Women's Way
A Philadelphia-area nonprofit that combines grantmaking, advocacy, and public education to advance equity and opportunity for women and girls.
Last updated October 14, 2026
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Overview
Women's Way is a United States nonprofit organization focused on women, girls, and families in the Greater Philadelphia region. Organized in 1976 by leaders from several financially strained women-centered nonprofits, it was created as a shared funding and advocacy structure. The founding coalition brought together organizations working on workplace equality, rape-crisis services, legal advocacy, reproductive healthcare, counseling for women experiencing separation or divorce, and support for women and girls returning from incarceration. By pooling fundraising and administrative capacity, the coalition sought to make causes that were often politically controversial or difficult to finance more visible and sustainable. The organization describes itself as a grantmaking, advocacy, and education institution and has historically operated as a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit. Its long-term vision is to provide a strong collective voice for women while identifying unmet needs, sharing knowledge, and challenging social inequities. Rather than selling commercial products, Women's Way provides financial support, convening, research, public education, policy advocacy, leadership development, and networking opportunities. Women's Way became nationally visible in 1980 after United Way rejected its membership application. The rejection was connected to the positions of some Women's Way member agencies on abortion and birth control and to United Way's agreement with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The dispute contributed to the introduction of a donor-designation option in the Philadelphia United Way system, allowing employees to direct payroll contributions to organizations outside the traditional United Way membership structure. The organization's programming has evolved over time. Earlier work centered on supporting member agencies and maintaining a funding federation. From the 2000s onward, Women's Way developed a more integrated model combining grantmaking with public policy and education. Its areas of concern have included reproductive choice and women's healthcare, maternal health, domestic and sexual violence, human trafficking, workplace and economic equality, paid leave and family-supportive employment policies, girls' leadership, and the underrepresentation of women in corporate, civic, and elected leadership. Grantmaking has included the Community Women's Fund, which supports direct-service and advocacy organizations serving diverse groups of women and families; Action Partners, a program providing deeper, multi-year general operating support to selected organizations; and the Turning Point Prize, administered through the Women for Social Innovation giving circle. Historical recipients and partners have included organizations working in youth leadership, childcare and economic self-sufficiency, domestic violence prevention, reproductive rights, sexual-violence services, and support for economically disadvantaged women. Women's Way has also maintained a substantial public-education portfolio. Its Women's Issues Summit brings together regional nonprofit representatives to identify emerging needs and inform funding and advocacy priorities. The Women and Influence Conference provides a public forum on a selected issue, while the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize recognizes a female author whose work contributes to discussion of women's rights. The A Change of Pace research series has examined women's socioeconomic conditions and political concerns in the region. Other activities have included policy briefings, the Young Women's Initiative for women under 40, fundraising performances, film screenings, and leadership and networking events. The organization has worked on state and municipal responses to human trafficking, including support for legislation requiring the display of trafficking-hotline information at transportation and travel facilities and local measures addressing survivor services and licensing of certain massage establishments. It has also participated in healthcare-reform advocacy and campaigns for paid sick days in Philadelphia. In 2011, a paid-sick-leave measure supported by Women's Way passed City Council but was vetoed by Mayor Michael Nutter; a narrower version was later enacted. As of the latest leadership information supplied in the reference material, Wendy Voet was identified as executive director in 2013. The organization remains a regional nonprofit rather than a publicly traded company, and current financial, executive, and operating details are not established by the available material.
