An organization dedicated to women’s rights and wellbeing is looking for a new leader.
Dawne Bell will leave her position as CEO of the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona next month to return to her native Michigan. There, she will lead the Early Childhood Investment Corp based in Lansing. Bell has spent three fantastic years making a difference in the lives of women and children across southern Arizona.
With Bell at the helm, the foundation was named one of four recipients of a national award recognizing “two-generation” solutions to poverty that assist disadvantaged women and children. The $150,000 award, presented by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Women’s Funding Network will be used to establish public-private partnerships to support workforce development and career advancement opportunities for women and mothers with low incomes. This money will also go toward improving access to early childhood education and quality child care across the region.
Under Bells’ leadership, the foundation invested upwards of $700,000 that made it possible for more than 9,000 women and girls to achieve higher wages, better savings and less debt. In the past few years, the foundation assisted 233 women with finding jobs and 258 women with securing housing.
Bell took the foundation to the state capitol as she fought for better lives for working-poor mothers. By doubling its grant-making efforts and increasing its assets by 70 percent in the last three years, the foundation was able to surpass its goal of raising $1 million to receive a matching donation on behalf of the Connie Hillman Family Foundation.
Currently, the foundation is accepting applications from potential replacements nationwide. Those interested in more details can visit the foundation website: www.womengiving.org