The Women’s Fund is set to launch a series of podcast interviews with some of our donors, grantees, supporters, and volunteers called Hear Our Voices on WFWM Radio. Our summer intern, Olivia McCulloch, has been traveling the highways and back roads of Western Massachusetts to bring you interesting stories about why the Women’s Fund is important and how people got involved.
Olivia interviewed over 20 people for the series, and each episode is between 10 and 20 minutes long. A new episode will be released every Friday on our website. We had a few questions of our own for Olivia about her experience creating the series:
Olivia McCulloch
WFWM: What was your favorite part of creating the podcasts?
Olivia: “My favorite part about creating this series of podcasts has been meeting and interviewing so many incredible and inspiring people—mostly women—in western Massachusetts. I have seen the Women’s Fund’s dollars in action, I have heard the stories of donors, supporters, volunteers, and grantees, and I now have the incredible opportunity to share these amazing stories.
WFWM: What surprised you?
Olivia: “I was struck by the number of women who have worked with the Women’s Fund over the years and have gone on to attain leadership roles in other organizations committed to political and social justice. The Women’s Fund has been extremely successful in creating a community that is dedicated to empowering women and girls in all walks of life.”
WFWM: Do you have a favorite podcast episode?
Olivia: “It’s hard to pick a favorite episode because they were all so interesting to me. However, I really enjoyed interviewing Willow, one of the youth at Community Action, to see how the Women’s Fund grant directly affected her life. She talked about how she was shy and reserved but after participating in the Youth Leadership Initiative at Community Action, she finally saw herself as a leader and began to step up and voice her opinion on the issues in her community. I also enjoyed my interview with Mary Hale. Her decades of dedication to women’s issues is incredibly inspiring. Her controversial idea to give a Women’s Fund grant to the Men’s Resource Center showed me that there are broader ways to affect change than we may think.”
WFWM: Where are you headed next?
Olivia: “I’m headed back to school for my second year at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, but I am sure that I will use what I’ve learned from my experience at the Women’s Fund in so many ways. I’ve learned about the fundamentals of grant writing, the best ways to communicate with coworkers, and even just what it’s like to have a job in an office. I’ve also learned that I love working with all women. I don’t know where I’ll end up or what I’ll end up doing, but my experience at the Women’s Fund has begun to shape my future and I’m excited to see what door opens next.”
WFWM: Is there anything else you’d like to say about the podcasts or your time at the Women’s Fund?
Olivia: “I was raised solely by women and so every single one of my role models growing up was, and still is, a woman. I’ve seen the inequities that women face in all aspects of their lives and after hearing about the Women’s Fund, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be. Along the way, I have met so many incredible people and the staff at the Women’s Fund have inspired me in many different ways. Every day I would come into the office excited about what I was going to do because even when I was spending hours on GarageBand editing a podcast, I knew that I was sharing the stories that mattered. The work that is done here at the Women’s Fund isn’t easy, but it’s necessary and I can’t thank the Women’s Fund enough for giving me this amazing opportunity to learn and to grow.”
Listen to the Hear Our Voices introduction now!
