Women's Foundation of the South Gratitude Report 2022

YOU MADE

LETTER FROM CARMEN

In August 2021, I was thrilled to take on the role of Founding President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of the South (WFS), a ground-breaking new public foundation. It is the culmination of everything I have wanted to do for many years. Founded by and created for women and girls of color in the South, WFS boldly centers gender and racial justice in the Southern U.S. and beyond. We are dedicated to building the health, wealth, and power of women of color and girls in the South, and our work is sustained with gifts both large and small. There is a person behind each gift, and at WFS, we give deep thanks for all the relationships that allow us to live our mission.

2022 was a year of tremendous growth and gratifying achievements for us here at WFS, and we are so pleased to share them with you in this Gratitude Report. It is because of your support that we have the opportunity to manifest the vision of

Carmen James Randolph, Founding President and CEO, Women’s Foundation of the South

building this unique treasure. In 2022, thanks to your gifts and support, we crossed the thresholds of $4M raised since our inception; and $350k in grants disbursed to 53 women-of-color-led nonprofits in the South.

As you read this report, please know that our accomplishments, the strides we were able to make, the messages we were able to amplify from our grantee partners -- all of these were possible because you and others invested mightily in our mission. We are grateful to you and for you, and can’t thank you enough for what your support has made possible.

WFS exists to ensure that every woman and girl of color in the South thrives and is well-resourced, well-rested, and empowered to lead the brilliant solutions to our collective issues. It is our deepest hope that our grantmaking and programs create opportunities for women and girls of color to choose their own futures and destinies and build legacies that allow them to share their stories and brilliance with their own equally resourced and thriving daughters.

It’s not just a dream anymore, friends, it’s a destiny. Together, we will make it a reality.

WFS attracted top talent from the philanthropic field to join our team when we first started. Erin McQuade-Wright, CFRE, CAP, one of the visionary founders of WFS, is an astute Certified Fundraising Executive and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy who is committed to helping donors create legacies that match their passions. Erin was VP of Development at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, where she shepherded more than $26M in donations and legacy investments. Erin serves as WFS’s VP of Advancement, leading our fundraising strategy and implementation.

Christy Wallace Slater is a 18-year veteran of philanthropy who began her philanthropic career at the Foundation for Louisiana and joined WFS from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, where she served as team lead and program officer for the New Orleans and Mississippi regional team. Christy is our VP of Programs and oversees the Foundation’s grantmaking and investment strategy and implementation.

Jessica Allen, Executive Assistant, serves as the key problem solver, systems builder, and supportive force that undergirds our executive. Prior to joining WFS, she worked as a program associate at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, supporting department-wide efforts and special initiatives of the Foundation and facilitating the department’s work to evaluate its environmental programming.

Sandra Lilly, Director of Operations, came from her role at Greater New Orleans Foundation, where she kept everything running seamlessly for 18 years. At WFS, she implemented our operating plan, ensuring that the Foundation’s values were realized in all facets of its operations and HR practices and developed personnel policies that demonstrate our values. While it was bittersweet for us to say goodbye, she retired in 2022 to focus on her new role of grandmother to the next generation of girls in the South.

BOARD

Dr. Shanell McGoy

Diana Jones Wilson

Sherece West Scantlebury, Ph.D - Chair

Kieta MutepfaTreasurer

Rica Lewis Payton

BOARD

Gladys K. Washington - Secretary Gracia Hillman

Susan Hairston

Lori Spicer Robertson

Christy Ross

WŌC @

Our radical approach to philanthropy is exemplified in our flagship program, WŌC @ Rest. This program, curated in partnership with Junebug Productions, uniquely centers women leaders of color who serve on the front lines in our ongoing fight for equity, justice, healing, and prosperity in communities throughout the American South. WŌC @ Rest addresses three issues that WOC leaders report are their greatest challenges: underfunding of their work, need for self-healing and leadership development support, and more strategic communications help.

Nonprofits led by women of color, especially Black women, often must meet a high bar to prove their “worthiness” and capability for funding, while being overlooked for their know-how. WŌC @ Rest offers hard-working women-of-color leaders a needed pause and time to REST:

RRestore by participating in a 2-day healing retreat;

EElevate their leadership with a leadership development and restoration grant;

SSupport their leadership through statewide and regional network building;

TTell their story by participating in a recorded storytelling exercise that highlights the reality of women and girls, organizational and community needs, innovative practices in their work, and recommendations of how the philanthropic ecosystem can help.