History
Women's Way originated in Philadelphia in 1976, when leaders of several women-focused nonprofits decided that cooperation was necessary to survive financially and gain influence. The founding group included Lynn Yeakel, Louise Page, Ernesta Drinker Ballard, Margaret Bacon, Winnie Schoefer, and Cathy Strauss. Their coalition brought together seven organizations addressing workplace equality, rape-crisis services, women's legal rights, reproductive and gynecological healthcare, counseling during separation and divorce, and reentry support for women and girls leaving incarceration. The resulting federation was designed to centralize fundraising and provide a stronger platform for advocacy. Seed funding came from the William Penn Foundation, and Ernesta Drinker Ballard became the first president. In 1978 the organization held its first annual dinner, the Powerful Voice Awards. Coretta Scott King received the inaugural Lucretia Mott Award, establishing a continuing tradition of honoring prominent contributions to women's rights and social justice. Women's Way gained broader attention in 1980 through a dispute with United Way. Its application for United Way membership was denied because several affiliated agencies supported abortion and birth control, positions that conflicted with an arrangement between United Way and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The controversy helped lead United Way to establish a donor-choice mechanism through which participating employees could direct payroll deductions to qualifying nonprofits outside the United Way membership system. Women's Way later broadened its public profile through conferences and cultural fundraising. In November 1987 it organized the national conference Unfinished Agenda: Women's Future Under the Constitution, marking the bicentennial context of the United States Constitution and examining women's status in education, violence prevention, economic equality, and reproductive choice. The conference featured more than 85 speakers from politics, journalism, academia, activism, and the arts. Fundraising events in the 1990s included Women in Concert in 1990 and the comedy program Humor Her in 1995. In 1997 the Young Women's Initiative was established to engage women under 40 through service, networking, workshops, and discussions of women's issues. For its twentieth anniversary, Women's Way worked with artist Diane Keller and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program on a mural unveiled in 1999 on John F. Kennedy Boulevard between 21st and 22nd Streets. The mural represented women and girls from varied backgrounds and incorporated feminist and everyday-life imagery alongside the organization's identity. The 2000s marked a more structured expansion of programming. Women's Way began the Women and Influence Conference in 2002 and issued the A Change of Pace research report in 2003. The first Women's Issues Summit followed in 2005, creating a recurring forum in which regional nonprofit representatives could identify emerging needs and inform the organization's grantmaking and advocacy agenda. In 2006 it launched the Community Women's Fund, and in 2007 it introduced the Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize. In 2008 Women's Way formally added public education and public-policy advocacy to its organizational model. Its policy agenda included women's healthcare and reproductive rights, prevention of domestic and sexual violence, economic equality, family-supportive workplace policies, and leadership development. It participated in the Southeastern Pennsylvania branch of Raising Women's Voices and worked with the National Women's Health Network on federal healthcare reform. The organization also joined efforts to improve responses to human trafficking, supporting state legislation requiring trafficking-hotline information at selected transportation and travel facilities and pursuing Philadelphia measures concerning survivor assistance and licensing of certain massage establishments. Film screenings and panel discussions were used to build public support. The organization continued to refine its grantmaking structure in 2011, replacing its former member-agency model with Women's Way Action Partners. The first six Action Partners were announced in July 2012. The new approach offered selected nonprofits a deeper relationship and up to three years of general operating support. Alongside Action Partners, the Community Women's Fund continued annual grantmaking, while the Women for Social Innovation giving circle provided seed funding through the Turning Point Prize to emerging organizations using innovative approaches to challenges facing women, girls, or families. Women's Way's policy work also included the Philadelphia paid-sick-leave debate. A measure supported by the organization passed City Council in June 2011 but was vetoed by Mayor Michael Nutter; a narrower version was subsequently enacted. By the 2010s, the organization presented itself as a regional funding, advocacy, and education leader focused on identifying unmet needs, connecting organizations, producing research, and challenging inequities. Available reference material identifies Wendy Voet as executive director in 2013. Current leadership and detailed present-day operations are not established in the supplied sources.
- 2012
First Action Partners announced
[1]Six organizations are selected as the first Action Partners.
- 2011
Action Partners model is developed
[1]The organization restructures grantmaking around deeper relationships with selected nonprofit partners.
- 2008
Public education and policy programs launch
[1]Women's Way expands its institutional model to include formal advocacy and public education.
- 2007
Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize launches
[1]The annual prize is created to recognize female authors advancing discussion of women's rights.
- 2006
Community Women's Fund launches
[1]Women's Way establishes a grantmaking program for direct services and advocacy.
- 2005
Women's Issues Summit begins
[1]The annual summit creates a structured process for regional organizations to identify emerging issues.
- 2003
A Change of Pace research series begins
[1]The organization releases its signature research report on women's socioeconomic status and related public-policy concerns.
- 2002
Women and Influence Conference begins
[1]Women's Way establishes a public conference focused on a selected issue affecting women.
