The Foundation builds strategic, nonpartisan partnerships to deploy a broad range of tactics that help women succeed in American politics.
Our partnerships change the dialogue about women candidates in the media; showcase powerful historical examples of women’s leadership and empowerment; and mobilize women voters across political parties through innovative online and grassroots campaigns.
As a multi-partisan initiative, the Coalition for Women’s Appointments works to align collaborating partners and individuals who can help represent a diverse and inclusive process in order to identify and recruit a large pool of qualified women ready to serve in appointed positions in our federal government.
In 2016, Wheaton College will host its first Elect Her workshop and serve approximately 50 college women. Wheaton College will be the only Elect Her site in Massachusetts, where women make up only 26% of the state legislature. This percentage has not significantly increased in the past 20 years, mirroring the slow pace of political […]
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation is proud to partner with GlobalGirl Media on their innovative #GIRLS GO VOTE project.Through #GIRLS GO VOTE, young women around the Unites States will investigate the issue of women’s political leadership. Girls will receive media training and will set up a series of interviews with first-time or newly elected female officials and candidates. The resulting videos will also include interviews with people on the street and the girls themselves discussing the women’s political leadership. The goal is to promote civic engagement, youth leadership and democracy building in traditionally under-served communities through the experience of participatory media.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation proudly supported VoteRunLead, a national organization that unleashes the power of women leaders in democracy through encouraging women to run for office and equipping them with the tools to succeed in the process. VoteRunLead builds powerful networks and fuels women’s ambition for civic leadership, giving them a voice and closing the knowledge gap around politics for women from all classes, cultures, and colors.
OWL is a national nonprofit that focuses on issues impacting the economic security and quality of life for the nation’s estimated 78 million women over the age of 40. The Barbara Lee Foundation proudly supported OWL and its initiative with Sewall Belmont House & Museum to engage the 22 million women voters who sat out the November 2010 midterm election. The campaign is focused on reminding women of the importance of their continued participation in voting by engaging them through the use of social media messages.
Mass VOTE is dedicated to promoting a culture of political participation. They achieve this through organizing, registering, and educating voters, placing an emphasis on historically disenfranchised communities. The Barbara Lee Foundation was pleased to support Mass VOTE in the inaugural year of the Boston 500 Civic Engagement Initiative (B500).
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation partnered with Citizen Action Wisconsin to support their 2014 non-partisan civic engagement program targeting the greater Milwaukee area. The goal of the program was to increase civic participation by connecting the act of voting to community empowerment. Citizen Action communicated with voters about economic issues that matter to women, such as the need for family supporting jobs and access to affordable healthcare. The program increased the participation of underrepresented voters and decreased the likelihood of voter drop off in the midterm election cycle.
In a 2012 YEO member survey, 80 percent of women members stated that they wanted to run for higher office. Barbara Lee Family Foundation proudly supported the Women’s Caucus Pre-Conference at the YEO Network National Convening, specifically designed to nurture this desire and to offer support and skills training to women already in office.
Running Start’s first Young Women’s Political Summit in July 2013 brought together young women from across the country to hone their leadership skills and strengthen their connections in the political world. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation was proud to share our latest nonpartisan research – Pitch Perfect: Winning Strategies for Women Candidates. The research provides a clear roadmap for women to introduce themselves to voters and showing they are qualified. The two workshop sessions showed nearly 100 participants how to perfect their pitches to voters, how to choose their words wisely, and how to use traditional and new media to amplify their messages. For more information and photos from the Summit, visit Running Start.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation proudly supported The Civic Engagement Initiative (CEI), a MassVOTE project that distributed grants for nonpartisan urban voter education, registration, and mobilization in cities throughout Massachusetts.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation provided support to the New Hampshire Citizens Alliance (NHCA) for outreach to increase the engagement of unmarried women in the political process through voting and issue activism, focusing specifically on Manchester and other urban constituencies in New Hampshire.
The 2012 Project was a national, non-partisan campaign of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) to increase the number of women in legislative office by identifying and engaging accomplished women 45 and older from underrepresented fields and industries to run for office in 2012.
A joint venture between the National Women's Political Caucus and the National Council of Women's Organizations, the project was designed to push the resumes of qualified women for appointments regardless of which party wins the White House.
Unlike conventional statues that are larger than life or set high upon pedestals, the subjects of the Boston Women's Memorial are sculpted in a manner that invites the observer to interact with them.
