Grant Partner Perspective

I will never forget looking out at the 50 or 60 dark, pinstriped suits and shiny wingtip shoes replicated in row after row of the California State

Assembly meeting room in Sacramento last spring. I was there to advocate for a legislative ban on phthalates, softening agents found in personal products that are easily absorbed by the skin and are suspected of disrupting the endocrine

system. The suits — lobbyists for the cosmetics industry — were getting ready to submit their vocal opposition to the bill. As the monotone of their “No”s beat against the microphone, I wondered how the stories of Ms. Nguyen, Mrs. Quach and the other Vietnamese/Asian women — who had spent so many years of their lives working in the nail salon business and suffered cancer, respiratory illness and other severe health issues — would ever come to light.

Despite the failure of the phthalate ban to pass in the legislature, thanks to advocacy by representatives of public

Fall 2006FromNEWS

Since 2003, the Women’s Foundation of California has operated the Women’s Policy Institute (WPI), which has provided intensive policy advocacy training for nearly 100 women leaders around the

state. This year, 27 WPI fellows met for four retreats in Sacramento and participated in several conference calls over the course of the legislative calendar.

WPI fellows from past years have described the program as “a great learning journey” — a journey that may include unexpected turns as fellows navigate the often complex legislative process. Teams must find legislative sponsors for their policy projects and meet with various committee members, budget analysts and policymakers in order to shepherd their bills. Fellows also travel to Sacramento to give

testimony at committee hearings.

In many cases, fellows have to make tough choices. This year, the “Boltcutters,” fellow Daphne Scott’s team, was successfully working on a women’s correctional system reform bill when the bill reached a critical impasse with the appropriations committee chair. They had to decide whether or not to cut from the bill a service delivery provision with a cost impact. Says Daphne, “It was a difficult decision for the team. We had several team members who felt very strongly that we shouldn’t make the cut.” After two hours of intense discussion, they decided to remove the provision. The amended bill passed the appropriations committee and went on to pass the

Making Statewide iMpactSwomen Leaders Learn the politics of policymakingby Gia Gordon

HeaLtHy naiL SaLonS advocates and owners collaborate for changeby Julia Liou

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FroM tHe preSidentDear Friend,

For the last 13 years, as president and CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California, I have been privileged to walk a road with you to create a better world for women and girls. It has been said that I have passion and courage. But it is by walking with you that my hope has been renewed again and again. So it is with much heartfelt appreciation and gratitude that I share my plans to retire from the Foundation this October.

This small, scrappy, spunky and spirited organization has been my home for more than a decade. And because I have seen it grow from a small group of part-timers pitching in to make a difference to a statewide force for change in the lives of women and girls, I know that the Women’s Foundation of California will continue to grow and develop under new leadership. The board of directors is now engaged in a nationwide search for my successor.

The staff and board of the Foundation are strong, talented and capable, and there can be no better time for me to “retire.” I will take the next few years of my life to spend with my family … from my strong-willed and vibrant two year-old daughter to my 94 year-old father. And I plan on actualizing some of what have been fantasies for the last two decades: learning Spanish, taking physics and getting involved in oceanography. I am truly grateful for the luxury and the privilege to be able to do so.

I have always believed that if women and girls were provided with real opportunities, they would transform the world and move beyond fighting against our “enemies” to fighting for what we know is just. Thank you for walking together and creating this road with the Women’s Foundation of California.

With gratitude, love and respect,

Patti Chang, President and CEO

Assembly floor. Its passage in the Senate looks likely.

At each step along the way, WPI fellows are using their voices, expertise and passion to champion women’s and girls’ issues. As one WPI fellow put it, “I not only learned the system but used the system to challenge and change it.” For many of the fellows, this aspect of the WPI experience helped them tap into a personal power they had not realized before.

Go to <www.womensfoundca.org> and look for a link under “What’s New” to read Daphne’s Women’s Policy Institute journal. The description of the third retreat contains a link to Daphne’s journal from WPI.

politics of policymaking …continued from page 1

Foundation weLcoMeS new Board MeMBerS

Join us in welcoming five new members to

the Women’s Foundation of California board

of directors: entrepreneur linda Griego of los

angeles; Dr. Brenda Spriggs, consultant, of San

Francisco; Beatriz (“Bea”) olvera Stotzer,

CEo of New Economics for Women,

of los angeles; management consultant

Carol Tisson of Carmel; and Geri Yang, recent

California State University — Fresno graduate

and former Women’s Foundation intern.

new addreSS in LoS angeLeS

The Women’s Foundation of California office in

los angeles has moved. The new address is 444

South Flower Street, Suite 4650, los angeles,

Ca 90071. The telephone and fax numbers

remain the same: 213.388.0485 (phone) and

213.388.0405 (fax).

