Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts
Leadership. Local. Shared.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Young Women's Initiative
Our mission is to galvanize and invest resources to achieve a world with gender and racial equity where young women-particularly young women of color– lead, prosper economically, and live safe and healthy lives.
The Springfield Young Women Initiative (YWI) consists of up to 20 young women leaders, ages 16-24. Through leadership development and social justice programming delivered in partnership with 18 Degrees, these young leaders investigate barriers, explore solutions, and make recommendations for change in their community. The YWI will form task forces to facilitate a grantmaking process and to implement projects in partnership with community organizations in Western Massachusetts.
We believe that every young woman should have the tools and opportunity to lead and to thrive. Every young woman should live in a world with respect, justice, and safety.
Where we work
External reviews

How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Women and Girls in Western MA and the organizations that serve them
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Case management notes, email from our [email protected],
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We are now not requiring electronic reports but rather setting up Zooms and our grantees share and we take notes then send back for accuracy and that serves as the report.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our community partners,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
De-centered us. This has also widened what our impacts= both intended and unintended have been.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve, the power dynamic thwarts honesty with us,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Women's Fund of Western Massachusetts
Board of directorsas of 08/31/2022
Leigh Rae
Nonprofit Consultant
Term: 2016 - 2022
Lisa Ranghelli
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts
Term: 2020 - 2025
Haydee Lamberty-Rodriguez
Springfield Public Schools
Leigh Rae
Rania Kfuri
Smith College
Dora Robinson
FDR & Associates
Lisa Ranghelli
Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts
Luzed Guzman
Liberty Mutual
Deborah Stephenson
Berkshire Bank
Shela Levante
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Tahirah Amatul-Wadud
Law Offices of Tahirah Amatul-Wadud
Michele Equale
Empower Retirement
Gloria Lopez
Nancy Robinson
Food Bank of Western Massachusetts
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/31/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.