You know that show that catches you on television; the one that you didn’t know you cared about but was so compelling, you couldn’t stop watching?  Or the video that becomes viral because it touches something in each of us we didn’t know was there?  Or the group of women you don’t see often enough but when you do, it feeds you for months afterwards? 

That feeling, that profound connection with our humanity, is why you want to see Abby Disney.  We see the violence on television, war torn countries with bloody streets and white sheet-covered bodies.  For us the story may be a two minute news spot.  For those living in war torn countries, it is their life. 

We often hear of military casualties, we might even hear the language “collateral damage”.  Abby Disney puts a face and a story to the women who are disproportionately impacted by war and subsequently left out of the peace-building process.  You will feel the intensity of the situation and you will also hear the stories of hope, reconciliation and deep, lasting peace.

Women, War and Peace is a series that you will want to record and watch with your family (not for young children!)  Share the experience of listening and learning from Abby Disney on October 24^th.  Bring your partner, your girlfriends and your humanity to spend some time with a woman who brings the often silenced voices of women to public television.

You won’t want to miss the opportunity to meet Abby Disney in person on:

October 24^th, 2011

5:30-7:30 p.m.

Arena Grand Theater

Click here for tickets.

Program provided with support from The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio and WOSU Public Media.

You’ve read about our grant partners, but now we want to share with you these powerful videos of grant programs in action. Follow the link below to hear testimonies from participants in programs from Doma International, CATCO-Pheonix and Rwanda Women in Action.

Doma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLs2bR0Raa0

CATCO-Pheonix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSTofN6l0dE

Rwanda Women in Action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ttknpOq4tw

“Teach a woman to fish, she’ll feed the whole village.”

-Hillary Rodham Clinton

 Put a woman in power, she’ll feed the whole world.

That is what Josette Sheeran is striving to do. In her role as Executive Director of the World Food Programme (the food aid branch of the United Nations), Sheeran oversees more than 80 of the world’s poorest countries, providing food to 90 million people last year alone. She is one of the individuals featured in the 10 Most Powerful Women at the United Nations, a list leading up to Forbes’ The 100 Most Powerful Women 2011 due to be released in August.

Also included on that list are Valerie Amos, Judy Cheng-Hopkins, and Helen Clark, equally high-ranking and prominent officials, essential to the operations of the UN. There is Angela Kane, the Under-Secretary-General for Management, who supports tasks of the UN Secretariat, and Susana Malcorra, who directs field operations in her role as the Under-Secretary-General and Head of the Department of Field Support. Michelle Bachelet and Radhika Coomaraswamy work to protect the rights of those too oft-forgotten and mistreated: women and children. Together, Patricia O’Brien and Navanehtem Pillay direct the legal concerns of the UN in their positions as Under-Secretary General for Legal Affairs and the UN Legal Counsel and The High Commissioner for Human Rights respectively. All ten of the women are members of the UN Senior Management Group.

And all ten of the women use their positions in power to feed, rescue, care for, and protect those in the world. Just imagine what ten million in power could do.  

Click on this link to read the article, The 10 Most Powerful Women at the United Nations, written by Avril David: http://blogs.forbes.com/avrildavid/2011/05/02/the-10-most-powerful-women-at-the-united-nations/

Written by: Eleanor Rooke

We send you our many thanks for the inspiration, celebration, and success experienced at Keyholder with Goldie Hawn!

Your generosity raised $400,000 to further positive social change for women and girls in central Ohio.  How awesome?! 

And to everyone who made a tribute – wow!  We love hearing your stories.  If you missed it or want to see that fabulous video one more time, you can do so by clicking the image at the top of this page.

If you weren’t able to make a donation at the show, there is still time to double your money and have your contribution matched dollar for dollar.  Just click here. 

Until we see you next, stay connected with The Fund on Facebook and Twitter for other news and upcoming events.

Simply put, women are dynamic by nature. Flip through your contact list. I’ll bet you know women who are doctors, teachers, mothers, lawyers, business owners, philanthropists, friends, writers, CEOs, and everything in between. Each of these women probably wears more than one hat, too.

When we started planning Keyholder this year, we wanted to bring someone we could all relate to; someone who has fully embraced the ability of women to be successful at whatever it is that drives them. So, who is this woman?

She is Goldie Hawn. Although most of us know her for her bright career in acting, singing and writing, she is much more than that. She is a visionary, a philanthropist. She sends a message of mindfulness; mindfulness of who you are and what you can do for those around you. Her foundation focuses on children, realizing they are the future and they have limitless potential. All in all, she gets what it means to be a dynamic woman.

Her Hollywood roles cover everything from the quirky girl on Good Morning, World to a woman coming into her own in Private Benjamin, to her Academy Award performance in Cactus Flower. Her book A Lotus Grows in the Mud is not so much a tell-all of the Hollywood life, but rather an introspective journey to wisdom and self-fulfillment. She is a business woman, a mother, and an inspiration.

So, are you ready to Strike Gold?

Written by: Hallie Kloots

A local woman elected official and friend of mine sent me the link to this video yesterday.  Please take the time to watch it.  I hope it reminds you why you give to the Women’s Fund and inspires you to continue to change the world by funding social change for women and girls.  Rock on!

– Liz Shirey

Click here to view the history of women and philanthropy.

Over the past four decades and counting, Maya Angelou’s name tops the list of inspirational role models to women and girls. Her message transcends generations, encouraging her audience to “…go out and grab life by the lapels.”

Although Angelou works to convey her strength and persistence, the generation gap remains a surmountable barrier for young women looking to bridge stereotypes on their respective paths to success. Women, though comprising more than half of eligible voters, only hold six of the nation’s 50 governing positions. Even worse, only 17 of 100 senators are women.

Despite raising percentages of women earning bachelor, graduate, and professional degrees, men still have a stronghold in the career world. Women’s mean income is also on the rise, but nowhere near the average men earn yearly.

As a current college student, these humbling facts serve not as a deterrent to my career goals, rather as motivation. Sure, my generation has now witnessed a presidential campaign for the history books- entering our adulthood with the first African-American president, beating out a ballot with a woman vice presidential candidate and a female partisan competitor, but that is not enough. If women make up half of the population, why don’t women make up half of everything else? Why aren’t we half of the governing system, medical field, business owners, and so forth?

I am a firm believer in the notion that I control my own destiny. I refuse to let anyone- male or female- tell me I can’t do something. It is my hope that more young women, now and those to come, view the world from my side. What do we have to lose?

After all, Angelou hit the nail on the head, stating, “History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again.”

To read more about Maya Angelou, her work and point of view, follow this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/06/02/sanchez.angelou.women/index.html?hpt=C2

Written by: Hallie Kloots