Launched in Louisiana in 2021, we checked in with the first cohort of 28 grantees and this is what we learned:

Nonprofit leaders of color are often working two or three jobs;

The organizations they lead are not able to afford health insurance for staff, leading many to utilize Medicaid;

More than ⅓ of the women gathered at WŌC @ Rest reported dealing with comorbidities and serious – and sometimes life-threatening – health challenges.

These leaders have a tremendous impact on their communities, but their own health is suffering. WŌC @ Rest is a program that addresses this problem “head-on and hands-on” by providing a transformative experience for participants and a space for us to listen and learn. The result is responsive programming and informed grantmaking that authentically positions WFS as an ally and change maker.

EVALUATION AND IMPACT

We asked each leader a series of questions about their level of self-care during the application process prior to the WŌC @ Rest retreat and receiving the restoration and leadership development grant. We repeated those questions five months later to gauge any changes in their levels of self-care and the impact on their leadership as well as the organizations they serve. We learned the following:

95%

of the WŌC leaders experienced positive increases in three or more self-care practices (sleeping, eating, hydrating, moving/exercising, connecting with friends and family, and relaxing)

12%

Setting boundaries

of the WŌC leaders experienced changes in their leadership such as:

7%

Shifting approach to the work

14%

Increased mindfulness/ patience/ calm

23%

Delegating/ sharing knowledge

44% Stepping away/ taking vacation

of the WŌC leaders experienced changes inside their organization such as:

9%

Increased compensation/paid leave for staff

12%

Improved communication

21%

Improved organizational practices for staff and clients

21%

Coaching/developing leaders

37% Increased team building/self-care practice development

This year, we expanded the program into Mississippi, supporting a cohort of 25 nonprofits led by women of color working in the areas of reproductive justice, cooperative farming, economic security, and community organizing. Expansion into Dallas, Texas and Atlanta, Georgia is on track for 2023.

In 2022, We invested $125,000 in restoration and leadership development grants to the following organizations:

Bean Path

Immigrant Alliance for Justice & Equity Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health

Love Me Unlimited 4life

Magnolia Medical Foundation

Mississippi Association of Cooperatives

Mississippi Center for Cultural Production

Mississippi Farm to School Network

Mississippi in Action

Mississippi Reproductive Freedom Fund

Mississippi Urban League, Inc.

Mississippi Votes

Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights

MS Black Women's Roundtable

One Voice, Inc. (2 grantees in the same organization)

Peoples Advocacy Institute

Pickles & Popsicles, Inc.

SHERo Mississippi

Six Dimensions

Southern Echo Inc.

Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative for Economic and Social Justice

Springboard To Opportunities

The SHE Project, Inc.

We 2gether Creating Change

OUR PILLARS:

Our programmatic work is designed to generate positive outcomes in the areas of Health, Wealth, and Power. These are areas where women and girls of color in the South are disproportionately subjected to compounding inequalities that shape their experiences and stunt growth in their communities. Their issues are intersectional, and so is our approach.

H E A L

We want our work to

Hasten opportunities for transformative investment in women and girls of color in the South by building partnerships with women closest to the issues within communities.

Entrust in Southern WOC leaders, WOC-led nonprofits, and small businesses by investing in healing-centered and capacity building approaches.

Amplify stories, solutions, and innovations to change the narrative about women and girls of color in the South through strategic communications and research.

Leverage investment in the equitable progress being driven by Southern WOC leaders, entrepreneurs, and WOC-led nonprofit organizations to change the economic trajectory of 2.5 M WGOC by 2031.

HEALTH

WFS is on a mission to invest in the collective health, wealth, and power of 2.5 million women and girls of color across the American South within the next 10 years. To date we have invested in 22 women-of-color nonprofit leaders across Louisiana and Mississippi whose organizations focus on critical community issues such as public health, reproductive justice, healthy birth outcomes, access to healthy food, and environmental justice.

