Wishing you a happy International Women’s Day! We’re proud to be part of Cleveland’s incredible community of women, and we are lucky to support and work with amazing women every day of the year.

Small business owners. Executives. Scientists. Teachers. Environmentalists. Artists. Tradeswomen. Immigrants. Entrepreneurs. CEOs. The list goes on. Women are propelling every facet of our community forward. They are powerful leaders transforming Greater Cleveland and setting an example for future generations.

The Cleveland Foundation is fortunate to be guided by strong women on our board and our staff (80% female!). Last year, we granted more than $100 million dollars to the community, and this included an enhanced focus on empowering women, from loans and equity investments for female small business owners, to leadership development, to creating jobs for women facing barriers to employment, support for victims of domestic violence, and aid for those struggling with addiction or re-entering society.

We hope it’s just the beginning of true progress toward a more equal and diverse workforce and community. It’s especially important to ensure that all of Cleveland’s sectors include fair representation and reflect the diversity that makes Cleveland a wonderful place to live.

We have many great stories of female leaders at the foundation who catapulted our work forward, all the way back to our founding in 1914. Stay tuned as we share their stories throughout Women’s History Month.

In the meantime, we wish you the happiest day where we all celebrate how far we’ve come, and set our sights on where we need to go so that girls today can find and lift up the promise and power within.