Enduring Progress Initiative - The Women's Fund of Central Ohio

Grants and Investments / Enduring Progress Initiative

Women and Girls of Color Deserve More than Pocket Change

A recent report from the Ms. Foundation, Pocket Change: How Women and Girls of Color Do More with Less, showed that less than 0.5% of foundation philanthropy in the U.S. is directed to women and girls of color. This is unacceptable. That’s why The Women’s Fund of Central Ohio launched the Enduring Progress Initiative (EPI), a groundbreaking effort to provide women of color with the capital they need and deserve.

meet the 2022 epi recipients

The Women's Fund is honored to support these visionary leaders in their efforts to create equity for women of color in Central Ohio.

Eryn PiNK, led by Eryn Hathaway

Eryn PiNK is an empowerment and mentoring program for girls and teens. Their mission is to empower youth to live purposeful lives fueled by personal skills and talents, positive character, self-improvement, personal leadership skills, and career readiness. They teach girls to live on PURPOSE and empower and inspire girls to set standards and exceed expectations.

ThriveIN, led by Chevonne Harris

ThriveIN is a multi-channeled community and organization dedicated to equipping Black Gen Z and millennial women with the tools, resources, networks and transformational access needed to “ThriveIN” the workplace and beyond. Through innovative programming and access to jobs, resources, and mentorship—all topped with a little #BlackGirlMagic, they exist to ensure Black women are poised and positioned to “ThriveIN” their passions.

Zora's House, led by LC Johnson

Zora's House's mission is to create safe spaces for women of color to establish meaningful, supportive relationships with other women in their community; develop a deeper practice of self-care, resiliency, and emotional intelligence; and successfully incubate their creativity, scholarship, entrepreneurship, activism, service, and leadership. Zora's House also serves as an inclusive learning space for the larger community on issues of race, politics, economics, arts, and culture, as they relate to the identities and experiences of women of color.

Read the feature article highlighting these investments in The Columbus Dispatch

Why The Women’s Fund?

According to the Pocket Change report, public foundations like The Women’s Fund can uniquely support organizations led by and for women of color. Our deep community relationships, transparent processes, and ability to be nimble funders enables us to quickly address specific funding barriers that affect women of color.

Enduring Progress Advisory Committee

Dr. Sierra Austin-KING

Regional School Improvement Coordinator for Diversity & Equity, Educational Service of Central Ohio; Senior Lecturer, Black Feminist Studies, Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Department of African American and African Studies, The Ohio State University

Jay Baliga

Consultant, Kaiser Consulting

Whitney Crane

Philanthropist

Sophia Fifner

Executive Director, Nisource Foundation; Director Of Communications, Nisource

Steven Moore

Chief of Staff, The Columbus Foundation

Letha Pugh

Co-Owner, Bake Me Happy; Co-Founder, Black, Out & Proud

Lindsay Karas Stencel

Partner, Thompson Hine

Julialynne Walker

CEO, Africa and Diaspora Development Linkages

Heather Whaling

President & Founder, Geben Communication

“I often say I started working full-time at Zora’s House in January 2021, but the truth is, I had been working at Zora’s House full time from the moment we opened in 2018. Thanks to Enduring Progress, 2021 was the first time I was being compensated for my work.”

LC Johnson, Founder and CEO, Zora’s House

Goldman Sachs donates to two Columbus groups to help Black women

Goldman Sachs Announces First Round of Investments and Grants for One Million Black Women Initiative

Goldman Sachs Announces First Round of Investments and philanthropic grant to 1 million women

Women of Color-led Nonprofits Struggle for Survival Funding: Why?

Women’s Fund of Central Ohio Awards Zora’s House with Unique Investment

Women's Fund launching new 'social venture capital' fund in Columbus to uplift women of color

Application Process

There’s not one. EPI is rooted in our trust-based approach to philanthropy, which means as few administrative hoops as possible. Enduring Progress Initiative prospects are invited to a pitch session with the Enduring Progress Advisory Committee to share why an investment would help build their capacity and get them to next. If you or someone you know is interested in being considered for a future pitch session, please contact us.

Special Thanks

EPI was launched with support from Crane Group, Kaiser Consulting, The Columbus Foundation, Goldman Sachs, NiSource, Dan & Christie Crane, Jean Droste, Mary Lazarus, Cindy Owens, Jody G. Scheiman, and Rebecca Wiggins.