NEW YORK -- February 23 -- The Ms. Foundation for Women announced today its first Public Voices, Public Policy: Realizing the Power of Women of Color grant recipients. Staying true to its vision of a just and safe world filled with possibility for all women, the Ms. Foundation launched this bold, new initiative to diversify the voices and leaders in public policy, and to promote women of color leaders who advocate on behalf of their communities in national, state and local policy arenas. Public Voices, Public Policy will award $75,000 each to seven women's organizations for general operating support. In addition to the grants, the Ms. Foundation will provide the organizations with networking opportunities and training focused on media outreach and organizational fund-raising.

"With Public Voices, Public Policy we are implementing a more focused approach to increasing the voice and power of women of color in the policy-making process, as well as addressing policy in a broad framework," said Sara K. Gould, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women. "Public Voices, Public Policy will bring historically marginalized women into the center of the national policy discussion, and put decision-making back in the hands of activists."

"There is no question - we are thrilled," said grant recipient Malika Saada Saar, founder and executive director of The Rebecca Project for Human Rights in Washington, D.C. which works to expand low-income mothers' access to family-based substance-abuse treatment. "It's an honor being supported by the Ms. Foundation. We don't often get funded in recognition as women of color doing leadership in our communities."

The six other Public Voices awardees are:

• Alliance for Early Childhood Professionals (AECP), Minneapolis. Founded in 1979 to advocate for
  state policy that develops a diverse, well-paid and trained early childhood workforce.
  
• Asian Immigrant Woman Advocates (AIWA), Oakland, Calif. Founded in 1983 to empower low-income,
  limited English-speaking women and youth to advocate for equal services in their workplaces and communities.
  
• Cangleska, Kyle, S.D. Founded 15 years ago to promote individual change and institutional policies
  focused on healing Native women and families surviving domestic violence.
  
• California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA), Grass Valley, Calif. This multi-tribal
  organization founded in 1991 works to ensure the protection of water and lands which support weaving traditions linked to the survival of Native culture.
  
• Colonias Development Council, Las Cruces, N.M. Formed 10 years ago and dedicated to improving the
  quality of life for colonia residents living within 150 miles of the US/Mexico border where communities lack basic infrastructure or decent housing.
  
• National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, New York. Founded in 1994 to enhance the quality
  of life and the reproductive health of Latinas nationwide through public education, community mobilization, policy and advocacy.

"This Initiative is unique in the field of philanthropy," said Program Officer Mia White. "Our partnership with women of color working on public policy is timely and forward thinking - building on our over 30 years of innovation."

Organizations receiving Public Voices, Public Policy grants must be led by women of color, have less than a $1-million budget, and develop their programs and issues from a community base or constituency.

The Ms. Foundation for Women, Inc., founded in 1972 with headquarters in New York City, is the first and the leading national women's philanthropy. We lift women's and girls' voices and promote their power to create a more equitable society. The Ms. Foundation for Women provides approximately $4 million in grants and practical training to community-based and national activist women's organizations throughout the U.S. each year. Our support makes these organizations stronger and more capable of driving social change and public policy advances in the areas of health and safety, economic security, and women's and girls' leadership. The Foundation is the creator of the award-winning national public education program, Take Our Daughters To WorkR Day, which began in 1993 and evolved to Take Our Daughters and Sons To WorkR Day in 2003. For more information about the Ms. Foundation for Women, please visit our Web site at www.ms.foundation.org <http://www.ms.foundation.org/>. Media Contact: Alice Leeds, Director, External Communications 212-709-4450 office 917-523-5029 mobile aleeds@ms.foundation.org 120 Wall Street, 33rd floor New York, NY 10005

Alliance for Early Childhood Professionals $75,000
Minneapolis, MN
Executive Director: Margaret Boyer

Alliance for Early Childhood Professionals (AECP) was founded in 1979 to advocate for and support the development of a diverse, well-paid, and trained early childhood workforce. AECP's leadership and constituency are multiracial and include women of color from the local Native American, African American, Sudanese, Somali, Latino, and Hmong communities. AECP works statewide in Minnesota to accomplish their advocacy work, which includes collaborative partnerships to develop state policy recommendations and to successfully lobby for changes in the state legislature. Past successes include: organizing the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization Alliance, which successfully passed the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization resolution at the 2004 legislature, and introducing a rate reimbursement strategy that passed and raised the reimbursement rates of over 13,000 family home providers in Minnesota. AECP also engages in critical work to advance the management of culturally responsive, quality, fully funded childcare system. AECP's work in this area includes initiating a screening strategy for Somali children in Minnesota and working to design the first computer simulation in the nation to estimate the cost of a fully funded childcare system.

