Women’s Fund Reveals Gender-equity Research Report to Public

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts, collaborating with results-oriented partners, recently completed its 2023 research report, “Gender Equity in Western Massachusetts: The Status of Women, Girls, Transgender, Nonbinary, and Gender-diverse Adults and Youth.”

This is the Women’s Fund’s third commissioned research report on the status of women and girls since 2013. This report was prepared by the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts and funded by Women’s Fund donors and grants from Feeding America and the Beveridge Family Foundation.

Lisa Ranghelli, the Public Health Institute’s director of Assessment and Capacity Building, noted that “this report fills an important gap in our understanding of gender equity in the region by including the best available local data on issues facing transgender and gender-diverse residents, women and girls of color, Indigenous women and families, domestic-violence survivors, formerly incarcerated women, and newcomers to the U.S. Our resourceful, creative, and collaborative communities are making progress, but many systemic inequities continue to undermine the well-being of women, girls, transgender, and gender-diverse people in Western Massachusetts. I hope this report spurs coordinated action that engages these communities in making change.”

The public is invited to learn about the research report and some key findings at one of the Women’s Fund’s upcoming presentations in Springfield on Monday, Nov. 6; Pittsfield on Wednesday, Nov. 15; or Greenfield on Wednesday, Nov. 29. For details and required reservations for the presentations, visit www.mywomensfund.com/events.

The research report includes data on gender demographics, employment and earnings, poverty and opportunity, health and well-being, reproductive justice, violence and safety, leadership, and political participation.

“We engage in research not only to measure our progress toward gender and racial equity, but also to provide our region and its many nonprofits with data that help them develop their own strategies and to have critical data they need when applying for grant funding to fuel their missions,” Women’s Fund CEO Donna Haghighat said.

Click here for both the full report and key findings.