2023 Fall Newsletter

Nearly 200 female college students and professional women convened at Capital Community College for the Forum

West Hartford – The Bushnell glowed from within on October 23 as the Aurora Women and Girls Foundation welcomed more than 350 guests to its 2024 Luminary Celebration fundraiser -- and grossed a record $124,000 in the process. “It was an absolutely inspiring evening—the level of generosity was astounding! This is a community that believes in the power and potential of women and girls and puts that belief into practice,” said Aurora Executive Director Jenny Steadman, Ph.D. “And to see the students on stage, but even more to see them connecting with mentors and role models in the audience, truly brought home the power of Aurora’s community.” The fundraising portion of the evening was electrified by the announcement of an extraordinary $25,000 matching-gift challenge from West Hartford residents Anne and Jim Carroll, who matched every Luminary donation dollar for dollar, up to $25,000. “I am proud to have been part of the Aurora community since 2018,” said Anne Carroll. “Every year I learn more about the great and growing need to support women and girls in our communities. I am continually amazed by the passion of the leaders and luminaries involved with the Aurora Foundation and their work to leverage donations and find creative ways to make a real impact on women and girls in CT.” Fundraiser - Aurora Women and Girls Foundation ’s community investments, especially in local College Success program community in support of women and girls. Among the evening’s highlights: a moving presentation in Belding Theater with stirring remarks from students participating in the College Success programs as well as a keynote address from Wesleyan professor Dr. Khalilah Brown-Dean that elicited a standing ovation. “The great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: ‘Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary,’” said Dr. Brown-Dean, who is also the host of the CT Public radio show and podcast Disrupted. “Indeed, it is much easier to reach the finish line, when you have a head start,” she continued. “And yet, too many in our community struggle to push off the starting block … that is the charge that Aurora has accepted: to not merely focus on inviting in, but to commit more to going out, and listening. Listening to the voices of individuals and communities who are too often underrepresented and underserved.” Dr. Brown-Dean's appearance at the Luminary Celebration was generously supported by Aurora’s partner Liberty Bank. “We are thankful for their meaningful investment,” said Steadman.  Aurora is grateful to the following Community Partners for their annual operating support: Ares Management; Barnes Group; the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity, and Opportunity (CWCSEO); Cowdery, Murphy & Healy; Eastern CT State University; Eversource Energy; Family First Life; the Goss Family; the Green & Blue Foundation; KeyBank; Liberty Bank; Max Cares Foundation; NBT Bank; Jennifer W. Pennoyer, MD; PeoplesBank; PNT Data; Pullman and Comley; Robinson + Cole; Ruel Ruel Burns Feldman & Britt; Shipman & Goodwin; Symetra; Tokio Marine HHC; Trinity College; UConn Health Disparities; The Village for Families and Children; Trinity College; Wealthspire; Whittlesey; and the YWCA Hartford Region.

A bachelor’s degree can double the earning potential of women in Greater Hartford. What if more women had access to higher education, and, even more importantly, to programs with supports designed to help them succeed? At the Aurora Women and Girls Foundation, we believe that this is a way to break the cycle of poverty across our region. Our decision-making is data-driven and research-based, and we found during the pandemic that for the first time in Connecticut’s history, women outpaced men in unemployment claims and 75% of females applying for unemployment did not have a college degree.

