and organizational sustainability, as well as strengthening the leadership of their staff at all levels.
In 2016, The Foundation provided a total of $260,000 in capacity-building support that leveraged the expertise of a variety of technical assistance supports in New York City. This disbursement enabled one-on-one consulting services and cohort learning opportunities for our grantee partners. In addition, grantee partners could apply for individual capacity-building grants to pursue customized technical assistance services from consultants of their choosing. Grantee partners were also provided access to a variety of workshops and trainings through The Foundation’s continued partnership with the New York City Capacity Building Funder’s Collaborative.
2016 Capacity Building Grants
The Foundation awarded a total of $139,000 in capacity-building grants to 26 grantee partners to strengthen organizational infrastructure and increase the effectiveness of their programmatic activities. Organizations requested assistance in the following areas: board development, communications, evaluation, fundraising, information technology, program development, and strategic planning. Please visit our grantee partner directory to learn more.
2016 Capacity Building Partnerships
The Foundation provides capacity building support to grantees through strategic partnerships with nonprofit consulting firms. Through these partnerships, 33 of The Foundation’s grantee partners participated in structured peer learning opportunities, combined with one-on-one consultations, to increase their programmatic capacities in leadership and organizational development, strategic planning, and fundraising.
- Cause Effective provided a series of workshops and one-on-one consultations for grantee partners to strengthen individual donor development and increase overall fundraising capacity.
- The Omega Women’s Leadership Center at the Omega Institute provided an intensive leadership development retreat and support for grantee partners to explore their unique leadership values, vision, and voice as women leaders.
- The Kripalu Institute for Extraordinary Living provided grantee partners the opportunity to participate in a weeklong immersion program to unlock their innate capacity for stress resilience and optimal performance through mindfulness tools and practices.
The Citizens Committee for New York City provided micro-grants, project planning assistance, and resources to projects that are helping women address the unique needs they face in New York City’s low-income neighborhoods.
2016 New York Capacity Building Funder’s Collaborative
The New York City Capacity Building Funder’s Collaborative strengthens the leadership and management capacity of our grantee partners through a series of participatory workshops and trainings on a variety of topics such as fundraising, board development, financial management, and communications. Workshops and trainings typically range in length from a half day to a series of full-day sessions. Individual follow-up consultations are often conducted at the end of each series.
In addition to learning new skills and strategies for building organizational capacity, the trainings provide an excellent opportunity for grantees to share experiences, increase their knowledge base, build learning partnerships, and form valuable relationships. NYWF’s aim is to provide grantee partners with the resources to improve service delivery and advocacy to low-income women and girls in New York City.
In 2016, The Foundation partnered with the New York City Capacity Building Funder’s Collaborative to offer grantees the following workshops and trainings:
- Leadership Transition
- Media Training
- Weathering the Storms: Protecting Your Organization Against Opposition Attacks
- Women of Color & Gender Nonconforming Leaders Empowerment Series
- Direct Action Campaigning
- Financial Management
- Effective Community Organizing
- Storytelling
- Grassroots Fundraising
- City Hall Advocacy
2016 Strategic Discretionary Grants
The New York Women’s Foundation understands that there are emerging issues or immediate needs that fall outside the scope, size, or timing of NYWF’s fall and spring guidelines that are in accordance with our mission. Our Strategic Discretionary grants allow NYWF to support these efforts.
