How Your Support Creates Currents of Change
Improving lives through collective power
Imagine a river. Imagine people falling into it and being swept downstream. As they struggle to keep their heads above water, bystanders like you and me try to help by gathering life preserves, ropes and other resources to keep them afloat and get them to stable ground.
Of course, that alone won’t solve the problem. We need to know where and why they are falling into the river in the first place. Once we know, we need to spread the word to help prevent more people from falling. We need to gather additional support and resources to cover more ground, rescue those in the river and find solutions that reduce the number of falls as much as possible. To truly make an impact, the problem needs to be addressed thoroughly, from all ends.
The same is true when we look at the women and girls who are drowning in the systems in which they live and work.
At the Iowa Women’s Foundation, this is called the five pillars of sustainable change. Research, education, advocacy, collaboration and grantmaking.
This is how we address the barriers to success faced by Iowa’s women and girls.
Childcare Solutions Fund:
Proven Impact
In 2024, we proudly unveiled the key findings from our Childcare Impact Report, conducted in partnership with the Common Sense Institute (CSI). The report analyzed the results of our Childcare Solutions Fund (CSF) pilot program over the last few years.
The data confirmed the positive impact of public-private childcare partnerships in several communities across Iowa. So, how did we do it?
We began by asking: What are the greatest barriers faced by Iowa’s women and girls today?
Through research, IWF identified the six primary barriers to success faced by Iowa’s women and girls. Childcare, employment, housing, education and training, transportation and mentorship. Of those, the lack of access to affordable, quality childcare was identified as the most critical.
Using these findings, IWF shaped its strategic planning process to break these barriers, focusing on the most critical first.
Once we had the data needed to understand the challenges, how could we use it to facilitate sustainable change for Iowa’s women and girls?
IWF began educating others, elevating the conversation around childcare. Lack of access to childcare is an issue not just for families but also for the workforce, businesses, and the economy.
Sustainable change would require public-private collaborations. IWF partnered with the Iowa Economic Development Authority to launch a suite of business services. We’ve engaged more than 80 communities, nearly 200 companies and scores of childcare providers to address the childcare issue together—from all ends.
Sustainable change takes time and resources. So, how can we amplify our work, garner more resources and make a greater impact statewide?
Equipped with real solutions and progress, we knew the most impactful changes for Iowa’s women and girls would come from advocacy to create systemic changes. Legislative support amplifies impact, and IWF has become a trusted partner for local and state entities.
Since 2022, the state of Iowa has invested more than $57 Million in childcare to incentivize Iowa businesses through public-private partnerships.
Like the river analogy above, we must work to solve the larger problem while also helping those who need it right now. That’s where grantmaking comes in. IWF values trust-based philanthropy that puts dollars directly in the hands of those addressing issues across Iowa communities.
At its annual luncheon in October 2024, IWF awarded $300,000 in 30th-anniversary grants.
Recently, we’ve directed funding toward childcare providers and programs, knowing it’s most critical. However, we’ve always invested grant dollars to help relieve ALL six identified barriers for women and girls in Iowa.
Contribute to the Collective Power
Each generation has created currents of change for the next, passing along empowerment, support and resources to improve the lives of today’s women and girls as they face today’s barriers.
The Childcare Solutions Fund is a model of what’s possible when research informs action, but sustainable change takes time and resources. And we can’t do it alone. We need your help to drive systemic change that benefits ALL Iowans.