Episode #11 – September 5, 2019 Subscribe to the Organize Your Butterflies Podcast: APPLE PODCASTS  |  GOOGLE PLAY  |  STITCHER  |  SPOTIFY | TUNEIN | RSS Erin Vilardi, Founder and Director of VoteRunLead In the latest episode of “Organize Your Butterflies,” YWCA USA CEO Alejandra Y. Castillo sits down with Erin Vilardi, Founder and Director of VoteRunLead. In this episode, released in conjunction… Continue Reading Run As You Are: How VoteRunLead Inspires Women to Lead

During the first 12 months since Norma Herr Women’s Center — the only publicly funded shelter for single-women in Cuyahoga County, Ohio — came under the management of YWCA Greater Cleveland, 300 women experiencing homelessness at the shelter transitioned to stable housing, an increase of more than 230 percent. YWCA USA CEO Alejandra Y. Castillo… Continue Reading YWCA Greater Cleveland: Providing Support for Women to Find Housing

Over 300 YWCA leaders from across the country gathered together last week to connect and learn together during our biennial National Conference in Washington, D.C. During several days of panel discussions, speeches, and workshop sessions, leaders focused on identifying new opportunities and forging new connections to help us unleash and leverage our power as a… Continue Reading 2019 National Conference: Dare To Be Powerful

By Saida Agostini, Director of Capacity Building, YWCA USA When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. — Audre Lorde When I first read these words in Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider, I just sat the book… Continue Reading When I Dare To Be Powerful

As an organization that has been working for justice for over 160 years, we at YWCA know how important it is to continue having dialogue and building community among those who work for racial justice, and to relentlessly persist in raising awareness about the impact of institutional and structural racism in our communities. That’s why, every… Continue Reading Join Us: Take A Stand Against Racism

Sharing the Burden of Racial Equity Work in the Workplace By Lily Eisner, Policy & Program Assistant, YWCA USA I’m going to let you in on an uncomfortable secret: diversity does not spontaneously create racial equity. So often, organizations believe fighting racism in the workplace begins and ends with increasing representation. Unfortunately, this is only… Continue Reading Simply Hiring People of Color Is Not a Racial Equity Strategy

By Natalie Cone, State Advocacy and Civic Engagement Manager, YWCA USA The organizing efforts of women in civic engagement have shaped and strengthened our democracy. From the suffragettes who fought for the passage of the 19th Amendment almost 100 years ago to Fannie Lou Hamer and Ella Baker who fought for civil and voting rights… Continue Reading When Women are Civically Engaged, Our Democracy is Stronger