Jurmeddorj Nordog, Mongolian throat singer and musician, photograph by Audrey Stein

An Interview with Audrey Stein, by Emma Mayerson

Traveling is in my bones.  As a child I used to dream about traveling to faraway lands.  As an adult I have traveled to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China, Nepal, India, Papa New Guinea, Indonesia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and South America.  Before each journey, I study the history, culture and customs of my destination.  Once I arrive, I try to capture the spirit of indigenous cultures, many threatened by extinction, through the lens of my camera. Finally, before I return home to Los Angeles, I often make a philanthropic gift to help meet an unmet need that I have witnessed during my travels.

For decades now I have been an active philanthropist, but until recently my philanthropy was solely directed abroad.  Why is that? Perhaps this is because while traveling abroad I spend my time in remote communities where there are many needs. As a photographer, I am especially drawn to cultures and communities that are struggling to survive in today’s competitive global economy and increasingly westernized world. Moved by what I see abroad, I have until recently chosen to focus my philanthropic efforts solely outside the borders of the United States, far from home.

Then I joined the Los Angeles Giving Circle, a Women’s Foundation of California group of donors who pool their funds to support low-income women and girls in Los Angeles.  Though I often drove to downtown Los Angeles from my home in West LA for concerts or movies, before joining the LA Giving Circle I had little firsthand knowledge of what was going on in the city itself.  As a member of the circle not only did I meet fun, engaging and like-minded women, I also met Los Angeles in a new and different context.  My first year I conducted site visits to organizations in Los Angeles that were candidates for funding.  I was amazed by how much of LA I had not seen: the diverse cultures, the immense need and the extraordinary people fighting to improve the lives of their communities. I realized that while focusing my photographic lens and my philanthropic goals solely abroad, I had missed much of what was happening in my own community.

Since this realization I have decided to direct more of my energy towards Los Angeles.  In addition to deepening my commitment to the giving circle, I have started to direct my camera lens toward my own community as well.  Recently, I partnered with a young Mongolian photographer to document the vibrant Mongolian community in LA.  Sharing these stories and increasing this community’s visibility in Los Angeles has truly opened my eyes to the richness of the city I live in.  Joining the Los Angeles Giving Circle, addressing some of the unmet needs and learning a little of the unwritten history of Los Angeles has been a gift to me as a storyteller, a photographer and a philanthropist. 

The Los Angeles Giving Circle is a fun, engaging way to learn about Los Angeles and give back to your community.  Circle members come from all over the city and range in age from their twenties to their seventies. We are just beginning our grantmaking process and there is still time to join!  To learn more contact Kim Kenny at kimk@womensfoundca.org.

To lean more about Audrey Stein’s photography please visit her website by clicking here.

Maria Flores, Estrellitas Snacks and Ellen Monroe, Women's Foundation of California

This year the Women’s Foundation of California celebrated the holidays by taking a cooking class at La Cocina with Maria Flores, owner and cook for Estrellitas Snacks. Maria taught us to make chicken and spinach tamales. Beyond good food and holiday cheer, we also celebrated our role as the fiscal sponsor of La Cocina. The idea for La Cocina came from a donor at the Women’s Foundation of California, who owned an abandoned building in the heart of the Mission district of San Francisco.

As a resident of the Mission district, this donor (who wishes to remain anonymous) often bought delicious food from street carts. Impressed by the talent and hard work of the food vendors, she decided to donate her building to assist low-income food entrepreneurs leverage their skills and create sustainable businesses. So she met with the Women’s Foundation of California.  We believed in her vision and worked with her to transform her building into a commercial kitchen. In 2005, La Cocina opened as an affordable commercial kitchen space that incubates low-income food entrepreneurs.

Judy Patrick, President and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California, described her experience as a fiscal sponsor of La Cocina. “One thing that was really special about [fiscally] sponsoring La Cocina,” she told me, “is that we were able to help a donor realize her dream.” This year, the Women’s Foundation of California celebrated the holidays by recognizing the visionary women we work with and making tamales at an independently run and affordable commercial kitchen that is currently incubating 32 businesses.

Kim Carter and her staff with Race, Gender and Human Rights circle members

By Victoria Chan

I’ve always wanted to travel the world. When I was  a child, my mom would read me her journals describing her travels in Europe when she was in her 20′s. I was determined to leave the United States, to see the world. For fun, I would visit travel websites and look up costs of different one-way tickets to faraway places. When I graduated college I got a job with an international Humanitarian organization. This job allowed me to see the world and help those in need, which was in alignment with my passion. Since that first job, I’ve lived in a hut in the rural area of Swaziland, sat with lepers in India and listened to stories of women living in poverty in the Philippines.

