Lynn Yeakel, Louise Page, Ernesta Drinker Ballard, Margaret Bacon, Winnie Schoefer, and Cathy Strauss originally formed Women's Way as an umbrella organization in 1977 when several struggling Philadelphia-based women-centered nonprofits decided to unite to pool their resources and establish a greater capacity for advocacy and fundraising.
[6] Shortly after obtaining seed money from the William Penn Foundation, Women's Way elected Ernesta Drinker Ballard as its first president.
Located between 21st and 22nd streets on JFK Boulevard, the mural depicted women and girls from all walks of life, an American flag, a jean jacket decorated with feminist pins, shirts with white, blue, and pink collars, various accoutrements of the modern day woman (including a packed calendar, make up, a cell phone, an apron, a sneaker, and a ballet slipper), and the Women's Way logo.
"[14] It prioritizes collaboration, adaptability, addressing unmet and/or previously unrecognized needs, and approaching entrenched issues in fresh and original ways.
Past recipients include Wings for Success, Norris Square Neighborhood Project, and Women's Medical Fund.
This emerging nonprofit must innovatively address a difficult problem facing a specific population of women, girls, or families through entrepreneurial solutions.
Past groups to receive the Turning Point Prize include Mommy Grads, Rock to the Future, and the Empowered Mom's Thinktank.
[17] Women's Way is collaborating with Senator Daylin Leach to pass The National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline Act (SB338) in the Pennsylvania Congress.
This act would require certain pertinent establishments (such as truck and rest stops, welcome centers, and bus stations) to post the hotline phone number, giving trafficking victims greater access to help.
Women's Way and Philadelphia City Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds Brown worked together to raise local support for SB 338 and passed a resolution making January Human Trafficking Month.
To gain support of these policy changes, Women's Way held several screenings of the movies The Whistleblower and Very Young Girls.
Women's Way uses this information to help decide how to allocate funds for grantmaking and to establish its advocacy agenda.
The Women and Influence Conference is a public forum focused instead on one specific issue decided upon ahead of time.
By registering for participation in a conference call, those interested are given the opportunity to ask questions about a predetermined political topic previously explained by the Director of Public Policy.
The initiative offers community service opportunities, quarterly happy hours for her, a book club, and workshops on topics like social media and life balance for to its constituents.