The goal of this project was to use the film "Iron Jawed Angels" as a catalyst to spark dialogue about the founding mothers’ long, hard struggle to win women’s voting rights and about the critical importance of women’s votes today.
From 2004-2007, the Barbara Lee Family Foundation supported Women's Voices, Women Vote (WVWV) in their efforts to activate unmarried Americans in their government and in our democracy.
The Changing Faces of Power initiative explored the hard-fought journey of women through America’s political system and how their activism and leadership has shaped the political landscape.
Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO, reaches out to working-class moderates living in the suburbs and exurbs with information on the economy and opportunities to take action.
Neighbor to Neighbor Massachusetts builds power in low-income and working class communities around economic justice issues. Their grassroots organizing model includes voter registration and education, policy advocacy, coalition building and leadership development.
For the MomsVote ’08 Program, MomsRising used new and creative online and on-the-ground voter engagement strategies, optimized through volunteers. The program mobilized voters who prioritize public policy that supports families.
Women, Power and Politics will be archived online in perpetuity as an informational and educational tool, so that visitors to the website can continue to view the exhibition, access its tools, post comments, and generate and participate in conversations.
PTI focuses on identifying and training promising women in order to increase the presence of female progressive voices throughout the mainstream media.
Name It. Change It. tracks incidents of sexist media coverage and commentary on women candidates and leaders generated or covered by media outlets and engages supporters in responding to these incidents through letter writing campaigns and publicity.
Since 2001, The Barbara Lee Family Foundation has partnered with CAWP to work towards our shared goals of promoting greater knowledge about women's participation in politics and government and enhancing women's leadership in public life.
The Barbara Lee Family Foundation and the Women & Politics Institute at American University are proud to partner for Gender on the Ballot, a nonpartisan project to examine and contextualize gender dynamics in politics.
The Barbara Lee Women in U.S. Politics Training Program and Lecture Series provides a select group of Harvard graduate students with the training and support they need to rise through the ranks at the local, state and national levels. These students form a robust network of women in government who support each other as they advance their careers. Ultimately, our goal is to fill the political pipeline with women, striving towards equal representation in government
One of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation’s largest ongoing projects is our endowment to Simmons College—Barbara Lee’s alma mater—which provides funding for an intern fellowship program to increase awareness of politics as a vocation for women. Over 100 young women have benefited from this mentor-based internship program since it began in 2004. The program seeks to give young women exposure to and education in the nuts and bolts of Massachusetts political leadership through practical experience, thereby increasing the number of young women who enter the pipeline of political leadership.
Presidential Gender Watch 2016 is a nonpartisan project of the Center for American Women and Politics and the Barbara Lee Family Foundation to track, analyze, and illuminate gender dynamics in the 2016 presidential election. Presidential Gender Watch 2016 draws upon the research and expertise of both partner organizations, as well as other experts, to further public understanding of how gender influences candidate strategy, voter engagement and expectations, media coverage, and electoral outcomes in the race for the nation’s highest executive office. Our goal is to lend expert analysis to the dialogue around gender throughout the election season.
Gender Watch 2018 is a project of The Barbara Lee Family Foundation (BLFF) and the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP) at Rutgers University . The non-partisan project tracks, analyzes, and illuminates gender dynamics in election 2018. Resources on the new website include analysis and commentary from political strategists and academics, information about women candidates, relevant research summaries and reports, and more to bridge the divide between scholarship and political practice.
Higher Heights Leadership Fund is an organization dedicated to creating a network to support and build up Black women's leadership capacity. Their process involves investing in strategies to both increase the number of Black women in the leadership pipeline as well as foster more civic participation among Black women by providing training programs, civic engagement, and networking opportunities. The four main pillars of Higher Heights Leadership Fund's approach are capacity building, grassroots organizing, research, and convenings. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation is proud to support Higher Heights Leadership Fund in their efforts to amplify the voices and leadership of Black women because "democracy is stronger when women's voices are heard."
For the Power in Place project, photographer Katrina Hajagos captures photos of American women leaders in special settings chosen by the subjects themselves. The Barbara Lee Family Foundation is proud to support the work of Power in Place as they increase the visibility of women in politics. The project aims to increase the participation of women in public office by holding up inspirational role models. Power in Place believes that images are the most powerful way to convey this opportunity to the young women who will be tomorrow’s mayors, congresswomen, and presidents.