Women's Health Archives

Salem College Creates New Academic Model for Women in Health

Leadership does not begin in the workforce — so why should higher education ignore leadership efforts in healthcare? North Carolina’s Salem College seeks to address this education gap with a new focus on women’s leadership in the global health ecosystem. As one of the oldest women’s liberal arts colleges in the United States, Salem College recently announced its intention to become the first liberal arts institution dedicated to preparing the next generation of female leaders in health.

North Carolina’s Salem College recently announced its new dedication as the first liberal arts institution committed to women’s leadership in the global health ecosystem. (**Image Credit:** Salem College)

Calling the new campaign “a newly transformed academic model and undergraduate experience,” Salem College will offer new curricular and co-curricular components starting in Fall of 2021. The campaign involves three new health-oriented majors (Health Sciences, Health Humanities, and Health Advocacy and Humanitarian Systems) along with women’s leadership development programs.

Register Now! Critical Discussion on Abortion and Reproductive Justice

On March 3rd, Ipas, ARROW, SAfAIDS, and ASAP will join forces to present a webinar on the importance of a gender lens in healthcare.

Ipas, ARROW, SAfAIDS, and ASAP will discuss important topics concerning women's healthcare and COVID-19 on March 3rd. (Image credit: Ipas) — Ipas, ARROW, SAfAIDS, and ASAP will discuss important topics concerning women’s healthcare and COVID-19 on March 3rd. (Image credit: Ipas)

Building resilient reproductive health access
Why we must use a gender lens during the pandemic and after

Wednesday, March 3, 9:00 – 10:30am EST

As International Women’s Day approaches, please join us to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on women is driving innovation and new approaches to expand reproductive health access—right now and for the long term.

Presenters in this webinar will discuss how COVID-19 is impacting all facets of reproductive health and why a gender lens is necessary to overcome challenges and sustain change. And they’ll share examples of promising strategies and programs that can help build a more equitable reality for women and girls after the pandemic.

Sex Doesn’t Stop for a Pandemic: Maverick Collective Pivots in COVID

When the world stops, life keeps going — especially for communities where social isolation and living off of savings are not viable options.

Maverick Collective connects women and girls around the world with essential sexual and reproductive healthcare. (Image Credit: Maverick Collective/PSI)

It’s a well-known fact that COVID-19 has made life at the bottom of the social pyramid even harder. Women and girls around the world, particularly in communities of color, are among the hardest hit by the ripple effects of the pandemic. The news reports address loss of income, life, and community, but the lesser-known impacts should not be forgotten.

Access to healthcare, particularly for women, was already a commodity difficult to come by in certain parts of the world. Now, in the wake of the pandemic, women and girls’ access to contraceptives, feminine hygiene products, and maternity care hangs more precariously than ever before.

Gender Policy Council Needs its Own Budget to Focus on All Sectors

The newly established Gender Policy Council is anticipated to work across the board on governmental policy related to gender.

It has been roughly a month since the announcement from the Biden-Harris administration of its White House Gender Policy Council. As announced, the council is spearheaded by co-chairs, Jennifer Klein and Julissa Reynoso. During the Obama administration, a similar council called the White House Council on Women and Girls was created. Shortly after taking the presidency in 2016, Donald Trump disbanded that council. Now, Biden has reinstated a new council explicitly dedicated to working toward gender equality.

Jennifer Klein and Julissa Reynoso will head Biden’s Gender Policy Council. (Image Credit: MANA National)

Many in the Democratic leadership heralded the new Council and its leaders as an important breakthrough. “Congratulations to Jen Klein, who’s long been by my side on domestic and global women’s issues, and Julissa Reynoso, a dynamo who served with me in the State Department,” said Hillary Clinton, in a post on Twitter regarding the Gender Policy Council leadership. “Great to have this team on the front lines fighting for women and girls everywhere.”

Sarah Hillware: “Feminism Is Not Feminism Unless It’s Intersectional”

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Sarah Hillware, the Deputy Director of Women in Global Health (WGH), a 35,000+ strong women-led organization working to challenge power and privilege for gender equity in health.

1. What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

Personally, I wish I’d known that it was OK and, in fact, healthy, to take detours on my career journey. My path was not a straight and narrow one, but one which took me in directions that, at the time, I did not fully understand. For instance, I took a certification course in advertising sales and subsequently worked at a marketing and advertising firm for a year. That industry was not ultimately where I saw myself long- term, but the skills and knowledge I gained were invaluable, and ultimately helped me land my position at the World Bank.

