Change The Story VT

05/18/2022

Thank you Senator Patrick Leahy for your support of all women, whether they play soccer or not!

Burlington High School Burlington School District

Today's breakthrough for for women's soccer has been a long struggle, and a difficult one. Marcelle and I have been proud to be part of it. Burlington School District Change The Story VT

03/24/2022

Cary Brown gave an artful wrap-up of our 7 year project here on What Matters This Week with Lauren Maloney Local 22 & Local 44. Counting down ... one week to go!! 😢🏆🎉

While we are going quiet, our partner organizations the Vermont Commission on Women, Vermont Works for Women and The Vermont Women's Fund will carry on the work. Elegantly and ferociously. We fully expect you all will join them, and thank you for supporting them.

Let's go!

Cary Brown is the executive director of the Vermont Commission on Women, and is also with the equal pay initiative called Change the Story, which will sunset...

03/15/2022

Mark this (all women's) by snuggling up with your loved ones and taking in this incredible podcast series produced by Vermont Commission on Women. Brings it all right back home.

03/13/2022

The Vermont Women's Fund is signing off from our take over week.
We encourage you to continue to follow us and CTS partners Vermont Commission on Women and Vermont Works for Women.

Sign up for our newsletter on our website: https://vermontwomensfund.org/

If you are a women-owned business or a woman leading an enterprise in Vermont, stand up and get counted through This Way UP! Let's keep the CTS data reporting moving forward.
https://thiswayupvt.com/

03/11/2022

Welcome to Feature Fridays from This Way UP, a new initiative from The Vermont Women's Fund!

This Way UP builds on the work for Change The Story, in particular the fact that we don't have data on how many women own and/or lead businesses in the state. So, we are counting them! Any enterprise, big or small. full time/part time/side hustle, or any percentage of ownership, if there a woman in the lead, GET COUNTED.

Learn more at: thiswayupvt.com
Read more stories about Vermont's women entrepreneurs on the Women's Fund website: https://vermontwomensfund.org/news/

Meet today's Feature Friday: Sara Kermenski, Spring Hollow Financial, Marlboro

Being a fiduciary to Sara means keeping an open mind, listening, and focusing on the positive in her clients’ financial lives to reflect that back to them. “We all share the human experience; yet, with money, it often revolves around fear, shame and other charged emotions, the belief that one is "behind", or behavior like avoidance. I use my experience of more than a decade of working with people about money to point out different truths - you are making good choices, you are right where you supposed to be, you are qualified, and you are not alone.”

Sara’s business, Spring Hollow Financial, offers financial planning and investment management for female entrepreneurs and families in Vermont and around the country. Based in Marlboro, her three children are the fourth generation of her family in Vermont. She says what she likes best about owning her business is, “The combination of a commitment to lifelong learning and the flexibility to apply new ideas as I continue to surround myself with people who are smarter than me. The opportunity to be a business leader that promotes social and environmental justice.”

Learn more about Sara at: www.springhollowfinancial.com
And you can watch her talk about her business at: https://youtu.be/UZrru25PJm4

03/10/2022

When we talk about Change The Story continuing, here is one example of how a partner is moving the work forward. The Vermont Women's Fund is helping the Male Champions for Change organize men interested in gender equity. On Monday, March 14th, we'll host a virtual lunchtime Zoom discussion from 12:00 - 1:00pm for any men interested in joining the MCC initiative.

Over the past 7 years, many of you have become familiar with the amazing work the folks at Change The Story VT have been doing to support gender equity across the state of Vermont. The plan has always been for Change the Story to be a short-term, multi-year initiative, and it will finally come to a close at the end of this month. But the work certainly continues...

One of the initiatives launched, Male Champions for Change (MCC), will continue to live on through The Vermont Women's Fund. Recognizing that supporting gender equity across the state requires a multifaceted approach, the MCC brings together men who are interested in discussing and advocating for the economic well-being of women in Vermont.

On Monday, March 14th, Change the Story and the Vermont Women's Fund will host a lunchtime Zoom discussion from 12:00 - 1:00pm for any men interested in joining the MCC initiative. We'd love for folks to show up for this important conversation, and be a part of the MCC moving forwards. So come along and share your lunch hour with us!

If you're interested in attending, please email [email protected] for the Zoom link. Hope to hear from you!

