Inspire Atlanta 2023

Success isn't just about what you accomplish in life, it's what you inspire others to do!

There are hundreds of thousands of women and girls living in Atlanta and nearly a quarter of them are living below the poverty line. As the only public foundation in the state of Georgia solely dedicated to women and girls, The Atlanta Women’s Foundation (AWF) is uniquely positioned to address the barriers that women and girls in poverty face – barriers like access to life skills, education, workforce opportunities, and mental and physical wellbeing. 

The mission of AWF is to be a catalyst for change in the lives of women and girls. AWF accomplishes its mission of helping women and girls in poverty through research, strategic grantmaking, public programs and advocacy. Research informs the grantmaking, helping AWF to identify the barriers to economic self-sufficiency for women and girls in poverty. AWF’s grantmaking is centered around the barriers of mental health and emotional wellbeing, workforce development, economic empowerment, and education. More than just a funder, AWF brings organizations together to share best practices, form partnerships, and share the struggles they face in helping women and girls help themselves achieve economic self-sufficiency. 

AWF has made amazing strides for women over the past several years, providing access to workforce development, higher education, and asset building for tens of thousands of women living in poverty. Over 320,000 women and girls live in poverty in AWF’s service area of Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton & Gwinnett counties. By supporting AWF and their strategic grantmaking projects, you can help make this staggering number less of a reality! Through their Women’s Pathway to Success Program, AWF has helped provide access to job training, financial training, microenterprise development, and childcare assistance to over 20,000 women living in poverty. Through their Breaking Barriers, Building Women: Economic Empowerment Program, AWF has helped over 5,000 women gain access to higher education and asset building opportunities since 2018.

While the work to change women’s lives continues, AWF is making a 5-year commitment to girls living in poverty in our Metro Atlanta community. Our goal is to grant $500,000 annually in June to at least 10 girl-serving organizations with the launch of a new grant program: All Girls Forward.  AWF is committed to investing $2.5 million dollars over the next five years in local girls’ education and wellbeing – this includes afterschool programs, college prep, health and wellness activities, pregnancy prevention programs and more.

I am honored to be a part of raising funds for the inaugural year of All Girls Forward and to help continue AWF’s work with women – I hope you’ll join me!