- 1999
Twentieth-anniversary mural unveiled
[1]A Women's Way mural is created with Diane Keller and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.
- 1997
Young Women's Initiative begins
[1]The organization launches an outreach and networking initiative for women under 40.
Products and positioning
A regional women's-equity organization that combines philanthropic capital, policy advocacy, research, convening, and public education rather than relying on a single program or service model.
Grantmaking program · 2006
Community Women's Fund
An annual grantmaking program supporting nonprofits that provide direct services or advocacy for women, girls, and families. Historical priority areas include reproductive rights, comprehensive sexuality education, economic equality, leadership development for girls, violence prevention, and services for elderly, LGBTQ, immigrant, disabled, low-income, and incarcerated populations.
Multi-year nonprofit support · 2011
Action Partners
A grantmaking and partnership model introduced to replace the earlier member-agency structure. Selected organizations receive deeper engagement and up to three years of general operating support. Examples cited in the reference material include Alice Paul Institute, Childspace Cooperative Development, Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, Women's Law Project, Women's Opportunities Resource Center, and Women Organized Against Rape.
Innovation grant
Turning Point Prize
A seed-funding award administered through the Women for Social Innovation giving circle. It supports an emerging nonprofit using an entrepreneurial or innovative approach to a difficult problem affecting a specific population of women, girls, or families. Cited past recipients include Mommy Grads, Rock to the Future, and Empowered Mom's Thinktank.
Convening and public education · 2005
Women's Issues Summit
An annual gathering of representatives from nonprofits serving women, girls, and families in the region. Participants work in themed groups to identify emerging issues, then share findings that help shape Women's Way's grantmaking and public-policy priorities while strengthening cross-sector connections.
Public forum · 2002
Women and Influence Conference
A public conference centered on one selected issue affecting women. The 2011 theme was Taking Charge: Women and Work. The program complements the broader Women's Issues Summit by focusing public attention on a particular policy or social question.
Research publication · 2003
A Change of Pace
Women's Way's signature research report, designed to assess women's socioeconomic conditions, viewpoints on selected political issues, and continuing barriers. The findings are shared with local organizations and help inform the organization's grantmaking and advocacy agenda. Editions cited in the reference material were released in 2003 and 2008.
Literary award · 2007
Ernesta Drinker Ballard Book Prize
An annual award for a recently published female author whose work contributes meaningfully to public dialogue about women's rights and gender equity.
Leadership and networking program · 1997
Young Women's Initiative
An outreach program for women under 40 that combines community-service opportunities, networking events, a book club, and workshops on subjects such as social media and work-life balance.
Marketing campaigns
- 2011Philadelphia paid sick days advocacy
Philadelphia
Women's Way worked with the Coalition for Healthy Families and Workplaces to advocate for paid sick days for Philadelphia workers and their families.
Outcome. The supported bill passed City Council in June 2011 but was vetoed by Mayor Michael Nutter. A shorter version was later enacted.
- Human trafficking hotline and survivor-support advocacy
Pennsylvania · Philadelphia
Women's Way supported state legislation requiring selected travel and transportation facilities to display the National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline and worked locally on survivor assistance and licensing requirements for massage establishments.
- Women's healthcare and reproductive-rights advocacy
Southeastern Pennsylvania · United States
The organization advocated for access to reproductive healthcare, broader women's health services, and attention to women's concerns in federal healthcare reform.
Brand decisions
2011
Replace the member-agency model with Action PartnersStrategyBackground
Women's Way sought to deepen its relationships with selected nonprofits while continuing broader grantmaking through other funds.
Action taken
The organization introduced Action Partners, offering selected organizations up to three years of general operating support.
Aftermath
The first six Action Partners were announced in July 2012.
2008
Add formal public education and policy advocacyStrategyBackground
Women's Way had historically operated primarily as a funding federation and sought to increase its influence on systemic issues.
Action taken
The organization launched dedicated public-education and advocacy/public-policy programs.
Aftermath
Its agenda expanded to include healthcare, violence prevention, trafficking, workplace equity, economic self-sufficiency, and women's leadership.
Sources2 sources
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