In 2016, NYWF awarded $478,400, including the following organizations:
-
ACTMFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
African Women's Development FundFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
AICHFor support of Native American youth organizing efforts in New York City
-
Asian American Impact FundFor support to small and emerging organizations working with underinvested Asian-American and Pacific Islanders in NYC
-
Association of Fundraising ProfessionalsFor the Real Time Grantmaking Education Session at Fundraising Day New York
-
Athena Film FestivalFor support of the 2016 Athena Film Festival
-
Black Women in Medicine (URU)For multimedia educational program that celebrates the history, status, and future of women of color in medicine
-
Black Women’s BlueprintFor support of the 2016 Truth and Reconciliation Commission
-
BLK ProjekFor the 2016 Not Just Talk Summit
-
CAAAVFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Center for Popular DemocracyFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
CHCFFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Cidadao GlobalFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Civic NationFor the White House United State of Women Summit
-
Columbia University Institute for Research in African-American Studies For support of the Black Girl Movement Conference
-
Cornell University Workers InstituteFor research efforts on the domestic worker industry
-
CREAFor literacy and leadership development activities for immigrant women in East Harlem
-
The National Crittenton FoundationFor the Girls @ the Margin National Alliance
-
Extreme KidsFor expansion of community center space for children and families with disabilities in Queens
-
FELPSFor their Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service program
-
Fiscal Policy InstituteFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Futuro MediaFor work to support diversity in journalism in New York City
-
Girls Leadership Institute For the national study Closing the Gap, Understanding How Girls of Color Become Leaders
-
GRITtvFor coverage of the 2016 political process from the perspective of grassroots women and community leaders
-
Iris HouseFor the annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit
-
Jews for Racial and Economic JusticeFor outreach, engagement, and training opportunities for women and LGBTQ communities in NYC
-
JFREJFor their executive leadership transition
-
JustLeadershipFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Latino Leadership InstituteFor work leadership training, community dialogues, and voter education efforts for the Latino community in NYC
-
Latino Leadership InstituteTo support civic engagement and leadership development opportunities for women in NYC
-
League of Professional Theater WomenFor support of their strategic planning process
-
Mayor's Fund to Advance New York CityFor 2016 Women in Politics forum
-
National Conference on Puerto Rican WomenFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
New Leaders Council For enhanced community engagement activities
-
New Leaders CouncilFor outreach, engagement, and training opportunities for women and LGBTQ communities in NYC
-
New Sanctuary CoalitionFor a speakers bureau training efforts for undocumented immigrant women in NYC
-
New Yorkers for ChildrenFor the 2016 Girls Matter! Forum
-
NY Archival SocietyFor the Women's Suffrage Centennial
-
Osborne AssociationFor research efforts on needs of women at Rose M. Singer Center of Rikers Island
-
PACE CenterFor the 2017 All About Girls Summit
-
Participatory Budgeting ProjectFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Protect our DefendersFor efforts to convene coalition of female veterans of color who have survived military sexual assault and harassment
-
QDEPFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
SakhiFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
SCO Family of ServicesFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
SPARKS/FootstepsFor work to provide mothers and families suffering from Postpartum Depression and other perinatal disorders
-
The New SchoolFor support for emerging women of color writers
-
The Williams InstituteFor the LGBTQ Poverty Collaborative's work in New York City
-
Thurgood Marshall Lower School Academy For enhanced community engagement activities
-
Transgender Legal Defense and Education FundFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Vote Run LeadFor the 2016 Dare to Lead New York event
-
Washington Area Women's FundFor support of nationwide Prosperity Together initiative
-
Washington Area Women's FundFor support of expansion efforts of the Young Women's Initiative nationally
-
Women for Afghan WomenFor enhanced community engagement activities
-
Women's City ClubFor enhanced community engagement activities
Partnership for Women’s Prosperity
As a participant in the Partnership for Women’s Prosperity (PWP)–a national partnership with five other women’s foundations–NYWF is working to boost the economic power of women across the USA, community by community. The collective goal is to support economically-vulnerable women and girls to become financially secure through advancements in education, job training and employment, and innovative strategies in workforce development.
NYWF grantee partners funded under this initiative use strategies that range from basic skills development to career advancement across many sectors and within high-demand industries that provide meaningful and livable wages.
NYWF is achieving the goals of the PWP partnership through grantmaking, collaboration in a learning community, research, and the development of best practices and strategies that build women’s long-term financial self reliance and economic security.
The PWP grant supported NYWF by deepening our investment in grantee partners serving women living at or below the federal poverty level, including immigrant women, parenting teens, formerly incarcerated women, victims of violence and abuse, and women on public assistance. PWP is supported by the Walmart Foundation.
Please visit our grantee partner directory for more information.
The Catalyst Fund at Groundswell Fund
In 2015, NYWF partnered with The Catalyst Fund at Groundswell Fund, to increase investments and visibility of the vital contributions of women of color who are leaders in the reproductive justice movement. The Foundation awarded grants to the following local community-based, women-of-color led reproductive justice organizations:
Please visit our grantee partner directory for more information.