03/09/2022

Join The Vermont Women's Fund for a wine tasting this Friday.
TIcket deadline is today to toast women entrepreneurs from the comfort your home -- without the worry of who drives home.

A Toast to Women Entrepreneurs: A Benefit for The Vermont’s Women Fund and This Way UpWhen: Friday, March 11th, 2022 at 5:30 pm ESTWhere: Zoom!RSVP (Below Graphic) By: 5 pm 3/8.Ticket Information: $30 to attend if you supply your own wine (anything will do!). $30Virtual Wine Tasting to Benefit Thi...

03/08/2022

This year's International Women's Day theme is a perfect summation of Change The Story. It is what our collaboration worked to do together and what we carry forward.
The Vermont Women's Fund
Vermont Commission on Women
Vermont Works for Women

03/08/2022

Hello from the Vermont Women's Fund!
It's our week to take-over Change The Story's social media accounts. We start with VWF Director Meg Smith's reflections on the seven years of CTS that were indeed a game-changer. "For starters, it pushed us into a new level of grantmaking and strategic philanthropic thinking," explained Meg. "We understood that to really “move the needle,” we had to elevate our own thinking and financial outlay.."

The collaboration with the Vermont Commision on Women and Vermont Workds for Women further catalyzed change. We built different ways to work together and will carry this forward together.

"This is not the last time we will reflect on Change The Story, in fact, it’s only the beginning. You will hear the reverberations of Change The Story for years to come. A great example of this is evident in the Women’s Fund’s work on women’s business ownership. It was only because of CTS that we discovered that no one knows how many women own businesses in Vermont. The data collected by the Secretary of State’s office is not aggregated by gender. This means that of the 81,132 businesses in Vermont, we don’t have a clear count on how many are founded, owned, and/or lead by females. We think that matters—and are proving so with our work with This Way Up: there's power in our numbers.

So this is not a goodbye but a thank you. Thank you, Change The Story for creating a platform for women’s philanthropy that would not have existed without you. Change The Story elevated the Women’s Fund’s work in many ways, providing us with clearer expression of gender, equity, and justice, as well as demonstrating the power of collaboration. Together, we are creating a stronger Vermont for women and girls, and our communities at large."

Read more about the Women's Fund commitment with Change The Story on our blog:
https://vermontwomensfund.org/news/farewell-change-the-story

03/05/2022

We complete our takeover week by expressing our deepest appreciation and gratitude to Change The Story VT staff* who’ve put their heart and soul into this project over the last 7 years; to our partnership organizations Vermont Works for Women and The Vermont Women's Fund who we’ve learned so much from; and to all from Vermont and beyond who engaged in this work - we’re looking at you, Champs for Change, Business Peer Exchange, LEEP Toolkit creators and testers, Let’s Talk Cards developers, and team players! Applause and cheers to all!
* Tiffany Bluemle Lindsey Lathrop-Ryan Jessica Nordhaus Al Johnson-Kurts

03/04/2022

Catch up with the latest for : subscribe to the VIEW at women.vermont.gov and read the March 3rd edition! You’ll find the latest news and resources, upcoming programs, job and volunteer opportunities, funding opportunities, and upcoming events. https://mailchi.mp/432aae11fc8b/vtwomen-6044145?e=4eff8a76d3

The Vermont Commission on Women's e-newsletter, full of news, resources, opportunities & events for Vermont women & girls.

03/03/2022

In 2021 Vermont Commission on Women (VCW) transitioned from decades of exclusively highlighting Day (EPD) on “All Women’s EPD,” usually in late March/early April (although it’s March 15th this year) and towards recognizing EPDs throughout the year.

Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year women must work to catch up to what the average white non-Hispanic man earned in the previous year.

VCW presented a new series of video podcast conversations focused on widely-recognized EPDs, and also added EPD for women living with disabilities in Vermont, and EPD for our LGBTQ+ community.

One goal of this project is to raise awareness about pay equity, and the ways racism, sexism, homophobia, and ableism intersect, creating much larger wage gaps for women of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and women living with disabilities. Another goal of this project is to listen to women about their experiences with pay inequity, how it impacts them, and what they think could help.

Watch or listen to VCW’s (Un)Equal Pay Day episodes, part of VCW’s Speaking of Gender Equity podcast series, on YouTube, Spotify, Google Podcast, and Apple Podcast, and find them at https://women.vermont.gov/news_events