Advocating for Social Change
Issues like pay equity, workplace pregnancy protection, and gender discrimination are directly impacted by work by leaders at the local and state level. 37% of the R.I. legislators in 2019 are women; 15% lead our largest employers. We know that when there is a higher percentage of women in leadership positions in government and business, support for women’s issues moves in the right direction.
The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island works to educate women and the community at large about the following issues:
Economic self-sufficiency, including access to good paying jobs, child care, pay equity, paid sick time & paid caregiver leave
Reproductive rights
Health and well-being
Educational attainment
Political representation
The Women’s Fund of Rhode Island offers workshops in salary negotiation skills, creating equitable workplaces, advocacy 101, and other topics which help to address the societal inequities that occur in women’s everyday lives.
In addition to educating the public about issues that impact women and families, the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island engages in training women and girls in civic engagement. Our Women’s Policy Institute (WPI) is the second of its kind in the nation. WPI focuses on cultivating women’s skills to shape policy-making, increasing the number of women leaders in R.I. who can influence legislation to impact women and families positively. Besides, our policy and advocacy committee is made up of volunteers who actively advocate for our priority issues.