Additionally, we increased our efforts and investment in strategic communications. We launched Learn with Us, a four-part impact video series that compellingly amplified the voices of our partner grantees, telling the stories of women and girls of color in the South with content that showcases conditions and issues that women and girls face in the country’s Southern states. One issue we chose to shed light on was the disparities in birth outcomes for women of color. Maternal mortality and infant mortality rates are disproportionately higher for Black birthing people. In our home state of Louisiana, Black women alone are dying at four times the national average. The first two episodes, featuring Kimberly Novod, co-founder and Executive Director of Saul’s Light, Victoria Williams, Program Coordinator of Birthmark Doulas Collective, Mary Schultheis, President & CEO of Crescent City Family Services, and Shanka Valcour LeDuff, Executive Director of Labor and Love, highlight the complexities of this reality from the experiences of women who have encountered loss and trauma with their patients, clients, and in their own lives.

As a member of the Sister Song movement, a Southern based national movement for reproductive justice for women of color and marginalized people, WFS aligns with the movement‘s belief that reproductive justice is a human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities. To that end, WFS amplified the devastating reality of reproductive justice through various channels, including:

A powerful Op. Ed. on the high rates of maternal mortality in the South;

A riveting discussion on our Clubhouse platform inspired by the documentary Aftershock, which offered a shattering first-hand account of the devastating consequences of maternal mortality.

2022 was a historically significant year for reproductive justice in the United States. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson case triggered the repeal of Roe v. Wade, which has had significant implications and adverse consequences for our grantee partners. As groups fighting for reproductive rights gathered to plan and strategize in post-Roe v. Wade Louisiana, our grantees reported that organizations led by women of color were being overlooked and dismissed from the conversation. In response, WFS was asked to host a conversation for our grantee partners in Louisiana, all led by women of color. In hosting, we held honest and illuminating conversations in a safe space and learned:

For people of color, reproductive justice is not just about access to abortion – it’s intersectional, tying reproductive justice with social justice. In addition to lacking access to safe abortions, WOC often lack adequate access to contraceptives, alternative birth options, adequate prenatal care, living wages, and safe homes.

Reproductive justice is complex, and it’s not just about abortion. Reproductive justice stresses not just the right to abortion, but also economic, racial, and environmental justice, along with other facets of social equality, as critical to true reproductive freedom. The trigger laws that have gone into effect in Louisiana since the fall of Roe v. Wade are particularly alarming in their attempt to criminalize abortion access in a state with such a deep history of incarceration.

Education is also reproductive justice. In the wake of Roe v. Wade’s reversal, Southern states tightened restrictions on reproductive education in schools, forcing some libraries to restrict providing certain books on sex education, and parents pushed back on critical race theory in curricula.

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3.

Gender justice: trans advocates are now fighting against a wave of new bills in multiple Southern states – Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, Georgia, and other states.

a.

Trans birthing people report high rates of health discrimination and post-birth complications

b.

New anti-trans laws are restricting access to gender affirming care, legalizing mis-gendering in schools and health spaces, and attacking everyday rights like using the bathroom that corresponds to one’s gender assigned at birth.

WEALTH

WFS is on a mission to invest in the collective health, wealth, and power of 2.5 million women and girls of color across the American South within the next 10 years. To date, we have invested in 13 women of color leaders across Louisiana and Mississippi whose organizations focus on critical community issues such as small business development, workforce development, family supports and wealth building, and safe and affordable housing.

We are passionate and committed to helping our grantees build wealth because we know economics impact outcomes. Our primary focus within this pillar is supporting the sustainability and growth of WOC owned businesses in the South. These businesses not only fulfill a need in their respective markets, but also in the economic development of under-resourced communities and families.

4.

Entrepreneurial inequity is the most unrecognized contributor to the racial wealth gap in the United States.

Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity

According to the Federal Reserve Bank, 42% of newly created women-owned businesses are started by Black women and 31% by Latinx women. Majority Black women-owned businesses grew 50% from 2014 to 2019, representing the highest growth rate of any female demographic during that time frame. Yet only 4% of women founders who raised equity financing were Black and only 2% were Latinx.

