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Present & Future
Past, Present & Future
CWEALF was incorporated on August 17, 1973 making
it one of the oldest women's rights organizations in the country.
Launched in the wake of a successful lobbying effort that
resulted in the passage of Connecticut's Equal Credit Act,
it was originally a women's rights law firm staffed by attorneys
who saw a need for feminist lobbying and lawyering.
During its first decade, CWEALF focused on
litigation, participating in cases involving equal pay, equal
credit, and sex discrimination. As time went by, however,
the number of requests for assistance far exceeded CWEALF's
capacity to respond. CWEALF board and staff therefore decided
that they could not litigate individual cases except those
that were likely to have a broad impact on the law.
CWEALF also developed an information and referral
service that remains as a necessary and unique service in
Connecticut. Staff realized that even if they could not provide
legal representation to every woman who called, they could
provide information on their rights.
These early activities are remarkably similar to those in
which CWEALF is engaged today. The problems are more subtle
and often more insidious than in 1973, but they require the
same dedication to women and justice. Today, CWEALF educates
women and girls about the laws that our founders helped to
establish and challenge while ensuring that the system maintains
the spirit and the requirements of the laws that protect,
and provide for, women's equality.
Our funders include:
Travelers Foundation
Department of Social Services
Connecticut Light & Power
Department of Education
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Carse Foundation
CWEALF Strategic
Plan 2003-2006
Mission: CWEALF is dedicated
to empowering women, girls and their families to achieve equal
opportunities in their personal and professional lives.
Organizational Goals:
Infrastructure/Technology
• Move CWEALF offices to new location.
• Reconfigure CWEALF offices to promote better environment
and more productivity.
• Participate in strategic technology planning process
to review existing technology resources/needs.
• Update computer hardware/software to support programmatic
and organizational goals.
Staffing
• Align existing staff to support new
strategic goals and identify staffing needs and resources.
• Develop formal Volunteer Program to expand personnel
available to meet goals.
• Provide staff with quarterly reviews, annual evaluations
and professional development to increase expertise and effectiveness.
Board Development
• Realign board committee structure
to support board’s role in governing organization
and support fundraising and development activities.
• Monitor progress of strategic plan.
• Improve relationships with former board and staff
members to strengthen organization and provide greater linkage
to our history.
Visibility/Marketing
• Develop public relations, marketing
and other communication strategies (including new web site)
in support of increased outreach to individuals as well
as policymakers and the general public to heighten awareness
of women’s rights and CWEALF’s services.
• Co-sponsor events to increase CWEALF’s exposure
in diverse communities.
• Participate in law events and women’s events
to raise CWEALF’s profile in these arenas.
• Continue emphasis on media relations and exposure.
Fundraising/Development
• Increase membership support (particularly
among younger women, women of color).
• Increase grant-based support for strategic programmatic
goals.
• Increase membership in legacy society and promote
giving to Quarter Century Fund.
• Strengthen high donor program to include more visits
and board solicitations.
Evaluation/Outcome Measurement
• Establish ongoing program evaluation
and continuous improvement system linked to strategic goals
and objectives.
• Train staff to collect and analyze data and monitor
outcomes.
• Update grant proposals and program descriptions
to include outcome data.
Diversity
• Ensure that CWEALF’s programs
are reaching all women including minority women, incarcerated
women, women with disabilities, etc.
• Increase the diversity of CWEALF’s board/staff
to ensure we are representative of those we serve.
