Awards

Womenade Boston receives Philanos 2017 Spotlight Award Recognition

Local Grant Drives National Impact

At the Philanos National Leadership Forum in Jacksonville, FL on March 13, 2017, Womenade Boston was recognized for our grant to Boston-based Compass Working Capital, an organization working to change the life trajectory for low-income families living in subsidized housing. Compass Working Capital had begun working in smaller communities nearby Boston to offer financial coaching and savings programs to those eligible for the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) Program, a powerful but little-used provision of Federal public housing regulation. Having seen early results in those communities, Compass sought to test their Compass Family Self-Sufficiency asset-building and financial mobility program in the larger Boston market. Womenade's 2014 grant allowed Compass to launch in Boston and help more families achieve financial savings and the dream of homeownership. 

Read the Spotlight Award Nomination: Compass Working Capital’s Family Self-Sufficiency Program: Breaking the Cycle of Poverty for Low-Income Families in Subsidized Housing.

Since receiving the Womenade Boston grant to fund the Compass Family Self-Sufficiency program, Compass Working Capital is replicating its program nationally with mission-aligned delivery partners. Watch Compass Working Capital Founder and Executive Director, Sherry Riva, above, explain the impact of the Womenade grant.

Philanos members - collective giving grantmaking groups from across the United States - gathered in Jacksonville to share ideas, learn from thought-leaders, and celebrate the contributions of women's collective giving in creating significant community impact. Leadership Forum attendees were extremely enthusiastic about the impact and replicability of the Compass Working Capital model and will look for opportunities to support the program as it grows nationally. Read more about the 2017 Spotlight Awards and the great work of fellow philanthropists at Impact100 Sonoma and the Women's Impact Fund of Charlotte, NC.

Banner image courtesy of grantee Found In Translation