WOMEN & GIRLS INITIATIVE: THE STATUS OF NEW HAVEN WOMEN & GIRLS

In Late 2010, a thoughtful, diverse, and powerful group of women with extensive ties to the New Haven community came together in a meeting room and asked, “What is the status of women and girls in New Haven?”  And our answer became the impetus for this unprecedented effort to paint a clear and compelling picture of New Haven’s women and girls – to create the inaugural report on the Status of Women & Girls in New Haven.

Understanding the disparities that women and girls face in health, education, economic security, and earning potential as well as in safety and political leadership, this group set out to obtain and compile the data that would highlight the challenges faced by women and girls in our community.  The resulting document, authored by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, is meant for policymakers, advocates, and communities to review and use as a tool for advancing the lives of women and girls and thus improve the well being of the entire community.

This report has four main goals:

• To Provide Baseline Information on Women and Girls in New Haven 

• To Inform Policy and Program Priorities for Women and Girls in New Haven

• To Provide Easily Accessible Data on Women and Girls in New Haven

• To Create a Platform for Advocacy and Dialogue on Issues Affecting Women and Girls in New Haven

We are excited about this report and its potential to leverage resources that will improve the status of women and girls in New Haven.  And while all the data it presents cannot capture every facet of women’s lives, we hope that the report and the dialogue and action it fosters  will ensure that New Haven’s residents can benefit from a quality education, enjoy healthy lives and families, achieve economic security, and actively engage in the community.  A copy of the report can be found here and the presentation version of the report can be found here.

We welcome you to review the report and then take action on behalf of the women and girls in New Haven.

Chisara N. Asomugha, MD, MSPH, FAAP & Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D.
Co-Chairs, Consortium for New Haven Women and Girls

WHO WE ARE: THE CONSORTIUM FOR NEW HAVEN WOMEN & GIRLS

Dr. Chisara N. Asomugha
Community Services Administrator
City of New Haven
Consortium Chair

Dr. Carolyn Mazure
Director, Women’s Health Research at Yale
Professor of Psychiatry
Yale University School of Medicine
Consortium Co-Chair

Ms. Nancy Alexander
Consultant and Past Chair
Community Fund for Women and Girls

Sister Mary Ellen Burns
Director
Apostle Immigrant Services

Ms. Sharon Cappetta
Director of Development
Community Foundation for Greater New Haven

Ms. Maria Damiani
Director of Women’s Health
New Haven Health Department

Ms. Suzannah Holsenbeck
Yale Co-Op Partnership Coordinator
Director of Co-Op After School
Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School

Ms. Mubarakah Ibraham
Chief Executive Officer
Balance Fitness

Ms. Latrina Kelly
Development Director
Junta for Progressive Action

Ms. Jillian Y. Knox
Police Officer
New Haven Police Department

Ms. Ebony McClease
Graduate Assistant, Women’s Studies Program
Graduate Intern, Women’s Center
Southern Connecticut State University

Dr. Megan V. Smith
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & in the Child Study Center
Yale BIRCWH Scholar (NIH OWRH/NIDA/NIAAA
Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Program)
Yale University School of Medicine

Ms. Lynn Smith
Senior Vice President of Community and Business Development
Start Community Bank

Ms. Sandra Trevino
Executive Director
Junta for Progressive Action

Ms. Tomi Veale
Coordinator, Youth@Work
Youth Department
City of New Haven

Ms. Patricia Wallace
Director, Elderly Services Department
City of New Haven

Ms. Shirley Ellis-West
Supervisor of Street Outreach
New Haven Family Alliance