Recent Grants

Doyenne Group's Showcase event promotes women-led startups.

A Fund for Women continues to support the Doyenne Group Evergreen Fund, an innovative entrepreneurial resource designed to financially support the launch, growth, and sustainability of businesses owned by women and people of color. A Fund for Women’s $10,000 grant is pooled with resources from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation and the city of Madison to provide a mixture of grants, loans, equity investments, and program support for Madison area startups.

Latino Leadership Academy serves low-income or unemployed Latino adults. Its Latino Academy of Workforce Development (LAWD) is the only organization in Dane County to offer a GED course in Spanish and a Madison College transition program in Spanish. This is one of many ways that LAWD helps students advance their credentials by removing potential barriers.

A student in the Latino Leadership Academy talks about her career pathway.

The $15,000 grant will assist the more than 60% of LAWD students who are women enrolled in its job training programs. These lead directly to stable, well-paying entry-level jobs in the construction and transportation fields. Our grant will not only help Latinas secure gainful employment, but will also benefit their families. On a bigger scale, this project will impact Dane County by reducing the reliance on social services, giving Latinas the skills to contribute to the job force, and reducing the achievement gap for Latino children.

Women in YWeb Career Academy (YWebCA) builds on the successful YWCA Madison education and job placement program for women and people of color, who are underrepresented in technology. Participants receive instruction in website development, job readiness, team building, and computer programming. Upon completion, graduates have opportunities to attend conferences, network with local tech professionals, and participate in job-shadowing and paid internships with local tech partners. YWebCA narrows the diversity gap in the tech industry by helping to provide qualified candidates to area employers.

Photo of YWeb Academy student by Rasheid Atlas

The $30,000 grant will help fund two student cohorts enrolled in the YWebCA, expected to comprise 40 to 50 students, half of whom will be women. The ultimate goal of this program is to increase access to tech jobs for women and people of color. YWebCA graduates have long-term earning potential and career growth opportunities as a result of this program.

Asha Greene is a student in Odyssey's Special Ed Paraprofessional Course

Onward Odyssey expands the impact of the Odyssey Project, a life-changing initiative to empower adults near the poverty level to overcome adversity and pursue higher education. Onward Odyssey’s program of college-level courses and counseling offers a supportive learning community for the over 400 alumni of the Odyssey Project. It leverages the strong relationships that Odyssey Project alumni have with each other and with faculty and staff. Odyssey helps to light a spark within students; Onward Odyssey feeds this flame.

The $19,500 grant will help fund a fourth year of Writing Composition to the Onward Oddyssey program, plus Special Education Paraprofessional courses and the second pilot year of the Food Systems and Food Justice course. It will help Onward Odyssey deliver wrap-around support including meals, childcare, transportation, textbooks, technology support, and assistance with emergency needs. It will support development of personalized academic and career roadmaps, and more proactive outreach to Odyssey alumni pursuing higher education.