Washington Area Women's Foundation

Washington Area Women's Foundation is a community-supported foundation dedicated to advancing gender, racial, and economic justice across the Washington, DC region and surrounding areas. Since 1998, the Foundation has invested over $17 million in more than 215 organizations working to transform the lives of women and girls of color. The Foundation operates through two primary mechanisms: strategic grantmaking and policy advocacy. Through its grantmaking programs, the Foundation awards grants to organizations actively pursuing gender, racial, and economic justice, while also providing direct awards to women and girls of color themselves. The Foundation's advocacy work influences policymakers and the local philanthropic sector to drive systems and institutional change with a gender, racial, and economic justice lens. The Foundation's current initiatives include programs focused on maternal health and birth equity, early care and education, young women's leadership development, and Black women's leadership support. The HERizon Fund represents a recent strategic initiative designed to increase graduation rates in early childhood education and maternal health fields across the Washington metropolitan region. Serving Washington, D.C., Montgomery County, Maryland, Prince George's County, Maryland, and Northern Virginia, the Foundation mobilizes community resources to ensure that economically vulnerable women and girls have access to the resources and opportunities needed to thrive from birth to the boardroom.