Getting Ready for Rita

AWF is excited to have Rita Moreno Award-Winning Actress, Dancer & Singer speak at our 2022 Numbers Too Big To Ignore Luncheon. From her humble upbringing living in poverty to overcoming racism and sexism in Hollywood, Rita’s inspirational story is one of breaking barriers. Rita Moreno has won all four of the most prestigious awards…

Read More

Meet AWF’s New Board Members

New Board Member Collage

Last month we welcomed eight new members to the AWF Board of Directors. The new class of board members are leaders in their field and the community, representing a range of industries from across Atlanta. The new members of the Board of Directors are: Fiona Bell Fiona graduated with a Bachelor of Art in English…

Read More

Board Service and Beyond

Top row: Nancy Halwig and Becky Schmitt. Bottom row: Michele Sims and Mark Wasserman

This year we continue our annual tradition of recognizing and thanking the AWF Board Members whose terms have come to an end. The four amazing Board Members we’re highlighting this year have served for six years, but have been AWF supporters long before their board service. Nancy Halwig An engaged and dedicated board member, one…

Read More

Why Mental Health

An illustration of a woman's head made up of puzzle pieces against a blue background with the words Mental Health above her head.

In 2011, The Atlanta Women’s Foundation undertook a proprietary research project entitled Breaking the Cycle of Generational Poverty in Metro Atlanta to understand how women and girls experience poverty in AWF’s five-county service area. The results of this research deepened AWF’s understanding of the issues impacting women and girls in our community. The research findings…

Read More

Proud to Be in a Position to Give Back

Kristin Anunson

AWF’s Inspire Atlanta program strives to develop women leaders who will help affect real change for women and girls in our community. And it does. Over the course of five Inspire classes, participants have become volunteer leaders with AWF, joined nonprofit boards, led fundraising campaigns, and become stronger leaders at work. We’ve also been moved…

Read More

Career Opportunities in Technology for Single Mothers

Andrianna Hamwright

This month’s guest contributor is Andrianna E. Hamwright, a graduate of AWF grantee Women in Technology’s technology training program for single mothers. Andrianna shares her story of how, during a period of instability, she found WIT’s Single Mothers Program and how it provided her the opportunity to find not only employment, but a career. Women…

Read More

Women Achieving Success Through Entrepreneurship

A young woman entrepreneur in a store with wooden display shelves and tables filled with home good items.

Since the start of the pandemic, most of the news reported gives us a bleak picture about economics, politics, and society, especially for women. However, one area of opportunity for women in the last two years has been in entrepreneurship. In 2020, almost fifty percent of people who started a new business were women, which…

Read More

2021 Sue Wieland Embracing Possibility Award Honorees

A dark yellow square with white L shape brackets in the top left hand corner and bottom right hand corner. In between the brackets in black letters is written 2021 Sue Wieland Embracing Possibility Award.

This summer, we lost beloved former AWF Board Member, Sue Wieland. She served on the board from 2000 to 2006, and remained an active supporter and donor to AWF long after her board serviced ended. Sue was known for her generous spirit and big smile and believed passionately in giving back to the community. She…

Read More

Poem by 2021 Atlanta Youth Poet Laureate

This year, we invited the 2021 Atlanta Youth Poet Laureate, Aanika Eragam, to read one of her poems at the 2021 Numbers Too Big To Ignore Luncheon. We were honored that she wrote a new poem specifically for the event. Aanika’s poem is a moving tribute to women and girls. The Women Beside Us By…

Read More

A Look at Substance Abuse in Women and the Resources to Support Them

An above shot of multiple hands on top of one another and shoes seen below the hands.

Thank you to guest contributor Michelle Giordano, M.S. Community Counseling, with the organization Live Another Day, for educating us on the barriers women face when it comes to mental health and substance abuse, national and local resources for help, and the change that need to be made to mental healthcare to better help women. It…

Read More