For decades, the popular – and, unfortunately, all too true – narrative, “Women don’t help other women,” was a prevalent message in American society. Michigan Women Forward (MWF), formerly Michigan Women’s Foundation, was founded 33 years ago to change that storyline – for good. 

MWR is one of the many organizations the Portfolio Advisory Board supports through its Community Investments Fund. This fund provides investments and loans to community-based enterprises that demonstrate a commitment to social justice through alternative economic endeavors.

The founders of MWR crossed the state party lines and social strata and together leveled the playing field of the state’s female populace. They were early disrupters and innovators and they inspire the work of MWR every day.

MWF mission: To accelerate Michigan’s progress by advancing equality and opportunity for women and girls.

MWF vision: A Michigan where women are recognized leaders who thrive, contribute, and uplift the state’s future. 

MWF focuses its work on four pillars:

Woman Up – Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative. With less than 10% of venture capital and traditional funding going to women – and much less than that to low- to moderate-income women and women of color, MWF provides access to capital, education, technical assistance, and mentorship to women wishing to start and grow successful businesses. Our underlying principal is simple: If you change the life of a woman, you change a family. When you change a family, you change their community. 

UGOGirls – MWF works to ensure that this Unstoppable Generation of Girls (UGOGirls) is just that … unstoppable!  MWF works with middle and high school girls who see themselves as being “smart” and “leaders” to help them see a path to college, career, and community service. Last year, 100% of their summer campers said they had learned to work together as a team and collaborate on shared goals, and 100% said they planned to pursue post-secondary education.

Behind Every Woman positions MWF to inform the state’s agenda around women and social justice. Its campaign, Enough Sexual Assault in Detroit (Enough SAID), generated sufficient funding to test all 11,341 rape kits previously ignored in a warehouse and guarantee adequate resources for five to seven years of investigation and prosecution of the offenders. These actions sparked statewide effort to eliminate backlogs everywhere and prevent this injustice from ever happening again.

HERstory is designed to ensure that the stories of amazing women throughout Michigan’s history are preserved to inspire those making history today and tomorrow. To date, 323 women have been inducted into the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame. 

While the hope was that inequity and inequality would be a thing of the past by now, women continue to need help, and MWF doesn’t see this changing in the foreseeable future. Much of its current work is geared toward financial sustainability for MWF and the women and girls of Michigan. 

The Community Impact Notes, in which the Adrian Dominican Sisters invested, are key to a strong future sustained by those with the foresight to believe in MWF's mission.