It is clear that connecting WOC-owned businesses to ready capital could greatly increase their success. Historically, however, access to capital has been limited for ethnic minority, female, and low-income entrepreneurs. As traditional banks and venture capitalists have systematically locked out WOC-owned businesses, Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have emerged to fill this gap and provide accessible, affordable financial products and services for low-wealth communities.

WFS is seeking to understand the disconnect in the small business and loan ecosystem that inhibits access to capital for WOC-led entrepreneurs so that we can develop tools, products, or services to support the effective delivery of dollars to WOC-led enterprises.

WFS endeavors to better facilitate investments and support for WOC-led enterprises in the American South so capital quickly and effectively reaches the businesses who need it most. To determine our next steps and ensure that we fill the gaps and solve inefficiencies in the ecosystem, WFS is conducting a landscape analysis of the CDFI and business capital ecosystem across six states in the South: Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee.

In 2023, we began to collect primary data and large data sets, conduct interviews, and analyze the organizations which: 1) provide financial services, loans, and investment tools; 2) offer training and technical assistance services to entrepreneurs; and 3) promote development efforts that enable individuals and communities to effectively use credit and capital.

We are excited to be conducting this study with trusted research partner The Tulane University Graduate School for Professional Advancement, led by Dr. Halima Francis, Program Director, Professor of Practice, Public Administration.

The ultimate beneficiaries of this landscape analysis will be WOC entrepreneurs because the results of this study will help WFS create an investment strategy to expand WOC’s ability to access capital to sustain and grow their businesses. Additionally, it is our hope that this analysis will make the case for the field of philanthropy to make more targeted investments to support the entrepreneur-of-color ecosystem in the South. Finally, focus on the CDFI landscape will identify opportunities to strengthen the capacity of financial institutions with established relationships in hard-to-serve markets across the South.

POWER

WFS is on a mission to invest in the collective health, wealth and power of 2.5 million women and girls of color across the American South within the next 10 years. To date, we have invested in 17 women of color nonprofit leaders across Louisiana and Mississippi whose organizations focus on critical community issues such as leadership development, community and civic engagement, and policy advocacy.

In addition to these investments, our focus on building power for women and girls of color in the South included producing two episodes of Learn with Us. These episodes focused on amplifying the stories of leaders working to build leadership and civic engagement with communities most proximate to the issues we are seeking to address, and those addressing

public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels. Episode 3 “Speaking Truth to Power”, featuring Ashley Shelton, President and CEO of Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, Deon Haywood, Executive Director of Women with a Vision, and Barbara Waiters, Principal of Babsco Group, and episode 4 “The Power of Community Engagement”, featuring Christiane Rosales- Fajardo, Founder of El Pueblo NOLA- NOLA Village, Mary D. Moran, Executive Director of Our Voice/ Nuestra Voz, and Lanor Curole, Program Director of United Houma Nation, provided insight into the intersectionality of the challenges, the strategies, and the price that is paid by leaders in the ongoing fight for equity and creating communities where women and girls of color can thrive.

was a breakthrough year for WFS’ work within our Power Pillar. Our position is that empowering women and girls in the South requires creating opportunities to exercise their agency through funding grassroots community movements and encouraging civic engagement/advocacy through our programs and strategic partnerships. A few highlights from this year:

Our CEO met President Joe Biden and attended the Women’s History Month Celebration at the White House.

WFS hosted a Reproductive Justice Roundtable in New Orleans, Louisiana (Fall 2022 / October 21, 2022).

We went to the Louisiana Capitol for an organizing day dedicated to birth justice, and sponsored grantee partners who joined us.

CRESCENDEAUX

We inaugurated our annual fundraising event, Crescendeaux, in 2022 – to great success, and catalyzing substantial momentum as a celebratory and soon-to-be iconic culmination of the exuberant annual festivals, vibrant events, and beloved festivities that the city of New Orleans is famous for every year. Held on the evening of November 3rd, Crescendeaux 2022 was anchored by a luminous fashion show that featured a stunning array of up-and-coming Southern designers and dazzling creatives who are innovating their craft. Designers included: Olivia London, FrenchedKissed by Frenchy, Korto Momulo, K’Pich Design, odAOMO, and Dayo. The sold-out event beautifully illuminated the splendor of Southern women of color in all hues, body types, and full gender expression. In-person and virtual attendees from across the nation and Louisiana enjoyed star-studded appearances from Bevy Smith, Marlo Hampton, Teryl-Lynn Foxx, and Icon as well as music by D.J. Stormy. Crescendeaux was attended by local and regional luminaries with considerable cultural impact that translated into expanded marketing reach for the event and the city itself.

