Addressing barriers to success!
In 1986, 10 women donated $10,000 each and founded the Atlanta Women’s Fund under the auspices of the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. Their vision was to create new pathways for women and girls living in poverty with a focus on education, housing, mental and physical health services, workforce readiness training and more.
“Twelve years later we became an independent foundation and, using a collective impact approach, we chose the best of the best and provided direct grants to nonprofits that addressed multiple barriers for women to succeed,” says Buckhead resident and CEO Kari Love. “Our first focus was on mental health, and we helped 10 women set one-year goals. Using wraparound services, most accomplished their goals in six months, proving the model worked. By the end of five years, AWF had helped 30,000 women secure jobs and permanent housing.”
Today, the AWF has broadened its reach to include services for professional women wanting to become community leaders, achieve pay equity and climb the corporate ladder. “Everything we do is very strategic and impact focused so we can tell our story to the community,” Love says.
Its Too Big to Ignore Luncheon, chaired by Trish Harrison and Heather Lamb, raised $1.7 million. Major donors included Norfolk Southern and The Coca-Cola Foundation.
ATLANTA WOMEN’S FUND
atlantawomen.org
@atlwomensfdn
