A Special Connection to our Featured Grantee
27
Feb, 2017

A Special Connection to our Featured Grantee

When DFW member Eileen Rogers celebrated a big birthday, she used it to impact the world.

In 2009, Eileen, along with friend and fellow activist Debbie Hill, launched “The Big Wish”, their fundraising initiative to build and outfit a school in Mali. The pair wanted to turn their “big birthdays” into something significant beyond themselves. They had the support of friends and colleagues who spread the word about the goal. The project was a resounding success, raising nearly $80,000, almost twice the original estimate. Details

22
Apr, 2016

Afghan Women Are Impacting Communities and Culture

By Lynn O’Connell, DFW Member

We Are Afghan Women: Voices of Hope is the title of the book released just last month from the George W. Bush Institute. I had an opportunity to attend an event announcing the book’s publication in Washington, DC, hosted by the United States Institute of Peace which featured a discussion by Laura Bush, former U.S. First Lady, and Mina Sherzoy, a Council member of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council. Details

27
Jan, 2016

Find Me Fascinated

The first time I talked with Jessica Posner, co-founder of Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO), was June 2011.   Shining Hope for Communities was Dining for Women’s featured grantee, and I had asked her to Skype with my chapter. It was about 2:00 a.m. in Kenya! We were riveted as she described the school and the vision that she and Kennedy, her life partner and SHOFCO co-founder, have for their organization. We were hooked by the vision but also by the story of Jessica and Kennedy, drawn together in life and in work. Jessica is from Denver, Colorado. Kennedy was born and raised in the slums of Kibera, in Nairobi, Kenya. Together they’ve established a thriving nonprofit that is changing the lives of precious girl students and also their community in Kibera. Details

27
Jan, 2016

Three Reserve Grants Awarded

Thanks to the generous support of our members and donors in 2015, DFW has awarded three reserve grants. These grants are awarded when excess funds are accumulated in our grant reserve fund. Reserve grantees are named alternates in previous grant cycles which means they were thoroughly vetted and met all of our rigorous criteria. These organizations were also required to submit updated information and budgets for evaluation prior to being awarded a reserve grant. The three reserve grantees for 2015 are:

Visions Global Empowerment (Ethiopia) — $46,728

Mercado Global (Guatemala) — $28,061.99

EDUCATE! (Uganda) — $15,000

Details

28
Dec, 2015

Our Sustained Funding Grantee: Anchal Project | Designing Change, Stitch by Stitch

The mission of Anchal – our sustained funding grantee for January — is to address the exploitation of women around the world by using design thinking to create employment opportunities, services and products that support empowerment. This mission statement truly comes to life when you hear the stories of Nita and Nasine:

Nita is a senior artisan and project assistant with Anchal Project. She was married at a young age and left her husband after years of abuse. Because of her limited education and lack of transferable skills, Nita joined the commercial sex trade. Nita has now been with Anchal Project for four years where she has excelled in design training and created beautiful, marketable pieces. She has taken advantage of Anchal’s workshops in financial planning and saved enough money to move out of the slum and purchase a home in a new neighborhood where she is no longer stigmatized for her previous life as a sex worker. Details

29
Oct, 2015

Syrian Refugee Crisis: A Firsthand Perspective

It is devastating to see and read about the Syrian refugee families, and I find myself searching constantly for more information, more perspective. Dining for Women’s featured program in January was the Collateral Repair Project (CRP), which helps refugees living in Jordan. Our $37,000 grant is being used to provide psychosocial and wellness programs as well as leadership training for refugee women, many of whom have escaped from the conflict in Syria. I wanted to loop back with CRP to dig a little deeper into the perspective of the refugees and the future. Details

1
Jul, 2015

A conversation with Muditar

We spoke with Tricia Karpfen and Amy Hartenstine from the Muditar Foundation about how Dining For Women’s sponsorship will help provide maternal and infant care for the women in the Pa-O tribal villages in Southern Shan State, Myanmar. Muditar has worked hard to create a Maternal and Infant Health program that empowers women to make healthy reproductive choices reducing maternal and infant mortality and raise healthy children.
Details

5
Jun, 2015

A conversation with Indego Africa

We spoke with Karen Yelick, CEO of Indego Africa, about the program’s history and plans for expansion. Indego Africa partners with cooperatives of female artisans to support them through economic empowerment and education. Listen with us as Karen shares success stories and displays the artisan’s beautifully handcrafted products.

Details

15
May, 2015

Smiles on Wings’ Scholarship Students

In December 2013, through the Smiles on Wings program, we invested in the futures of five young women. They are daughters of the Karen tribe in Thailand. The Karen people are outcasts in Thailand and often have little or no access to health care or education. These five girls are studying either nursing or childhood education and will return to work in their villages and improve the lives and health of their community. Here’s a look at the students we are supporting.  Details

15
Apr, 2015

Featured program selections announced

We’ve selected the featured programs to round out the 2nd half of 2015. They focus predominantly on maternal and child health but there are also programs on environmental sustainability and girls’ education. Check out this interactive graphic.  Details

7
Mar, 2015

What are our programs Tweeting?

Social media makes it easy to stay in touch with our programs — with stories, activities and ideas. Follow along — and join the conversation —  by bookmarking this page with the live Twitter feed from programs DFW has supported.  Details

10
Oct, 2014

International Day of the Girl 2014

Educating girls may be the key to changing the world, but it’s not as simple as providing books, pencils and school uniforms. Girls’ education involves safety and security, health and wellness, reproductive education, and even educating parents to value and support their daughter’s education. To celebrate the 2014 Day of the Girl (Oct. 11), Dining for Women sat down with three of our programs to talk about their holistic approaches — what they do, how it’s working and what cultural shifts they are seeing in their parts of the world.  Details

9
Sep, 2014

Afghanistan presents many challenges, and equal opportunities

Many Dining for Women members and constituents raised questions about what would happen to the women supported by the Bond Street Theatre program when they are released from prison or once the US leaves Afghanistan. We posed these questions to Bond St.’s artistic director and founder, Joanna Sherman. Her answers are thoughtful and thought-provoking.  Details

9
Aug, 2014

Moving beyond kamlari in Nepal

The Nepal Youth Foundation was our featured program in January 2012. Dining for Women funded the Indentured Daughters Program, which, with the official abolition of kamlari, has become the Empowering Freed Kamlaris program. We recently saw an inspiring television report on their success and asked for an inside look. This update on the organization’s efforts and the photos and success stories show the tremendous impact we can all have. Details


Questions about our programs? Here’s how to get answers

By Jamye Cooper
DFW Executive Director

Our education team works hard each month to provide key information to enrich our members’ understanding of our featured program. But occasionally members or leaders have questions that aren’t addressed in our materials.

When that occurs, people may be contacting the program director or staff directly. Some of our funded programs report that they may be answering the same question from more than one DFW member or chapter. These can be time consuming calls for the program. But beyond that, if one program has a question, there’s a good chance others might as well.

Details