2005 Funded Projects

Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers program

Community Day

Crossroads Foundation

Jewish Community Center

A Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy at Chatham College

Pittsburgh Mediation Center

The Weiner Na’amat Pittsburgh Center
for Women’s Health, Karmiel, Israel

Allegheny County Girls as Grantmakers program

Through a collaboration with the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania and the FISA Foundation, a diverse group of girls (8th to 10th graders) were selected to learn about philanthropy, set grantmaking priorities, develop and market their own Request for Proposals, run workshops for potential grantees, present and vote on proposals and manage grants they give to other girls in the community.

Community Day

The JWF provided a follow-on grant to capitalize on the success of the Rachel Simmon’s presentation and bullying program, funded in 2004. The project again collaborated with Hillel and Yeshiva Day schools and Temple Emanuel. The grant funded a year- long program, which helped teachers, parents and girls develop strategies and skills to build positive social relationships and strengthen individuals with leadership and communication skills, the next steps in understanding and addressing social aggression among girls. A leadership curriculum, called “Empowering Girls” was developed to do this.

Crossroads Foundation

The JWF provided second year funding for a program for high risk, African-American girls to participate in the Bridge to College program, a rigorous SAT preparation course.

Jewish Community Center

JWF funded the “Beyond Miriam” program, which works to enhance self-esteem and educate young women on the importance of physical fitness and nutrition. The original curriculum was developed by the Foundation for Jewish Camping was funded by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of NY. The program included 36 diverse, young girls from the Pittsburgh area and topics included nutrition, empowerment, peer pressure, leadership, tobacco prevention and confidence.

PA Center for Women, Politics, and Public Policy at Chatham College

This project was a new initiative that builds on the established strengths of the Center and the success of the “NEW Leadership Pennsylvania” program for college undergraduate women. The program identified and then educated and empowered young women to become actively involved in civic organizations and potentially to pursue careers in public service. This grant expanded the program to include high school girls.

Pittsburgh Mediation Center

The “Girl Talk Counts” project addressed the need for enhanced communication skills development among adolescent girls so that they can assertively get their needs met, even in situations of high conflict, without hurting or harming others. In collaboration with Gwen’s Girls, the program developed conflict resolution and mediation skills of Gwen’s Girls staff and youth and built capacity within Gwen’s Girls to model and reinforce the skills and continue the training process once the grant is concluded.

The Weiner Na’amat Pittsburgh Center for Women’s Health, Karmiel, Israel

The “Towards a Healthy Future” project’s goal was to provide information and tools that facilitated healthy teenage lifestyle choices. It targeted young women ages 14 to 20 with special emphasis upon street youth, Bedouin girls and new immigrants from the FSU and Ethiopia. Main issues addressed included sex education, peer pressure, body image, and the education of parents and educators to recognize when problems occur.

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