The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently released research on charitable giving among states. As a native of Massachusetts who has worked at several non-profits, I was confident Massachusetts would place high on the list where I could be proud. After all, doesn’t Massachusetts always seem to fall somewhere in the best 20% of all those research polls, from income, to education to job prospects.

I was disappointed, and honestly felt shocked, to find Massachusetts and the rest of the New England states to be the 6 least philanthropic states. People in New England give the smallest percentage of their income to charity, on average 2.8% of their income goes charity.

Continue reading MA is one of the 6 least philanthropic states?! →

ARE YOU AN ALLY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE?

Nicola Curtin, an assistant professor of psychology at Clark University, is conducting an interview study with people who do community engagement, activism, advocacy, or volunteer work that they think of as being “ally” in nature. The goal of this study is to understand how people who do community-based work think about their engagement, themselves, and what it means to be an ally.

There are different ways that one might think of being an ally. One of the dictionary definitions, for example, is “someone who is associated with another as a helper” another defines ally as a “friend.”  Another way to think of allies are as people who work for social change that most directly benefits others– groups to which they do not themselves belong. You might have a different definition of what it means to be an ally.

However you define the term, if you would be interested in being interviewed as a part of this study, please contact Dr. Curtin’s Lab group at (curtinlab@gmail.com). You have any specific questions about the project please contact Dr. Curtin at ncurtin@clarku.edu. Interviews are expected to last between 1.5- 2 hours, and participants will be compensated for their time with a gift certificate.

Participation is entirely voluntary, and you can withdraw from the study at any time without penalty, or choose not to talk about anything you don’t wish to discuss. No one from any organization with which you are affiliated will know about your participation, unless you choose to tell them about it.

(Not a part of nor supported by the Boston Women’s Fund. BWF is just passing along information about the study.)

The Center for American Progress recently released a report on “The State of Women of Color in the United States: Although They’ve Made Incredible Strides, Many Barriers Remain for This Growing Population.” Women of color are a growing part of the U.S. population, but they still face considerable systematic disadvantages. While the report contains many facts and statistics, it does not address how we change the system and improve the status of women of color in the U.S.

Continue reading How to Improve the State of Women of Color in the United States? →