Women's Way

Lynn Yeakel, Louise Page, Ernesta Drinker Ballard, Margaret Bacon, Winnie Schoefer, and Cathy Strauss originally formed Women's Way as an umbrella organization in 1977 when several struggling Philadelphia-based women-centered nonprofits decided to unite to pool their resources and establish a greater capacity for advocacy and fundraising. The coalition consisted of seven founding member agencies: Options, a group that provided worker support and sought equal pay and opportunity in the workplace; WOAR, the only rape crisis center in Philadelphia at the time; Women's Law Project, a group advocating for women through legal means; Elizabeth Blackwell Health Center for Women, an independent nonprofit gynecological and abortion clinic and birth center; Women in Transition, a counseling service for women undergoing separation and divorce; and the Pennsylvania Program for Women and Girl Offenders, a group seeking to help women and girls transition back into society after incarceration. Through this unification, Women's Way became the first umbrella women's funding federation in the United States.[6]

Shortly after obtaining seed money from the William Penn Foundation, Women's Way elected Ernesta Drinker Ballard as its first president.[3]

In 1978 Women's Way held its first annual dinner, the Powerful Voice Awards. There the organization awarded Coretta Scott King the first Lucretia Mott Award, an award they continue to present.

Women's Way gained publicity in 1980 after a clash with fellow nonprofit United Way. Women's Way applied for United Way membership, but United Way denied the application because, according to their rejection letter, some of Women's Way's member agencies supported abortion and birth control, which violated an agreement United Way had with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In response to Women's Way's confrontation and public backlash, United Way introduced the Donor Choice, allowing participating Philadelphia employees to designate a payroll deduction to a nonprofit, even if that nonprofit is not a member of United Way.[3]

On November 8 through November 10, 1987, Women's Way held its first national conference in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Constitution. Titled Unfinished Agenda: Women's Future Under the Constitution, it dealt with and developed an agenda addressing women's evolving status under the Constitution, particularly as it pertained to education, violence, economic equality, and reproductive choice. Over 85 speakers presented, including Ellen Goodman, Gloria Steinem, The Hon. William Gray, III, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Gerda Lerner, Lynn Yeakel, Cynthia J. Little, Maggie Kuhn, Yolanda King, and Helen Reddy. Women's Way invited "[a]ll those interested in the past, present, and future of American women."[7][8][9]

Other notable events include 1990's Women in Concert, featuring Dionne Warwick, the Judds and the Roches and hosted by Olympia Dukakis,[10] as well as 1995's stand-up comedy show Humor Her, featuring Margaret Cho, Leighann Lord, and Pam Matteson. Both events acted as fund raisers.[11]

Women's Way unveiled its 20th anniversary mural in 1999. Located between 21st and 22nd streets on JFK Boulevard, the mural depicted women and girls from all walks of life, an American flag, a jean jacket decorated with feminist pins, shirts with white, blue, and pink collars, various accoutrements of the modern day woman (including a packed calendar, make up, a cell phone, an apron, a sneaker, and a ballet slipper), and the Women's Way logo. Local artist Diane Keller[12] worked with WOMEN'S WAY and Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program to design and paint the mural.

The 2000s brought new initiatives to Women's Way: the first Women and Influence Conference in 2002, the first A Change of Pace research report in 2003, the first Women's Issues Summit in 2005, the launching of the Community Women's Fund in 2006, and the first Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize in 2007.

In 2008 Women's Way launched public education and advocacy/public policy programs. The group further restructured in 2011 by launching a new grantmaking program, Women's Way's Action Partners, which replaced its previous member agency program.[4] The first group of Action Partners, six in total, were announced on July 31, 2012.[13]

Women's Way is collaborating with Senator Daylin Leach to pass The National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline Act (SB338) in the Pennsylvania Congress. This act would require certain pertinent establishments (such as truck and rest stops, welcome centers, and bus stations) to post the hotline phone number, giving trafficking victims greater access to help.[18]

At the local level, Women's Way is working to introduce legislation in the Philadelphia City Council, both to establish assistance for survivors of human trafficking and to require massage establishments, where human trafficking scams are often run, to obtain licenses.

Women's Way and Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown worked together to raise local support for SB 338 and passed a resolution making January Human Trafficking Month.

To gain support of these policy changes, Women's Way held several screenings of the movies The Whistleblower and Very Young Girls. These screenings were followed by panel discussions about human trafficking in the Philadelphia area.

Every year Women's Way gathers representatives from regional nonprofits serving women, girls, and families for the Women's Issues Summit. The representatives meet in small themed groups to identify the top emerging issues in their fields and then report back to the group at large. Women's Way uses this information to help decide how to allocate funds for grantmaking and to establish its advocacy agenda. It also encourages networking between organizations during the summit.

The Women and Influence Conference is a public forum focused instead on one specific issue decided upon ahead of time.[19] 2011's theme was Taking Charge: Women and Work.

Women's Way also annually awards the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize to a recently published female author who has helped make headway in the dialogue about women's rights through her work. The 2012 winner was Rebecca Traister for her book Big Girls Don't Cry.[20][21]

Women's Way puts together its signature research report, A Change of Pace, to assess and report on women's socioeconomic status, viewpoints on key political issues, and continuing challenges. The organization then makes its information available to local organizations. It was first released in 2003[22] and again in 2008.[23]

Women's Way holds biannual Lunchtime Policy Briefings. By registering for participation in a conference call, those interested are given the opportunity to ask questions about a predetermined political topic previously explained by the Director of Public Policy. In the past the calls have discussed how healthcare reform will affect reproductive health and women's health in general.

Established in 1997, the Young Women's Initiative is an outreach program engineered around increasing knowledge of women's issues, cultivating community leadership, and creating networking opportunities for women under 40. The initiative offers community service opportunities, quarterly happy hours for her, a book club, and workshops on topics like social media and life balance for to its constituents.