Women's Funding Network Announces $3 Million 'Women Moving Jobs' Commitment for Jobs Growth Programs at Clinton Global Initiative

NEW YORK, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Women's Funding Network announced during the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative its commitment to fund $3 million in "shovel ready" projects for job creation, placement, and retention to improve the lives of thousands of women and girls and their families, especially single female heads of households with vulnerable children, while also contributing to the recovery of the U.S. economy.

The program, Women Moving Jobs, is being carried out in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and five women's foundations that are members of Women's Funding Network, which connects and strengthens more than 165 women's and girls' foundations around the world: Ms. Foundation for Women, The New York Women's Foundation, The Women's Foundation of Colorado, Washington Area Women's Foundation and Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis.

Women Moving Jobs has already received $1.8 million in secured funding that will go to programs lifting women and girls out of poverty through:

• Job training, placement and retention best practices; entrepreneurship and small business creation; and other job-related strategies to help women and families that have been hit hard by the economic crisis.
• Partnerships with business, government, and philanthropy to broaden support for jobs growth programs funded by women's foundations.

The program comes at a critical time for women living in the U.S., especially single female heads of households who are facing a 13% unemployment rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The poverty rate for these single mothers is 37%: more than three times the national poverty rate and a higher rate than any other demographic group. By improving the economic status of single women heads of households, Women Moving Jobs programs will directly improve the lives of our nation's most vulnerable children – more than 17.4 million of which are expected to be living in poverty this year.

Women's Funding Network President & CEO Christine Grumm said the program will have a significantly positive impact in the U.S. and will bolster economic recovery efforts for years to come. "It is well known that providing women with skills and support to improve their economic standing has a multiplier effect on their families and communities. Women Moving Jobs is harnessing major resources and directing them at women and communities who are most marginalized – with little or no income."

As the investment manager for Women Moving Jobs, Women's Funding Network will work with women's foundations to choose and invest significant funding in replicable and scalable investment models. It will also work with its member women's foundations to secure critical partnerships across sectors at the local, regional, and national levels and ensure that successes are evaluated, documented, and replicated throughout the United States.

About Women's Funding Network

As a global network of more than 165 women's funds and a movement for social justice, Women's Funding Network accelerates women's leadership and invests in solving critical social issues — from poverty to global security — by bringing together the financial power, influence and voices of women's funds. Learn more at www.womensfundingnetwork.org.

About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa. For further information, please visit the Foundation's Website at www.wkkf.org.

SOURCE Women's Funding Network