Dear Philanthropic Colleagues and Co-Conspirators, We begin this letter at the start of Pride, a month where we celebrate and recommit ourselves to the fight for queer and trans liberation. We anticipate that this particular June will be heavy, but we are determined to leverage our power and perch within philanthropy for our collective liberation. In the past several months, we have seen and experienced multiple mass shootings, specifically targeting Black, Asian, Latine, and other people of color, as well as shootings at schools like Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. These targeted acts of violence have once again stolen lives from our families and communities, and are taking place against a backdrop of emboldened white supremacy, rising authoritarianism, patriarchy, misogyny, transphobia, and weak state leadership and oversight. It is against this same backdrop that the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization United States Supreme Court draft opinion was leaked, suggesting that Roe v. Wade will be overturned this summer. This news was another gut punch to many in philanthropy. However, while gender equity and reproductive justice funders already connected to the work were similarly dismayed by the news, we were not surprised. For years, we have been following the lead of our grantee and movement partners by investing in and organizing for abortion access as part of a broader approach to reproductive justice . Reproductive justice, a framework developed by Black women, calls on us to fully embody intersectional approaches to solve this crisis. That framework connects abortion access, birth justice, climate and economic justice, and many forms of bodily autonomy, including freedom from state violence. This work is a testament to the power of consistent and persistent organizing. It is also a reminder that the current challenges to abortion access are a backlash to the very real wins of the reproductive justice movement, including in expanding our understanding of what is possible. We understand that the struggle we face now has been building over decades. We recognize the need to move beyond rapid response funding towards multi-year investments in bold movement building work led by the communities at the center of injustice in order to build power for the long-term. This will require multiple philanthropic giving strategies. We welcome funders and donors who want to join our collective efforts, especially anyone who is newly committed or re-energized by the latest news in this struggle. If you’re looking for ways to increase or deepen your investment in the fight to protect abortion access and bodily autonomy, here are five immediate actions that you and philanthropy at large can take: Give Now and With Trust: Well-known national reproductive rights organizations will be flooded with resources and high-profile legal nonprofits will also get a boost in funding to fight these issues at the federal and local levels. This is great, and it’s only part of what’s needed right now. Consider giving locally and often to the abortion funds , practical support networks , independent abortion providers , and reproductive justice organizations in your cities and states. Trust that they have decades of experience working with abortion seekers, clinics, and volunteers. When you give, don’t set restrictions or require lengthy applications, reports, meetings, or other paperwork as part of your grants and donations. Organizations like Groundswell Fund , Ms. Foundation for Women , Third Wave Fund , and your local feminist fund can also quickly and flexibly deploy an influx of dollars where they are needed the most, especially to grassroots, local, and smaller budget groups. It will be critical to invest at the state level, as that is where many of the decisions will be made if Roe is overturned, and to invest in feminist funds that center gender and racial justice with a clear and unapologetic focus on reproductive justice. For example, Women’s Foundation California , New York Women’s Foundation , Women’s Foundation of Minnesota, and Women’s Fund of Rhode Island , among other state-based women’s funds. Philanthropic support during this moment and beyond will also serve to address the significant underinvestment in gender justice, with less than 2% of overall philanthropic dollars going to women’s and girls’ organizations. Listen to Movement Leadership: Roe has always been a floor rather than a ceiling for our communities, particularly concerning full accessibility to abortion and full-spectrum reproductive care. Reproductive, gender, and birth justice movement leaders have been organizing in their communities and on the ground for decades, and have a clear vision for building a world where accessibility, agency, and self-determination are centered. But should Roe be overturned, the decision will have an outsized effect on BIPOC people who can become pregnant , and increase the risk of criminalization for pregnancy outcomes and self-managed abortion . The implications within and across states will be dramatic. As a philanthropic community, it will be critical to think strategically about support in both states that experience abortion bans as well as those that are expected to see a dramatic influx of people who are able to travel to seek abortion care. In this moment, it’s critical to listen, learn, and follow the lead of people on the front lines, particularly those who have had abortions and BIPOC-led organizations highlighted in the previous bullet point; they are experts on what is happening on the ground and are the luminaries who know the best path forward. Plan for the Future while Acknowledging the Past: The future that BIPOC-led reproductive health, rights, and justice groups envision is one where abortion is available, affordable, accessible, and stigma-free. It is one where no one is denied care, where pregnancy outcomes are drastically improved, and abortion is decriminalized. And it is one where these issues are linked to racial, economic, immigration, disability, and LGBTQ justice. The likely reversal of Roe is part of a broader attack on bodily autonomy and civil and human rights that includes anti-trans legislative efforts, threats to marriage equality , and voter disenfranchisement. As SisterSong Executive Director Monica Simpson and many of our other grantee and movement partners remind us, efforts to restrict abortion rights and access are rooted in a long history of racism, classism, and misogyny. We must also acknowledge past and present harms in the reproductive rights movement, where white women’s concerns and leadership were and still are centered. As a result, they successfully won the legal right to choose while Black and Brown women, transgender and non-binary people, women struggling financially, young people, people with disabilities, undocumented people, among other marginalized communities, have been and still are forcibly sterilized and denied access to the full spectrum of safe pregnancy and birth care. In 2022 and beyond, we will not win without investing in an intersectional, BIPOC-led approach. Collaborate Across Strategies and Issues: Whether grassroots organizing, culture and narrative change, financial and practical support, research, legal support, policy advocacy, or impact litigation, ensuring continued abortion access will require us to use all the strategies we have at our disposal to win. We won’t make it if funding continues to flow only on certain issues, or within siloed investment strategies. Collaboration among funders and philanthropy serving organizations, such as Funders for Reproductive Equity , organizers, lawyers, activists, medical providers, progressives, moderates, among other allies, will be critical in this fight. We must practice and embody trust-based philanthropy. Radical trust, love, and community is the way forward, and will require donors and funders to be more inclusive, and less bureaucratic in their decision-making. Invest in Existing Movement Infrastructure for the Long-Term: For decades, networks of grassroots organizations led by people of color have been serving as safe havens for their communities, providing critically needed access to care. For these organizations, abortion access has always been essential. But what movement leaders have continually uplifted through lessons learned from deep community investment is that full spectrum reproductive and gender-affirming care is equally critical. This care cannot be provided without long-term vision, plans for sustainability, and culturally congruent providers. As funders, it’s essential that we understand the infrastructure that already exists. We have a responsibility to ensure that we are not engaging in extractive practices, dropping in unannounced, putting unnecessary stipulations on resources, or leaving if the situation feels insurmountable. Rather, our highest purpose in the current moment is to move flexible, multi-year, general operating support dollars to the field, moving resources quickly and without any strings attached. Rather than creating new initiatives, we must move resources that can resource existing BIPOC, Transgender, and Non-Binary organizations and leadership at scale. These organizations and leaders have the vision, decades-long track record, and relationships with communities on the ground already, and are best placed to advocate for their communities, build power for the long-term, and fight back against current oppressive legislation at the local, state, and federal levels. As Black Queer poet and activist Audre Lorde once reminded us, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Our liberation is bound to one another’s, and the surest way to freedom is to follow, and fund, those who know the way. Join us on the path forward.