We are thrilled that Crescendeaux is establishing itself as a de rigueur annual Southern destination in our beloved city of New Orleans, because it is important as a fundraiser: all proceeds from Crescendeaux benefit the vital work of the Women’s Foundation of the South to build the health, wealth, and power of women and girls of color in the South. The event is eminently suited for scaling up to accommodate increasing numbers of guests in attendance while also showcasing the unique art, culture, music, and culinary treasures of New Orleans.

WFS’

YOU SPOKE, WE LISTENED

marked the release of our first Supporter Connection Survey, which allowed us to listen to supporters like you and gain a greater understanding of your passions and priorities when it comes to women and girls of color in the US South.

We learned:

You see that women-of-color-led organizations are doing the most for their communities with the fewest resources.

You understand how philanthropy flows to organizations in the South, largely skipping over organizations led by women of color - especially those led by Black women.

You believe it’s time to address this inequity and prioritize funding for organizations led by women of color.

You know that a generational challenge deserves a generational solution - and that securing endowments for organizations like WFS is necessary to pay for this “forever work.”

Many of you indicated in your surveys that you’d like to help us raise a pool of funds to use as matching dollars during our fall Camellia Campaign. This was a new strategy for WFS, and you helped us raise more than $50,000! Thank you!

In all, the 2022 Camellia Campaign raised over $272,000 in support of our mission. We can’t thank you enough!

Your survey responses also let us know many of you are interested in becoming a Waymaker (monthly donor), which helps us have steady support throughout the year so we can effectively plan our work. Thanks to all who took our survey!

2.

3.

4.

YOUR LEGACY,

WFS’ work is on a “forever” timeline, and we accepted our first legacy intention in 2022.

A generous donor named us in her will, and we established the Gladys Krigger Washington Legacy Society to honor those donors who remember WFS in their estate plans.

Named for beloved founding (and current!) board member Gladys Krigger Washington, whose impact in the field of philanthropy touched countless organizations and will be felt for generations across the South, the Gladys Krigger Washington Legacy Society will celebrate and commemorate a special group of donors whose legacies will forever support the health, wealth, and power of women and girls of color in the US South.

