Client Agility Spotlight: How the Women's Foundation of Colorado Transformed its Grant Program to Support its Community During COVID-19

In this blog, we spotlight the agility of one of our clients, the Women’s Foundation of Colorado (WFCO), in its response to the unforeseen challenges COVID-19 has presented to its grant recipients and community. By taking a systemic and intersectional approach that looks at race, gender, and class, WFCO centers equity in its strategic grant-making and serves as a model for how philanthropy can advance equity.

How has COVID-19 highlighted the inequity women face and the importance of the Women’s Foundation’s mission?

Some experts are referring to the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis as a "she-cession" because job losses have disproportionately impacted women. The most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate for women at 16.2 percent, compared to 13.5 percent for men. The unemployment rate is higher for women of color than white women, because women of color are overrepresented in jobs that pay low wages, in front line positions rather than managerial posts, and in service sectors hit hard by public health closures. In May, the unemployment rates soared to 20 percent for Latina women and rose to 16 percent for black women, compared to 15 percent for white women.

Historically, women, especially women of color, have faced more obstacles on the path to economic security because sexism and racism are present in our systems. These barriers, which have been in place for generations, result in staggering pay and wealth gaps that mean those most deeply impacted by COVID-19 have access to the most limited resources to navigate this crisis. And, at the same time these communities are facing a global pandemic and economic recession, our country is reckoning with what some say is the ultimate pandemic - racism. The intersection of racism and sexism has created extreme inequality in our state and throughout the nation.

The work of WFCO and our partners to advance equity at the intersections of gender, race, and class has never been more important. We are encouraging leaders in every sector to center women in equitable rebuilding efforts for a sustained economic recovery.

Can you please describe the Women and Families of CO Relief Fund and other efforts WFCO is doing to address COVID-19? How is it helping women and their families?

 In March, The Women’s Foundation of Colorado took several steps to help our community respond to women’s and families’ urgent needs. These included:

• Offering immediate flexibility for our WAGES (Women Achieving Greater Economic Security) grantees to use their remaining grant funds in any way needed to respond to COVID-19 impacts

• Making a $10,000 contribution to the Governor’s Colorado COVID-19 Relief Fund

• Serving as an initiating leader on the community voices committee to center equity in grant-making from the state fund 

Women and Families of Colorado (WFCO) Relief Fund

In April, we established the Women and Families of Colorado (WFCO) Relief Fund with a generous grant from The Colorado Health Foundation and contributions from additional individual, nonprofit, and corporate donors. To date, through the WFCO Relief Fund, we provided additional $5,000 general operating grants to each of our WAGES cohort direct-service grantees, helped child care providers purchase essential supplies to continue operating, invested in women-led small businesses and social ventures, and awarded $335,000 in additional rapid relief grants to 42 nonprofits serving women and families in communities across the state, for a total of $452,500 in grants to 66 organizations.*

As WFCO receives additional grants to expand our relief fund, we anticipate making another round of grants this summer. Women’s and families’ needs in the face of this crisis vastly exceed our resources, so we are reaching out to other Colorado foundations to ensure that an intersectional gender lens is also centered in their relief funding. In partnership with WFCO, Community First Foundation prioritized organizations serving women and families in Jefferson County in their second round of relief funding and provided larger grants to four organizations we would have funded if more resources were available for granting from the WFCO Relief Fund.

How are WAGES grantees being affected by COVID-19? What new needs do grantee organizations' clients have?

Due to racism and sexism in historic systems of oppression, the communities served by WAGES grantees were already facing significant economic hurdles before the pandemic. The impacts of COVID-19 have been disproportionately devastating for women, particularly women of color. Women have experienced more job losses than men because women comprise the majority of the workforce in the sectors hit hardest by the stay-at-home orders - including hospitality, child care, and retail. Those who have lost jobs or wages are struggling to meet basic needs, including food and housing.

Women are also the majority of frontline essential workers, so those working throughout the pandemic are doing so at great risk of contracting the coronavirus. And with school and child care closures, essential workers have struggled to secure safe care for their children. Now that some parts of the economy are opening more and access to care for children and older adults, for whom women have traditionally born more caregiving responsibilities, many women are facing difficult choices between caring for loved ones or returning to work to support them financially.

Our WAGES grantee partners have responded quickly and creatively to help the communities they serve. Many organizations are offering direct cash and food assistance, making rent payments, and paying utility bills to help meet basic needs. They are also helping women and families navigate community resources. With staff dedicated to maintaining excellent programming, many of our partners shifted quickly to offering services remotely, via phone calls, video conferencing, and text messaging. While continuing to respond to the most urgent needs, our partners are also trying to help program participants find employment and internship opportunities that offer safe working conditions and livable wages. 

What changes do you think we’ll see related to women, work, and equity after COVID-19?

We hope the light the COVID-19 crisis shined on inequities in our systems will lead to lasting changes that more fully support women in balancing their responsibilities as breadwinners and caregivers. We hope to see more inclusive workplaces with benefits that make work really work for women and keep our communities safe and healthy, such as paid sick time, paid family and medical leave, scheduling flexibility, and lasting expansions of telecommuting.

The pandemic exposed both the disproportionate caregiving load women are expected to carry and the fragility of our under-resourced and inadequate child care systems. We hope to see more public and private investment in child care and innovation to rebuild and expand our early care and education sector to meet communities' needs. After all, everyone depends on someone who depends on child care.

How do you think COVID-19 will affect your future grant-making, fundraising, and/or other aspects of how the Women's Foundation operates? What are the opportunities?

COVID-19 and our nation's grappling with systemic racism have only deepened our commitment to advancing gender and racial equity. We are committing to intentional and increased investments in women of color. In order to do this, we all need to be willing to address the systems that inherently established the state of our state and nation. WFCO is building more inclusive communities of philanthropy for a women-centered journey to an equitable future that realizes our vision of a Colorado in which women and girls of every background and identity thrive and prosper.

*More than 60 volunteers who represent the diversity of our state with respect to geography, professional expertise, and many intersections of social identity, including race and ethnicity, abilities, age, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation, reviewed and scored nearly 300 rapid relief grant applications.