uua news

UUWF expands mission, funds new projects

Over the course of its 40-year history, the Unitarian Universalist Women's Federation (UUWF) has provided resources and services to local UU women's groups, championed gender equality in the UUA, and funded research and advocacy of women's issues. But dwindling membership in recent years prompted the Federation's board to look for a new mission. Federation members voted in June to turn the UUWF into a grants-making body, ending its role as a service provider to local groups.

At its meeting at the General Assembly, the UUWF adopted the recommendations of a task force commissioned in 2002, transforming the UUWF into an advocacy organization promoting UU women's values. The new UUWF, operating with a smaller board of trustees, will provide grants to programs serving women's issues in the wider world.

Nancy Van Dyke, the Federation's newly elected president, said, “Our members have resoundingly endorsed this radical transformation from an organization people support in return for direct services, to a foundation that members join to support grant-making and advocacy work.”

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