Oluremi Abiodun

Edgar Aglipay

Amanda Aiken

Jess Allen

Melanie Allen

Katharine Arnold

Mona Arnold-McBride

Marilyn Baquet

Isabel Barrios

Allie Betts

Eileen Bondy

Dawn Bradley-Fletcher

Kysha Brown

Stephanie Burks

Jackie Burton

Alyce Bush

Ciara Coleman

Michelle Coleman

Tiffany Crawford

Lanor Curole

Dr. Gloria Richard Davis

Ivory Davis

Shelina Davis

Kim Dean

INDIVIDUALS

Randi Dean

Pierre Detiege

Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes

Kimberly Dilosa

Yolanda Doucette

Jazzlyn Duplessis

Vaughn Fauria

Montrelle Fennidy

Rebecca Fisher

Catherine Flowers

Kathy Freshley

Ashleigh Gardere

Lisa Gentry

Kidada Gilbert-Lewis

C'Ardiss Gleser

Lakita Green

Susan Hairston

Amber Hamilton

Deon Haywood

Kathy Hebert

Gracia Hillman

Rebecca Ingram

Larry Irvin

Rhonda Jackson

Carmen James Randolph

Cynthia James

Anita Jefferson

Alice Eason Jenkins

Alisha Johnson Perry

Hon. Rachael Johnson

Gizelle Johnson

Johnson-Banks

Nicole Jolly

Diana Jones Wilson

Kim Jones

Kristyna Jones

Adrinda Kelly

Denise R. King

Lauren King

Kelli King-Jackson

Gladys Krigger

Washington

Juan LaFonta

Khari Lane

Malik Lane

Dawn Lapeyrolerie

Annie LaRock

Ericka Lassair

Dr. Thomas LaVeist

Halima Leak Francis

Ellen Lee

Jade Lenore LeDuff

Flora Lewis

Rica Lewis-Payton

Sandra G Lilly

Maude B. Lofton

Mary Magee

Tyra Mariani

Akilah Massey

Rachel Mayes

Candra McGowen

Dr. Shanell McGoy

Stephanie

McKee-Anderson

Erin McQuade-Wright

Cyndee Miranda

Margaret Montgomery

Richard

Edna R. Moore

Mariah Moore

Rosetta Moorhead

Malaika Mora

Anne Mosle

INDIVIDUALS

Kieta D. Mutepfa

Jed Oppenheim

Stephanie Osborne

Heather D. Parish

Lee Parker

Sandi Peterson-Cooper

Avione Pichon

Kim Pradd

Toya Randall

Courtney Randolph

Kiersten Randolph

Mary Randolph

Shaunna Randolph

Elizabeth Rhodes

Jen Roberts

Bonita Robertson-Hardy

Ava Rogers

Julie L. Rogers

Lee Roper-Batker

Robyn Rosenthal

Christy Ross

Chantel M. Rush Tebbe

Timolynn Sams

Chad Sanders

Aaron Santos

Jeff Schiffman

Patrice Sentino

Michele Seymour

Reagan Sidney

Lori Spicer-Robertson

Briana Spruille

Erica Spruille

Cheryll Stephens

Audrey Stewart

Rachel Swan

Esperanza K. Tervalon

Jasmine Thomas

Lisa Thompson

Rhoda Timpton

Vera Triplett

Iam Tucker

Linda Usdin

M. von Nkosi

Christy Wallace Slater

Jeanne Wardford

Tamika Webb-Detiege

Sherece West

Scantlebury

Gayle Williams

Kimberly D. Williams

Rhea C Williams-Bishop

Michael Williamson

Jasmine Williams-Washington

Amalgamated Foundation

Amazon Smile Anonymous

Be NOLA - Black

Education for New Orleans

Black Belt Community Foundation

Casey Family Programs Converge

Fidelity Charitable Foundation for Louisiana

Hancock Whitney Bank

JP Morgan Matching Gift Program

Kresge Foundation

Ariel Wilson-Harris

Donna-Marie Winn

Michelyn Woodard

Stephanie Woodward

Kimberly Wright-Violich

INDIVIDUALS INSTITUTIONS

Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

Merle Chambers Fund

Microsoft Matching Gift Program

Microsoft Rewards / Give with Bing

Morgan Stanley Gift Fund

Ms. Foundation for Women

Pivotal Ventures

Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Satterberg Foundation

Seeding Justice

Tamara Wyre

Stupski Foundation

Tito's Handmade Vodka

UK Online Giving Foundation

United Way of Southeast Louisiana

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Matching Gift Program

HOW WFS IS CLOSING THE WEALTH GAP 2022

By making a monthly gift of any size, Waymakers provide critically important sustaining support to WFS. Thanks to all our Waymakers!

Katharine Arnold

Carmen James Randolph

Alisha Johnson Perry

Halima Leak Francis

Sandra G Lilly

Erin McQuade-Wright

Bonita A Robertson-Hardy

Gayle Williams

Kimberly D. Williams

OUR 2022

$477,623

$168,000

Unrestricted Net Assets Grant Distributions

$2,174,406

$1,485,261

Total Revenue Assets

$105,386

$291,637

Liabilities Change in Net Assets

OUR

STRATEGIC

STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS & VISIBILITY

Our approach in all we do is formed by our conviction that an investment in women and girls of color in the South is the surest way to change their lives and the future direction of our country. This work has also been critically needed, which is why we launched in the first place. The devastating and sobering developments in 2022 have underscored the urgency of this work: the time to invest in the outcomes we want is now.

MEDIA IMPACT

WFS received strong media attention in 2022, both due to organic interest and local traction as well as a steady succession of newsworthy press releases with additional coverage focused on Crescendeaux (post-event).

NARRATIVE

“Too often, women of color are not a part of public discourse. Our challenges are not seen as priorities."

