KEY ISSUE
AREAS
The Atlanta Women's Foundation endeavors to consider the full spectrum of difficulties women and girls face. However, there are three key issue areas that ground our current grant initiatives and philanthropic campaigns.
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
Women and girls impacted by poverty are twice as likely to suffer from mental illness - yet mental health is one of the most overlooked areas in helping women and girls improve their economic situation. Several studies show American youth are in crisis, facing unprecedented mental health challenges that are burdening teen girls in particular. Without access to necessary services, economic self-sufficiency becomes increasingly difficult.
EDUCATION
Education is a foundational issue and can make a world of difference in girls' lives; even women attaining an educational credential later in life can yield significant benefits. Formal education, such as a high school, a college degree, or a professional certificate, is an important resource in the job market while financial education and asset building are needed to ensure economic growth. Access to quality educational programming that also addresses multiple issues in a girl's or woman's life can show them a path toward success and make real, lasting change.
LIFE SKILLS
Education and wellness are key to achieving a vibrant life. Life skills can help keep it that way and increase economic empowerment for women and girls. Self-esteem, self-worth, problem-solving, communication, or any socio-emotional cognitive skill creates resilience and allows women and girls to take charge of their own lives.
Focusing on these three areas enables us to support and fund nonprofit grantees who offer wraparound services that improve the lives of women and girls by combatting poverty and gender inequality. This includes things like coaching, mentoring, crisis care, childcare assistance, and transportation.
AWF Research Reports
The Atlanta Women's Foundation regularly conducts research initiatives to deepen our understanding of our key issue areas. We make the findings publicly available to underscore the need and credibility of our ongoing grant initiatives, as well as raise overall awareness in metro Atlanta about the plight individuals in our communities are facing. We use the insights from our research to direct funding strategies and to help our nonprofit partners and the community work more effectively.
You can view full versions of our recent reports below.
State of Girls in Metro Atlanta
This State of Girls in Metro Atlanta report outlines the various demographic, economic, educational, and health data for metro Atlanta's girls with a specific focus on how the pandemic has affected the status of girls across a five-county footprint. All Girls Forward: Girls Empowerment Program is a response to this report.
This report was prepared by Alex Camardelle, AWF Consultant, and Jennifer Owens, President and CEO at HealthMPowers, Inc.
Women-Powered Prosperity in Metro Atlanta: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett Counties
This Women Powered Prosperity in metro Atlanta report outlines the economic status of women, the pervasiveness of gender bias and gender inequality in state and local public policies, and evidence-based solutions decision-makers can implement to eliminate structural roadblocks to economic opportunity for women.
This research initiative is a collaborative effort with the Atlanta Women's Foundation and the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. The report was prepared by Alex Camardelle, Senior Policy Analyst at GBPI.
Childcare Assistance: Georgia's Opportunity to Bolster Working Families & the Economy
In 2015, the Atlanta Women's Foundation partnered with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute to develop a report that makes the economic case that Georgia should increase the amount of childcare subsidies to help women work and explains the long-term economic benefit to the state of Georgia.
Nearly four in ten of Georgia's working families with children are low-income families. A preponderance of research shows childcare assistance can help these families contribute more to the workforce and to their own finances. Additional investment in childcare assistance helps Georgia's low-income working parents become better workers and higher wage earners. It also helps unemployed parents join the ranks of the employed.
Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Metro Atlanta
The Atlanta Women's Foundation undertook a proprietary research project to learn more about how women and girls experience poverty in our five-county service area. The results of this research have deepened AWF's understanding of the issues impacting women and girls in our community, which we used to direct our activities and to help our nonprofit partners and the community work more effectively.