This grant will further AECP's advocacy and action work to develop new leadership, particularly in under represented communities, who will do organizing work to enhance their communities' access to and participation in the development of a culturally responsive, quality, fully funded childcare system. AECP's strategies to accomplish this overreaching goal are centered around the development of new leadership in the early childhood workforce. AECP will continue to use the Leaders Circle concept, in which each Circle participant works on an individual goal, each Circle works on a group project with systemic impact systemic to enhance quality care for children, and all Circles work together for major system change. Through the work of the Leaders Circles, AECP hopes to realize financial support from the Minnesota state legislature for the Dakota Ojibwe Language Revitalization, a more culturally responsive Child Care Basic Sliding Fee policy, and the development of a strategic plan to develop the first urban early childhood Dakota and Ojibwe language immersion program.

Asian Immigrant Women Advocates $75,000
Oakland, CA
Executive Director: Young Shin

Since its foundation in 1983, the mission of Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA) has been to empower low-income, limited English speaking Asian immigrant women and youth to bring about positive changes in their workplaces, communities and broader society. AIWA mainly works with women workers in the garment, hotel, restaurant, electronics assembly and other low-wage industries in Oakland, San Francisco, and Santa Clara County's "Silicon Valley". By engaging these women in education, leadership development and collective action, AIWA enables them to better fight for dignity and justice in their working and living conditions. AIWA women leaders have numerous organizing achievements of which this year include a successful Ergonomic Improvement campaign that obtained government grants to establish a Chair Lending Library and provide ergonomic workstations to workers and contractors. Also this year, AIWA young women and their parents organized a successful language access campaign, which ensured that the local high school with the largest number of Cantonese speakers would be able to hire their first bilingual community assistant.

This grant will support AIWA's work in 2005 as they focus on the issue of affordable health insurance for working poor, which disproportionally affects low income immigrant women of color. In a grassroots campaign to realize affordable health insurance through policy and institutional changes, AIWA will fully utilize their extensive background in community education, leadership development, and collective action. The Workplace Literacy Project and the Computer Literacy Project will focus their social activism based curriculum on the issue of health insurance access. The Leadership programs at all levels will continue to develop leaders within AIWA's community to better organize. The advanced leadership retreats will focus on building an in-depth understanding of issues related to accessible health insurance and a workplan to determine the short-term and long-term activities and goals needed to realize change. Lastly, AIWA will begin a short term campaign to address the Alameda and Santa Clara county governments to advocate for effective health insurance coverage for working poor families, and a long term campaign to build a coalition of five health advocacy organizations, centered on the participation of immigrant women's leadership, for universal healthcare.

California Indian Basketweavers $75,000
Nevada City, CA
Executive Director: Shannon Brawley

In 1991, California Indian Basketweavers Association (CIBA) was founded as a Native California Indian women-led organization. As a state-wide, multi-tribal entity CIBA works to achieve greater respect, economic strength, and freedom for California Indian women by influencing public policy that impacts these women, their communities, and their cultures. Basket weaving is a central element of California Indian cultures, but this tradition was almost distinguished. Weavers were separated from the land and restricted from gathering their plants. Basket weaving became alienated even within tribal cultures and communities. CIBA maintains a strong basket weaver support structure that has resulted in a growth of 650 weavers today, where only 250 existed in 1991. One of CIBA's main methods of support is to educate tribal councils and governments on issues impacting their weavers both within the tribal contextand in issues involving the U.S. government. CIBA engages in powerful advocacy with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, the U.S. Forest Service Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to change how pesticides are used in areas that impact Native traditions and communities. As a result of CIBA's advocacy, the EPA now includes the impacts on Native basket weaving in their licensing of pesticide use and has discontinued use of most toxic chemicals. CIBA's work to fund basket weaving programs in public schools and other outreach efforts reconnect tribal youth to their cultural values, language, and basket weaving traditions. Because of the unique and outstanding nature of their work, CIBA women are called on as experts in environmental justice, land use, Native rights, pesticide use, and museum exhibit accuracy and appropriateness. CIBA women leaders serve as consultants, teachers, lecturers, speaker, and demonstrators.