My Survival Is Worth Funding: NCRP’s Brandi Collins-Calhoun

Editor’s Note: This interview in our Feminist Giving IRL series features Brandi Collins-Calhoun, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy Senior Movement Engagement Associate.

Brandi Collins-Calhoun, courtesy of *Brandi Collins-Calhoun*

1. What do you wish you had known when you started out in your profession?

I’m not sure that there was anything I could do to prepare to enter work that would be grounded in philanthropic feminism, especially knowing that the radicalization of mainstream feminism hasn’t happened across all movements and sectors yet. However, I wish I knew the weight of the shift from my life as an organizer fighting for my survival and safety to be centered, to my current role petitioning that my survival and safety is worth funding. I wish I knew how to find the balance and show up for myself through that process. There is often guilt and weight that comes with centering my needs in this work because this fight is so much bigger than just me, but I am reminded that Audre Lorde named that, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” That balance between holding the sector accountable and caring for myself is a radical act that is necessary for me to continue the work.

Women as Leaders, Not Victims, on the Path to Universal Healthcare

The intense repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have led to massive ripple effects felt around the world, particularly in marginalized communities and for the women and girls within them. Within this crisis, however, there are also opportunities for improving the status of women leaders and healthcare workers, and advancing toward universal healthcare as a basic human right.

However, the prevailing narrative around the pandemic tends to paint women and girls as “victims” of the pandemic, or victims of issues and events that impact access to healthcare. This may not be the best way to frame the issue, asserts Sarah Hillware of Women’s Global Health. Relegating women and girls to the role of “victim” can be a major barrier in the path to universal healthcare.

A Closer Look at Women’s Well-Being in Rhode Island

On January 27^th, a group of motivated and influential women gathered together for a virtual panel discussion surrounding the launch of the Rhode Island Women’s Well-Being Index, a data-driven, collaborative effort led by the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island. The index is the first of its kind in Rhode Island aimed at truly capturing the unique data necessary to further understand women’s well-being on a multi-faceted level. Intending to dive deeper into women-specific issues, the Index covers five distinct areas: Health, Personal Safety, Employment & Earnings, Economic Security, and Political Empowerment.

The index takes a closer look at each city and town in Rhode Island to allow for some shockingly stark contrasts. National averages are presented as a backdrop for these RI-specific numbers. Some are encouraging and many are not. Policy recommendations are also laid out within each data set, detailing a strategy for reducing these inequities.

(Liveblog) Building Multicultural Leadership with Ready to Lead

On Thursday, January 28th, the Girls Leadership team and representatives from Open Access, TPG, Morgan Stanley, the National Hockey League, and TIME’S UP gathered to discuss the changing face of the American workforce. Based off of the organization’s pivotal Ready to Lead report, the second of Girls Leadership’s three roundtable discussions focused on the implications of the report’s findings on the workforce of the future.

The report details leadership supports and barriers for Black and Latinx girls and exposes the factors that make it difficult for these girls to rise into leadership positions. External challenges like the tendency for school systems and workforce upper management to be dominated by white employers, leaders, and authority figures, represent a major barrier to Black and Latinx girls carrying their own torches of leadership into the future.

Responding to Worsening Maternal Mortality, Merck Grants $9 Million

On January 27^th, Merck for Mothers, Merck & Co.’s $500 million global initiative with the sole purpose to “create a world where no woman has to die while giving life,” announced this year’s cohort of grant designations. These grants total an impressive $9 million allocated to their Safer Childbirth Cities program, the community-action coalition fighting the rising rates of preventable maternal death in the US.

After requesting a second round of grant proposals in June of 2020, Merck for Mothers narrowed down the proposals depending on their eligibility and proposed initiatives for addressing the maternal health disparities within their cities. The chosen communities will be provided with up to $1 million in funding to apply their own evidence-based interventions. On top of the 10 cities from the first cohort of grants released to Safer Childbirth Cities in 2019, cities included in the newly accepted grant proposals are Brooklyn, NY; Detroit, MI; Norfolk, VA; San Francisco, CA; St. Louis, MO; Tampa, FL; Tulsa, OK; Trenton, NJ; and Washington D.C.

Category: Women’s Health