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woMen take tHe LeadBuilding philanthropy in Southern californiaby Kim Kenny

On Wednesday, May 24th, 50 women gathered in Los Angeles at a luncheon hosted by Board Chair Aileen Adams and her sister, Mary Adams O’Connell, to launch the Women’s Foundation of

California Leadership Council. The Women’s Foundation has convened this new group to encourage women’s social change philanthropy and to galvanize support in Southern California for the Foundation’s work. Leadership Council members gain close association with other like-minded women leaders and make an annual commitment of raising or giving $10,000 each.

Seven individuals have been instrumental in developing this new group: Jan Adams, Libbie Agran, Judy Gertler, Fran Jemmott, Tory Mudd, Lois Slavkin and Belinda Smith Walker.

The Leadership Council will sponsor three educational presentations each year. For information about an upcoming van tour with grant partners on Saturday, October 7, 2006, or to learn more about the Leadership Council, please contact Patty Murar at 213.388.0485 or pattym@womensfoundca.org.

health, environmental, Asian Pacific Islander, youth and faith-based groups in the Safe Cosmetics Coalition, the governor signed another bill, California State Senate Bill 484, into law in spring 2005. This bill requires manufacturers to disclose to the Department of Health Services if their products contain chemicals known by the state to cause cancer or birth defects, and it authorizes investigation of the health impacts of chemicals in cosmetics linked to cancer or birth defects. The coalition won that battle! But the memory of those suits and wingtips stays with me as the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative grows and tries to tackle the gaps not addressed in the Safe Cosmetics legislation. Our original intention was to ensure that nail salon workers’ and owners’ needs were reflected in health and safety bills about cosmetics. Now we are working proactively to address the environmental health issues that face the nail salon community on several different levels — from outreach and education to research and policy action.

I receive calls every week about the collaborative, and I am surprised at how quickly it is growing. Addressing the health and occupational concerns of nail salon workers affects not only Vietnamese nail salon workers but also others in Asian, Latino and African American communities who are mobilizing in Boston, Connecticut, New York and Texas.

The collaborative strives to work collectively to identify practices that benefit both workers and small employers while targeting manufacturers of harmful products. Ultimately, it seeks to involve local grassroots leadership,

workers, owners and students and to empower them to be leaders and advocates. I know this is a tough challenge, particularly given the complex health risk profiles of members of the nail salon community, the lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate educational information and the paucity of research on long-term health impacts. But if the collaborative’s efforts can assist in reducing the use of and exposure to toxins in nail salons and prevent future Ms. Nguyens and Mrs. Quaches from suffering negative health outcomes, it is well worth the challenge.

Cosmetology is one of the fastest growing industries in California, and nail salon services have tripled over the past 20 years. The majority of California’s 83,500 manicurists are women of color, and an estimated 80% are Vietnamese immigrant women, more than half of whom are of reproductive age. These workers handle solvents, chemical solutions, glues and other products — some of which are known to be carcinogenic and others that are suspected of causing reproductive harm — on a daily basis, often for more than eight hours a day.

The California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, a Women’s Foundation of California grant partner, brings together 15 public health and environmental advocates, nail salon owners and community-based health, social service and legal groups from around the state to work together on outreach, education, research and policy action. Julia Liou of Asian Health Services is the collaborative’s manager and a graduate of the Women’s Foundation of California’s Women’s Policy Institute (WPI), where she worked on two legislative bills concerned with assuring safer cosmetics and promoting greater worker health and consumer safety.

For more information about the Safe Nail Salon Collective, contact Julia Liou at jliou@ahschc.org.

Healthy nail Salons…continued from page 1

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arE YoU iNTErESTED iN makiNG a DiFFErENCE?

The Women’s Foundation of California invites you to join us for a special evening to learn about Donor Circles and how this strategy can help you to meet your charitable and social change goals.

A Donor Circle is a group of individuals who pool their resources to make a leveraged impact on the issues they care about. Participating in a Women’s Foundation of California Donor Circle provides:

High impact, results-focused use of your time and resources;

In-depth education on key issues impacting women and girls;

Hands-on training in strategic philanthropy;

An opportunity to partner with others to make a difference in our communities.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006 6 – 8pm (program at 7pm) Stanford Park Hotel 100 El Camino real, menlo Park

For more information, please contact Cathy Schreiber at 415.837.1113, ext. 301, or cathys@womensfoundca.org.

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340 Pine Street

Suite 302

San Francisco, CA 94104

WomEN’S ECoNomiC SECUriTY

WomEN’S lEaDErSHiP

WomEN’S HEalTH

CrimiNal JUSTiCE

HUmaN riGHTS

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