In May of this year I joined the Women’s Foundation of California. This was my first time working in an organization with a statewide focus. Suddenly I was bombarded with issues I never thought of such as immigration, criminal justice and the struggles of undocumented students who dreamt of graduating from college and finding jobs to give back to this country that they loved so much.

Last month I joined the Race, Gender and Human Rights donor circle for a trip to Southern California to visit a few of our grant partners. It was a Friday afternoon and we were in the Inland Valley with Time for Change Foundation. Crammed into this van, we were driving to homes where formerly incarcerated women lived with their families. Kim Carter, the Executive Director of Time for Change Foundation, said something that really struck me during our ride. She said she refused to leave the Inland Valley, despite people trying to convince her to leave to go somewhere “better”. It suddenly hit me how ignorant I’ve been about the issues right in my own community. You see, I grew up in Southern California, in a city where a freeway divided the poor from the rich. Growing up, the people on my side would never venture past that freeway line boundary unless absolutely necessary.

As I listened to Kim, I realized that I was standing amongst amazing people who felt a profound identity with their city. They understood where they came from, embraced it and wanted to give back to the community that shaped who they were. I saw that I’d been focused on “helping and seeing the world” that I never took the time to look around me and see the needs of my own community. I was driven with this passion to help others, which was why I took time off of school to go to India when the 2004 tsunami hit Southeast Asia, but I never ventured off my Central Valley college campus to see the struggles and injustices that took place beyond those invisible boundary lines. I also never took the time to appreciate where I was raised and what role it played in making me the person I am today.

A few weeks ago when I was back in San Francisco  I met a single mother of two on a bus, her name was Tiana. We spent an hour talking about her fears, her children and her dreams. She had just started at a new job that had demanding hours, which would give her less time to spend with her children. She wanted every possible opportunity for her children –  for them to do martial arts, dance, paint, sing and write. For them to do whatever their heart desired – instead of falling prey to the drugs and gang violence that surrounded her neighborhood. At the end of the conversation she thanked me for taking the time to see her and  show some kindness to her children. And yes, I can honestly say now that I am beginning to see that there are battles of injustices to fight right here, in front us, Not just in faraway places. We just have to open our eyes to see..

Since 2007, child care and support for single mothers and low-income families have taken devastating blows as California struggles to balance its budget. Cutting childcare forces many women to choose between taking care of their children or keeping a job.

Judy Patrick, our CEO, recently published an article that highlights this dilemma.  Not only does Judy highlight the need for childcare, she also points out that funding childcare and early education is a smart economic investment for California. A recent study, “Economic Impacts of Early Care and Education in California” found that, “every dollar spent on Early Childcare and Education (ECE) yields $2 in economic output for the California economy.”  Judy is not alone in her efforts to highlight the economic advantages of ECE funding. Our grant partner Parent Voices directed us to this report and is already using it to inform its advocacy efforts.

And Nancy Pelosi said of ECE in a recent Washington Post article, “One of the great pieces of unfinished business [in the US] is high-quality child care; I wonder why we just can’t do that.”

From Left: board member Kimberly Freeman, board chair Kathryn Downing, Dr. Kathy Magliato, president and CEO Judy Patrick and Jennifer Seibel Newsom

The first event of the Amazing Women, Inspiring Stories speaking series left many people in the audience asking, “What’s next?” At the event, Dr. Kathy Magliato and Jennifer Siebel Newsom addressed how stereotypes about women have effected them personally, as well as in their careers.  They are not alone.  Many women are currently  combating sexist stereotypes in their lives.  So, what can we do about it?  Ms. Siebel Newsom’s online campaign MissRepresentation.org suggests several actions to take.

We can start at home.  By questioning the media we are consuming and the messages this media is sending us and our families, we can adjust our media consumption to reflect our values. We can also ask questions at the dinner table such as, “Are women and girls encouraged to be leaders in the same way men and boys are?”  For more information about how to take action please visit MissRepresentation.org 

Dr. Kathy Magliato and Jennifer Siebel Newsom

By Emma Mayerson, Development Assistant

“I decided to be an actress and moved to Hollywood.  When I got there, an agent told me I would have greater success if I took my Stanford MBA off my resume and lied about my age,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom told the audience at the Women’s Foundation of California’s premiere event of our new Amazing Women, Inspiring Stories speakers’ series.  Each event in the series will feature two successful, powerful and inspirational women in conversation.  For our launch event we featured Jennifer Siebel Newsom, director of Miss Representation, in conversation with Dr. Kathy Magliato, one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world and author of Heart Matters. Kimberly Freeman, Director of Community Relations for Southern California Gas Company, moderated the conversation. 

