The Young Women’s Initiative (YWI) was launched by the Women’s Fund in 2017 with the first cohort in Springfield graduating in 2018. YWI, a leadership, social justice, and economic empowerment program for young women and gender-diverse young people ages 16 to 24 has now expanded to Franklin County with our community partner, MSCM.
MCSM will be offering the program in Greenfield and our Hampden County community partner, Arise for Social Justice, will continue to offer the program to the greater Springfield area. Outreach for 2024 participants has begun to high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations. Over the course of 6-months, a curriculum with topics such as: defining leadership; understanding power, privilege, and oppression; intersectional social identities; internalized bias and oppression; career pathways; public speaking; government and civic engagement; and goal setting will be offered.
Young women and gender-diverse people participating in YWI will also have the opportunity to research social issues that impact them and their communities and award grant funding to nonprofits that are addressing these issues in their communities.
The programs in Greenfield and Springfield will begin in January. If you would like to nominate a young woman or young gender-diverse person to the program contact Amihan Matias, Senior Director of Community Partnerships at the Women’s Fund at amatias@mywomensfund.org for more information.