Programmatic Goals and Objectives:
*new activities are indicated with an asterisk
Family
Law Key Issues
Divorce
Child Support
Custody
Education Equity
Key Issues
Academic programming/opportunities
Athletic equity
Sexual harassment
Employment
Key Issues
Employment discrimination (sex, pregnancy, LGBT)
Pay equity/occupational segregation
Structure of work and family—workplace supports for
families (medical benefits, childcare, family leave)
Civil
Rights/Equal Rights Key Issues
Reproductive choice
LGBT Civil Rights
Prison Rights
Legal Education
Program
Goal 1: Ensure individuals
have the skills they need to represent their own interests
in the workplace, educational institutions and the legal and
social service systems
Objective 1: Provide Information
and Referral Telephone Services to individuals in need of
legal information and referrals on:
• family law (divorce, child support
and custody)
• educational equity
• discrimination (sex, pregnancy, LGBT)
Objective 2: Provide Information
and Referral Advocacy Services to:
• individuals who experience difficulty
in navigating the legal and social service systems
• young women and their families when they encounter
difficulty challenging discrimination or bias in the education
system
• individuals encountering barriers in challenging
discrimination
• LGBT victims of hate crimes
*Objective 3: Develop community
forums/educational programs to prevent and address discrimination
on:
• family law issues (inc. financial
literacy, education and training opportunities, parenting
support, etc.)
• educational equity issues
• hate crimes and LGBT Civil Rights
• employment discrimination
*Objective 4: Provide skill-based
educational programming to enable individuals to advocate
for themselves within the legal and social service systems
Goal 2: Ensure educators and
female students have the skills they need to prevent and address
bias in their classrooms and schools
Objective 1: Provide technical
assistance and training for educators and administrators giving
them the tools to address gender bias in their classrooms,
schools and districts
Objective 2: Provide basic
educational programs for educators on Title IX (academic and
athletic) issues
*Objective 3: Create strategies
to engage girls in becoming advocates for changes in their
schools
Public
Policy and Advocacy Program
Goal 1: Ensure that the legal
and social service systems provide women with an equitable
distribution of resources in divorce, custody and child support
matters.
*Objective 1: Document the
family law practices in Connecticut as it relates to women’s
rights and their economic viability. Assess current situation,
document, plan and implement an action research/public policy
strategy which impacts all systems involved in issues of divorce,
child custody and child support.
*Objective 2: Implement an
advocacy agenda that supports the equitable treatment of women
in divorce, child support and custody matters.
Goal 2: Document and support
changes to the educational system to promote gender equity
Objective 1: Conduct action
research on barriers impacting girls’ educational and
athletic opportunities and experiences and develop strategies
for implementing recommended changes
Objective 2: Evaluate, promote
and support programs for girls in nontraditional fields
Objective 3: Compile VERTEC
research on gender equity to share with parents, educators,
university women centers and teacher preparation programs
Objective 4: Participate in
coalition with SDE, PCSW, AAUW, CHRO and others to monitor
and address Title IX issues including athletics, academic
programming and sexual harassment
Objective 5: Explore CWEALF’s
role in coalitions working on girls and juvenile justice issues
including possibility of conducting study on treatment and
experiences of girls who are or have been involved in the
juvenile justice system in CT
Goal 3: Eliminate gender-based
barriers to employment so that women have access to jobs,
opportunities for advancement, and equitable treatment in
terms of employment-related benefits
Objective 1: Participate in coalitions on pay equity, comparable
worth, and occupational segregation
*Objective 2: Conduct primary
research on the treatment of litigants in the CHRO process
focused on developing recommendations for improvement of services
Objective 3: Provide technical
assistance and evaluation services to state agencies on employment
and training opportunities for women
Objective 4: Promote career
ladders for women in traditional and nontraditional jobs [Year
1]
Goal 4: Eliminate discrimination
on the basis of gender and sexual orientation in housing,
public accommodations, credit and within the criminal justice
system
Objective 1: Protect, enforce
and expand civil rights around gender and sexual orientation
Objective 2: Continue to work
on legislative issues around reproductive choice and same
sex marriage
Objective 3: Propose legislation
to expand the state’s hate crimes statute to include
gender identity and expression and disability
*Objective 4: Conduct primary
research on the treatment of litigants in the CHRO process
focused on developing recommendations for improvement of services
[see also in employment issues section]
Objective 5: Explore CWEALF’s
role in coalitions working on women and prison issues including
possibility of conducting study on treatment of female inmates
in state and federal prisons in CT
Goal 5: Ensure a diverse bench
that protects women’s rights
*Objective 1: With CWEALF’s
Law and Public Policy Committee, review judicial nominees
and provide input into the selection of state judges that
will protect and expand women’s rights |
