World YWCA General Secretary speaks at Women's Funding Network Conference

The main focus of the panel was on the following reflection: "The potential of women to create positive change in their communities is gaining widespread recognition, but investments are not to scale. For more than 30 year’s women’s funds have been at the forefront of launching programmes that cultivate women leaders at the grassroots level. Take away replicable models for investing in the potential of women to make real change through philanthropic, civic and political participation."

Other panelists included Elaine Maly and Erin Vilardi from the Women's Fund of Milwaukee, speaking on Partnership between the White House Project and the Women’s Fund of Milwaukee; Karla Rodriguez of the Women’s Foundation of California; Caitlin Wagner from the Hunt Alternatives, and LAG Shackling-Flowers from the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee.

Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda spoke about leadership development opportunities in the YWCA movement, such as the Young Women Leaders Dialogues, held at all YWCA Regional Training Institutes and the World YWCA Internship Programme. These programmes seek to expand the number of young women leading change for the YWCA’s vision for a better world.

Every year, over 1.6 million women, young women and girls are prepared for leadership through the YWCA movement. The World YWCA equips women and young women for the challenges of leadership through internships and exchange programmes; leadership training for young women at all regional and global events.

The YWCA has always affirmed the importance of partnership across generations, and therefore, also encourages both formal and informal mentoring relationships.

When women are provided with educational resources, guided by capable mentors and exposed to new experiences, they are more likely to make personal and academic choices that will help them develop critical skills. They are also more likely to pursue careers that are not traditionally filled by women: in technology, science and math, manufacturing, and other high-wage fields dominated by men in most societies. As they mature, young women will be poised to offer their families, their communities, and their employers greater productivity and a better quality of life.

Attending the conference with Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda was Maureen Bell, World YWCA Treasurer, who sensed that the audience was engaged and that the World YWCA work is in alignment with that of other groups investing in women's leadership. Maureen Bell also felt that the topic is very timely because the theme of the conference is about "Seizing the Moment", which is what YWCAs around the world do every day in working for women's leadership development.

The Women’s Funding Network is more than 155 organisations - public charities, private foundations and funds within community foundations - that fund women’s solutions across the globe. Their mission is to accelerate women's leadership and invest in solving critical social issues -from poverty to global security - by bringing together the financial power, influence and voices of women's funds.