How Fashion Designers And Women Of Color-Led Groups Are Working To Change the Narrative | Entertainment/Life | Nola.com

Carmen James Randolph

SOCIAL MEDIA IMPACT

Our social media hashtags continue to successfully generate communication circles and real-time engagement. With this work, we are developing cultural and social currency, ensuring that our hashtags are included in the vernacular of the times, and building visibility, awareness, and engagement via social media.

In 2022, Women’s Foundation of the South launched its debut on Clubhouse. The first gathering was a lively and immersive conversation about what our mothers told us – also known as Mother Wit. Clubhouse is a social media platform that uses voice and discussions -no imagery -- to communicate. Participants gather in ‘rooms’ to have discussions. WFS hosted forum discussions once a month for five months, meeting at 8pm ET, 5pm PT. Media personality and event producer Jodine Dorcé graciously volunteered to serve as host of these discussions. Ms. Dorcé is well-known for her groundbreaking work with artists, and her participation reinforces WFS’ grounding in the arts.

The story continues to unfold.

The Women's Foundation of the South exists for sustainable change.

The American South will not remain the same.

#ShiftTheSouth

We invite you to join us in positively impacting the health, wealth, and power of women and girls of color in the South. Here are some ways you can join us:

Follow us on Social Media

Make a monthly or one-time gift of support here

Sponsor our November 4th, 2023 fashion event, Crescendeaux: A Carnival of Culture

Talk with us about leaving a legacy in support of our mission. Email erin@womensfoundationsouth.org to learn more.

REFERENCES

About | Crescent City Family Services | New Orleans. (n.d.). Ccfs.

https://www.ccfamilyservices.info/about

Aftershock | Documentary film. (n.d.).

Aftershock. https://www.aftershockdocumentary.com/ Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equity (AEE) – Third way. (n.d.). https://www.aeequity.org/

Birthmark Doulas. (n.d.). Birthmark Doulas. https://www.birthmarkdoulas.com/

El pueblo NOLA - NOLA Village. (2021, October 12). El Pueblo NOLA - NOLA Village.

https://www.elpueblonola.org/

Hess, J. H. (2022, November 17). How fashion designers and women of color-led groups are working to change the narrative. Nola.com.

https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/how-fashion-designers-and-women-of-color-led-group s-are-working-to-change-the-narrative/article_340bb1ae-66a6-11ed-9f54-f3004e10059d.html

Home. (n.d.). Labor and Love. https://www.laborandlove.org/

Learn with Us: Speaking Truth to Power. (n.d.). [Video].

https://player.vimeo.com/video/764721950?h=f04c17a0cf

Learn with Us: The Power of Community Engagement. (n.d.). [Video].

https://player.vimeo.com/video/762358038?h=8f15050d8b

Our Voice Nuestra Voz. (n.d.). OVNV - Our Voice Nuestra Voz | Educate. Organize. Change. https://ovnv.org/

Polling Spotlight: Understanding the Experiences of LGBTQ+ Birthing People | Center For Health Justice. (n.d.). Center for Health Justice.

https://www.aamchealthjustice.org/news/polling/lgbtq-birth

Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. (2023, June 27). Home - Power Coalition for Equity and Justice. https://powercoalition.org/

Roundup of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Advancing In States Across the Country. (2023, May 23). Human Rights Campaign.

https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/roundup-of-anti-lgbtq-legislation-advancing-in-states-across-t he-country

Saul’s Light Foundation. (2021, September 29). About us. Saul’s Light.

https://www.saulslight.org/about

Talk show live event host and producer Jodine Dorce. (n.d.). Jodine Dorcé.

https://www.jodinedorce.com/

The United Houma Nation. (2023, July 17). Home - The United Houma Nation.

https://unitedhoumanation.org/

Women with a Vision. (2023, January 4). Home - Women with a Vision. Women With a Vision.

https://wwav-no.org/

Women's Foundation of the South. (2023a, February 6). Clubhouse | Women's Foundation of the South. Women’s Foundation of the South.

https://womensfoundationsouth.org/events/clubhouse/

Women's Foundation of the South. (2023b, March 29). Learn with Us Screenings | Women's Foundation of the South. Women’s Foundation of the South.

https://womensfoundationsouth.org/events/learn-with-us-screenings/

Thank you!