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HISTORY OF A FUND FOR WOMEN
A Fund For Women's Origin
A FUND FOR WOMEN was established in 1993 as a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation. It was created through the vision of Jane Coleman, then serving as the Madison Community Foundation's president, who noted that mainstream charities and foundations were falling short when it came to giving to programs that benefited women and girls. Her solution was to call on a group of original donors who raised $100,000 to develop an endowment fund that would be permanent and flexible and that would have as its mission improving our community through improving the lives of girls and women.
What Has AFFW Accomplished?
The range of projects and programs AFFW has helped support in its first 15 years is both diverse and deep. What all AFFW funded projects have in common is a commitment to making our community better through making the lives of our girls and women better. In general, AFFW helps support non-profit organizations to improve educational and employment opportunities for women and girls, and to enhance their self-esteem. Our grants have ranged from supporting self-defense classes for elderly victims of domestic abuse to expanding computer programs for adolescent girls at Madison middle schools. Originally, AFFW provided numerous small grants to various non-profit organizations but since 1999 has provided fewer, larger proactive grants each year to address specific community issues and needs. During a recent two year period, we were the catalyst in helping create an innovative pilot program with the ambitious goal of getting homeless young mothers and their babies off the streets and into safe, permanent housing which they can support and sustain. Over the years A FUND FOR WOMEN has forged alliances with many organizations, from the Madison Metropolitan School District to the YWCA, The Business Forum to Centro Hispano.
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