This grant will support the building of CIBA's infrastructure as they move forward in several areas. Most notably, CIBA will be moving their main office to Sacremento, CA. This central location is home to three colleges and is also the place of the highest density of Native Americans in the state. CIBA believes that this move will allow them to better serve their constituency. Another piece of achieving this goal is to develop staff and board skills with trainings and workshops. Finally, CIBA aims to strengthen their financial stability as an organization, primarily to fund their staff salaries in order to maintain continuity during moving transition. CIBA knows that each of these components is critical work to better serve their community base as they engage in a process to refine their goals and strategies to reach the growing numbers of Native American basket weavers. CIBA's advocacy and policy work will continue to strengthen economic power, cultural survival, and environmental justice in their constituent
communities. Cangleska- Sacred Circle $75,000
Kyle, SD
Executive Director: Karen Artichoker

Founded 15 years ago, Cangelska's mission is to change individual and institutional beliefs that justify the oppression of Native women. They believe in working to transform tribal families and communities into a circle of balance and harmony while understanding that this requires individual growth and systemic responsibility. Cangleska structures its work around two shelters for battered women and their children. Seven programs, working in outreach advocacy, coordinated community response, and civil-legal work, operate around these shelters as necessary elements in serving the Native women in Cangleska's community. Sacred Circle, one of these programs and located in Rapid City, is a national resource center providing technical assistance and training to Indian Tribes, tribal organizations and others working to end violence against native women. As one of the five national resource centers on domestic violence, it is the only one dedicated specifically to ending violence against native women. The shelters of Cangleska and Sacred Circle are models of culturally relevant advocacy and safety, which are replicated in other Native communities. The concept of sovereign women within sovereign nations guides all of their work. Cangleska influences policy by directly engaging with the nine districts in their local reservation, actively participating at state committee hearings, and maintaining relationships with key members of Congress. In addition to their success in influencing policy in this way, one of Cangleska's important successes is their leadership in the South Dakota Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Coalition, which has
taken steps to move beyond past coalitions by giving native women an equal voice.

This grant will support Sacred Circle's work to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). New language within the proposed legislation would specifically protect the safety of Native women by restoring tribal jurisdiction in cases of violence by non-Indians against native women and by providing funding for tribes to build a resource infrastructure to assist native women who are battered and/or raped and their children. In order to accomplish this goal, Sacred Circle will continue its educational and informational initiatives within Indian Country. They will also increase their distribution of booklets and presentations to reach non-Indian advocates state and nation wide. A large part of this effort to expand beyond native organizations and communities will consist of Sacred Circle's participation and leadership in state and national partnerships on the reauthorization of VAWA and other related issues.

Colonias Development Council $75,000
Las Cruces, NM
Executive Director: Sheila Black

The Colonias Development Council (CDC) is a council formed ten years ago of grassroots community organizations in colonias in the Dana Ana County area of New Mexico within 150 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. CDC's mission is to improve the quality of life for colonia residents, whose communities lack basic infrastructure or decent housing, through grassroots organizing and leadership development. CDC strives to build power among colonia residents by developing leadership, especially among colonia women, and building strong grassroots organizations that work to address the issues identified by the residents as key concerns. In their work, CDC encourages the civic participation and policy advocacy of the colonia residents in areas of work including: immigration and civil rights, community and economic development, youth empowerment, and environmental justice. One of CDC's most prominent policy advocacy successes is their work with the New Mexico Wastewatch Project, whose partners have realized the passage of four bills into the state legislature that ensure air and water quality standards in New Mexico match federal standards. CDC has also worked independently with the New Mexico State Environmental Department to make certain that community input is present in all decision making processes regarding state environmental policies. As a result of CDC's negotiations, New Mexico created the CDC-proposed State Environmental Justice Commission, named the CDC Executive Director as an alternate member of the Commission, and now regularly holds town hall meetings on environmental policies throughout the state.

