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WHAT IS ADVOCACY?
Advocacy is about conversations and partnership in Western New York and across New York State, all aimed at creating big, systemic change that empowers women and promotes gender equity. The WNY Women's Foundation is the leading women's advocacy organization for issues affecting women in our region.
In our work we take on the following roles:
Collaborator
We are a respected and trusted apolitical partner with a strong track record for building collaborations. We facilitate relationships between funders and community partners that address the changing societal needs of our most marginalized women. As a credible source of data and information, we center women's voices through an intersectional gender lens.
Advocate
We drove $4.5M to Erie County to expand essential child care subsidies to help working parents. This reaches over 1,000 children and supports hundreds of women-owned child care businesses. The WNYWF provided leadership to a coalition that secured a record, transformational state investment in the child care workforce and businesses, and increased eligibility for financial assistance to parents.
Advisor
We offered guidance for the Cornell ILR Cost of Erie County Child Care Reports, which quantified the payment gap for child care centers that accept child care subsidies. We then used this data to secure an increased payment rate for these mostly women-owned businesses, which serve our most economically disenfranchised families. We also offered additional advice for legislative hearings, the Institute for Women's Policy Research, and state agency reports.