“I am glad you said that,” responded Dr. Magliato, “because I have experienced it too.  When I walk into work wearing a skirt, everyone treats me as if my IQ dropped 40 points.”  Both film and surgery are  male-dominated fields with few women role models or mentors available to help colleagues navigate sexist attitudes and behaviors.  For Dr. Magliato, this meant she had to learn to demand respect from her male colleagues, regardless of her attire, on her own.

While in Hollywood, Ms. Siebel Newsom decided that if no one else was taking a stand against the disempowering images and representations of women in mainstream media– she would.  So Ms. Siebel Newsom wrote, directed and produced Miss Representation.  She hopes her film will change media messaging so that her two-year old daughter Montana will not face the bigotry and obstacles she did.

I found it empowering to hear stories of women who had the radical imagination to believe in themselves, despite a lack of role models and support.  However, their stories also highlight the need for a supportive community of women leaders who work together to change these realities.  The Amazing Women, Inspiring Stories speaking series seeks to bring women together, and build a supportive community where they can talk about both the obstacles women leaders face as well as strategies for overcoming them.

Over 200 women and men from industries across Los Angeles attended our launch event.  I hope that Ms. Siebel Newsom and Dr. Magliato’s conversation inspired guests to continue discussing these issues at their dinner tables, among friends and in the workplace.  For information about our next event in the series please visit us here. 

By Emma Mayerson, Development Assistant

In high school I traveled to Guatemala with Where There Be Dragons, a study abroad program . For six weeks we lived in a small village in the mountains where we were each assigned a homestay and a tutor. One day, my tutor told me that her ex-husband used to physically and emotionally abuse her. Domestic violence was so common in her village, however, that when she told her sister and mother, they shrugged. When she told them she wanted to leave him, they told her she was crazy. She could not afford to leave him—what would she do for money? Like many women in her village, she had been pulled out of school before third grade to master cooking and sewing skills. Despite her lack of job skills, she was determined to find a job and leave her husband. Eventually, she found Where There Be Dragons and, though she was barely literate, asked them for a job as a tutor. They hired and trained her, providing her with the means to start a new life.

Before working with the Women’s Foundation of California, I was a community organizer for the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. During this campaign I heard story after story of workers trapped in abusive situations. One woman told me she was paid $35 a month, in addition to room and board, as a full-time housekeeper for a family in Los Angeles. The family abused her both physically and emotionally, but her status as an undocumented worker prevented her from turning to the police. She wanted to leave. However, like the woman I met in Guatemala, she did not know if she could afford freedom. Through an act of remarkable self-determination she found CAST, the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, a grant partner of the Women’s Foundation of California. CAST helped her find a new job, allowing her to leave the abusive family. She is now a leader in the campaign for the California Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights and has testified in Congress several times.

One of these women lives in a developing country, the other here in California. However, both have stories that illustrate oppression, courage and the power of a helping hand. Though thousands of miles apart, these two women’s stories are extraordinarily similar.

I have been an active philanthropist for nine years. Often in the philanthropic world the question of “global versus local” finds its way into the conversation. The premiere event for the Women’s Foundation’s Women Leadership Speakers’ Series, Amazing Women, Inspiring Stories, challenges us to reframe that question. There is need everywhere, globally and locally. Rather than pit needs against each other, let’s shift our focus and ask ourselves how we identify, nourish and cultivate leadership in our communities.

On November 2^nd the Women’s Foundation is holding a free event to celebrate women leaders and changemakers. We will be previewing the Skirball’s new exhibit Women Hold Up Half The Sky, based on the critically acclaimed book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Through documentary photographs, visual art, innovative sound installations and interactive artwork, this exhibit tells the stories of women leaders around the world. We are also honoring two extraordinary leaders based here in California, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, director of Miss Representation, and Dr. Kathy Magliato, one of the few female cardiothoracic surgeons in the world. At our event, Ms. Siebel Newsom and Dr. Magliato will engage in conversation about their lives as leaders and how they developed and advanced their visions of a better world.