This grant will support CDC's work to continue their long-term organizing efforts in southern New Mexico's colonias. CDC will establish multiple trainings on civic participation, immigrant rights, and farmworker labor issues for colonia residents. In addition, CDC will develop a series of women-centered dialogues with women leaders about faith and policy in the context of the current political climate. To achieve their goals for environmental justice on a local scale, CDC will continue its programs of community clean ups and community organizing trainings on environmental health issues. At the state level, CDC will continue their participation in the campaign to adopt the Precautionary Principle in New Mexico. As a final component of their long-term organizing work, CDC will continue to build equity and leadership among colonia women with ongoing professional development work through the Childcare/Economic Development Initiative (CC/EDI).
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health $75,000
New York, NY
Executive Director: Silvia Henriquez

Founded in 1994, the mission of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) is to enhance the quality of life and the reproductive health of Latinas nationwide through public education, community mobilization, and policy and advocacy. NLIRH places their struggle to improve the reproductive health of Latinas within a broader social justice framework that seeks to end poverty and discrimination while affirming human dignity and the right to self-determination. NLIRH serves as an advocacy engine and vehicle by which Latinas can voice their concerns and demands to the institutions and officials with whom Latinas have limited access to, but whom determine the policies that impact Latinas' lives. NLIRH is engaged in the first National Latina Reproductive Health public education campaign, which was launched with the distribution of bilingual fact sheets. NLIRH has developed a report on the methods and lessons learned from their work, as well as a report on reproductive health and rights issues affecting Latina immigrants. Coalition-building is another important part of NLIRH's work. NLIRH convened 200 Latina activists for the first National Latina Leadership Summit in 2004, and they recruited and mobilized over 3000 Latinas to the Marches for Women's Lives in New York and Washington D.C. NLIRH's contact database, website, and newsletter are critical tools that they have developed to enhance their capacity as a convener of Latina activists and to accomplish their goals as a vehicle for Latina advocacy.

This grant will support the implementation of NLIRH's National Policy Agenda for Reproductive Justice. The research and writing for this agenda was accomplished in the last year and unveiled at the Leadership Summit. With the hire of an Associate Director of Policy and the completion of a Congressional Briefing on the agenda, NLIRH is moving quickly into the implementation stage. The Agenda and its recommendations are framed around the following priorities issues: access to universal and affordable healthcare, improved and expanded culturally and linguistically competent healthcare services, increased funding for family planning services, promoting comprehensive sexuality education, advancing reproductive rights and contraceptive equity, and developing accurate and unbiased research on the health status of Latinas. It is NLIRH's goal for a broad base of Latinas to endorse and adopt their national policy recommendations. This funding will enable NLIRH to pursue this goal by continuing to develop new Latina leadership, increase Latinas knowledge of reproductive health issues, and to build reproductive justice campaigns centered on Latinas and women of color.
The Rebecca Project for Human Rights $75,000
Washington, D.C.
Executive Director: Malika Saada Saar

The Rebecca Project for Human Rights was founded four years ago as a policy advocacy organization to expand low-income mothers' access to family-based substance abuse treatment. The Rebecca Project works with a unique approach that combines local leadership from the mothers and families living in urban District of Columbia with broader national policy work. This approach is the basis of the Rebecca Project's values and also a key strategy in their work. The Rebecca Project has two creative grassroots projects that comprise their local organizing and leadership work. Crossing the River is a year long workshop on written, spoken, and expressed word at a family drug treatment program for low-income parents in Anacostia (Southeast D.C.). Its aim is to move mothers through a healing process and to empower them to reclaim their space in the public forum. Sacred Authority is a leadership network of mothers in recovery from substance abuse. These mothers work together to bring the experiences of low-income families with substance abuse issues to the policy making tables in D.C. and especially within Congress. In addition to these grassroots projects, the Rebecca Project utilizes its resources to engage in campaigns to reform the welfare system to accommodate TANF families in recovery, to eliminate the Drug Felony Ban, and to expand family treatment capacity on the national level. One of the results of this extensive advocacy and education work with members of Congress is that Republican Senators Snowe and Hatch extended treatment as a TANF work activity from three months to six months in the Senate's legislation for welfare reauthorization.

This grant will support the Rebecca Project's work to expand family treatment programs and to advocate for treatment, not incarceration, for mothers. The Rebecca Project articulates several strategies by which to achieve these goals. These strategies include bringing policymakers, staffers, and advocates to Sacred Authority mother-led briefings and to family treatment program sites in D.C. and their respective home cities. The Rebecca Project will also publish or exhibit the writings of Crossing the River mothers as testimonies for the need change in public policy and the expansion of access to family treatment programs. The Rebecca Project will conduct a public awareness campaign, with a significant media component, on the distinct condition of mothers convicted of non-violent drug felonies who remain untreated for their addictions. In addition to documenting their testimonies, the voices and experiences of formerly incarcerated mothers in recovery will direct the recommendations and actions of the Rebecca Project's awareness campaign.

###