City of Pittsburgh ~ Amount requested: $10,000
Development of Improved Policies to Enhance Female Recruitment and Employment
This project will identify opportunities and/or shortfalls in diversity recruitment and hiring to increase the representation of women in public safety and professional positions at the City of Pittsburgh. This is a DiverCity 365 Taskforce initiative.
Area Served: City of Pittsburgh    Website: www.city.pittsburgh.pa.us

Coalition of PA Crime Victim Organizations (COPCVO)
~ Amount requested: $10,000
Development of a Domestic Violence Survivors Speakers Bureau
This project will train Crime Victims Survivors to participate in legislative advocacy efforts to increase support for victim services; the development of a Survivors Speakers Bureau will employ crime victim speakers as part of a broader array of coalition strategies to generate support for the passage and funding of legislation beneficial to women and girls throughout the state requiring mandatory DNA testing for persons arrested for serious crimes such as rape and domestic violence.
Area Served: Southwest PA region & state-wide   Website: www.copcvo.org

Just Harvest ~ Amount requested: $8,000
Advocate for Self-Sufficiency Allowance for Women on Welfare
This project will advocate to the PA Department of Public Welfare to withdraw proposed regulatory changes to TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families) Special Allowances that would limit women’s ability to access such items as schoolbooks, work clothing and transportation as they try to move from welfare to economic self-sufficiency.
Area Served: Southwest PA region & state-wide   Website: justharvest.org

Mercy Behavioral Health ~ Amount requested: $10,000
The PEG Project (Political Empowerment for Girls)
The PEG Project (Political Empowerment for Girls) is designed to educate and inspire young women in middle school, first to understand how the legislative process works, second to know that they have a voice in their government and can make a difference and third to identify an issue that is dear to their hearts that they want to educate their legislators about. Some additional benefits of this project are that it is a living learning experience that will tie into their academics, it will bring together girls from different communities that would likely not be brought together otherwise, it will offer exposure to a diverse group of women role models, and by introduction, particularly to women legislators, it will model that this is a possible role they can aspire to.
Area Served: City of Pittsburgh                Website: www.pmhs.org

New Voices Pittsburgh: Women of Color for Reproductive Justice
~ Amount requested: $10,000
FOCUS on Women Campaign
The “FOCUS on Women” Campaign, a grassroots community organizing initiative, will redress the current conditions of non-violent female offenders housed in Allegheny County Jail (ACJ), including reproductive and general healthcare, nutrition and as well as trauma-informed care in human services delivery. Our campaign centralizes the experiences of women who are currently or have been previously incarcerated in ACJ, organizes women/communities of color through Human Rights and Reproductive Justice and develops new voices for leadership in Pittsburgh.
Area Served: Allegheny County    Website: myspace.com/newvoicespgh

The Midwife Center for Birth & Women's Health
~ Amount requested: $10,000
Advocacy for Access to Birth Centers
The Midwife Center for Birth & Women's Health will contribute to improved healthcare outcomes for women and infants in the Pittsburgh region and beyond by increasing access to birth center and midwifery services by low income women by advocating that Midwife Centers statewide be included in public insurance and subsidy plan offerings for maternal health.
Area Served: Southwest PA region    Website: www.midwifecenter.org

Vanessa Koch (CMU) ~ Amount requested: $8,000
Claim Change
Claim Change is a multi-media campaign designed to engage young women in the greater Pittsburgh area with the issue of the gender wage gap through the use of custom designed sculptures and guerrilla marketing. Transparent plastic sculptures of women will be placed throughout the city (with emphasis on college campuses) with signage asking people to deposit coins into the sculpture to help “fill the gap.” The sculptures, along with posters, and signage will engage women and men about to graduate from college seeking full-time employment, in a campaign to end the gender wage gap.
Area Served: Allegheny County

The Washington Hospital Teen Outreach ~ Amount requested: $10,000
Inside Out: Enhancing Body Image for Women and Girls
Inside Out is a county wide community advocacy effort linking adult women and adolescent girls to encourage positive body image. The project has four components: Education for young women that affirms the beauty of each woman “inside and out”; coalition building between adult women and adolescent girls that includes focus groups on positive body image; community collaboration to assure school/community involvement and buy-in; and policy changes aimed at clothing retailers who promote improper sizing in women's garments that includes a media component and direct contact with major retailers.
Area Served: Washington County          Website: www.healthyteens.com

Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
~ Amount requested: $10,000
Improving District Judges' Domestic Violence Response
Domestic Violence victims and their families have complained of inconsistencies, indifference, and, sometimes, continued victimization of abused women who are seeking justice through Allegheny County’s Magisterial District Judge (MDJ) court system. Poor treatment of victims, apathy to their plights, and resistance to holding batterers fully accountable have occurred at MDJ courts and all contribute to a court system that requires significant improvement. This initiative seeks to improve and standardize the response of MDJs in cases of domestic violence by introducing tools -- including a bench card, checklist and reference materials – to help achieve a model response in domestic violence cases.
Area Served: Allegheny County             Website: www.wcspittsburgh.org

Women’s Law Project, Western PA Office
~ Amount requested: $10,000
Equity Now: Southwestern PA
We will work for public disclosure of information about gender equity in federally funded high school and middle school athletics programs. Given the widespread and often extreme disparities in boys’ and girls’ school sports programs, it is important that parents, students, and community advocates have ready access to public information about participation rates, athletic department budgets, and coaching to determine if schools are treating female and male athletes fairly. Requiring public reporting and transparency will lead to greater compliance with federal and state laws requiring gender equity. We will also specifically target Lawrence and Butler counties for intensive advocacy and community organizing, as these counties appear to have unusually severe gender equity problems.
Area Served: Southwest PA region & state-wide
Website: www.womenslawproject.org

To read the Request for Proposals (RFP) Guidelines, click here.

For more information about the INDICATORS OF SYSTEMIC CHANGE, please click here.

If you have any questions please email WGF Program Officer Adriana Dobrzycka or call (412) 434-4883.