For more information about the event please visit us here. To reserve space, please RSVP to emmam@womensfoundca.org

Daphne Phung

By Daphne Phung, Executive Director & Founder of California Against Slavery

This June, I went on a police undercover sting that targeted sex trafficking of girls in Oakland. What I saw was surreal. Young girls waiting at every street corner along the “track” to hop into cars with adult men, some old enough to be their grandfathers. The undercover officers would pick up one girl, then circle the block and find three more walking up.

The sun was still out as families and professionals cruised by, ignoring this pervasive sex trade. I was shocked by their disregard. Did they think the girls were criminals who made a choice to prostitute themselves? As the Executive Director and Founder of California Against Slavery, a non-partisan, grassroots organization that fights against human trafficking in California, I have heard over and over again that these girls are not choosing this life—they are forced into it.

One of our volunteers, Carissa, was only 12 years old when she was abandoned by her family and picked up by a man who sold her to truckers in Fresno. Her only “escape” from him was being thrown in juvenile hall two years later. The man was never imprisoned for capturing or trading her.

Thousands of children –mostly girls – are sold for sex in California and throughout the United States each year. Most of them are between 12 to 14 years old. Unlike drugs, a girl can be sold over and over again. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, most runaways are solicited by a sex trafficker within 48 hours.

Unlike Elizabeth Smart and Jaycee Dugard, many sex trafficking victims are never even reported as missing. No one is looking for them. The only people paying attention are the men who are buying and selling them or the police who are arresting and releasing them back to their perpetrators. Their exploitation often continues in silence until they die or are no longer desirable…or they turn into the perpetrators of the next generation. This, perhaps, is the greatest tragedy of our time. Whether we like it or not, whether we recognize it or not, human trafficking is happening in every community throughout California and our nation, from big cities to quiet suburbs. The internet has fueled its rapid growth by making buying and selling girls easier and less risky than ever before.

That is why California Against Slavery is working to pass a ballot initiative in 2012 that addresses the severe issue of human trafficking in our state. If passed, the initiative will impose higher prison terms and fines of up to $1.5 million for traffickers, which will go towards funding victim services. This law will also mandate law enforcement training and require the disclosure of sex offenders’ internet accounts.

It is our moral obligation to take action against human trafficking and its epidemic abuse of women and children. To place the initiative on the 2012 ballot, we must collect over 750,000 voter signatures in 5 months, starting November 2011. Please visit CaliforniaAgainstSlavery.org to find out more.

The Women’s Foundation of California’s Women of Color Donor Circle is proud to have supported California Against Slavery this year with a grant of $7500. 

Kim Carter

Kim Carter, Founder and Executive Director of our grant partner the Time for Change Foundation, is passionate about reducing recidivism and crime in California through supportive services and rehabilitation. She has been working with California state government for ten years: educating, informing and advocating about issues related to incarceration. Most recently, Ms. Carter has taken a stand against the new law AB109.

This year, the Supreme Court ordered California state prisons to reduce their population by more than 30,000 inmates, due to overcrowding. While at face value this may seem like a victory, the question remains–where do the inmates go? AB109, also known as “realignment,” is relocating inmates from state prisons to county jails. Ms. Carter argues that county jails are ill-equipped to handle this influx and that AB109 will only make matters worse for incarcerated Californians. To learn more about this issue check out Ms. Carter’s article, recently published by the Huffington Post.

The Women’s Foundation of California’s Race, Gender and Human Rights Donor Circle is proud to support the Time for Change Foundation with grants totaling $149,700 since 2005

By Emma Mayerson, Development Assistant

Tamaya Garcia has been fighting for Assembly Bill 568 for two years with our grant partner the Center for Young Women’s Development. AB 568 would ensure that the least restrictive restraints possible are used on pregnant women who are in jail. In other words, it would end the use of belly chains, leg irons, ankle restraints and other  shackling devices that jeopardize the health of pregnant women and their unborn children – devices that are still used in jails and prisons across our state.

Tamaya was a 2010 fellow in our Women’s Policy Institute (WPI), a program that trains women to use public policy to create long-term change in California. Tamaya worked on AB 568 with a team of passionate advocates and devoted mentors. Although Tamaya has graduated from the program, her advocacy on the bill continues. Check out her thought-provoking article explaining AB 568 and the urgent need to support this bill as it makes its way to Governor Brown’s desk.