Women Leading Change

This event is the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island’s premier fundraiser, bringing together business and community leaders, social activists, philanthropists, and anyone interested in leveling the playing field for women and girls in Rhode Island to commemorate the organization’s 20-year impact.

The event is both a celebration and tribute. Simone Joyaux founded WFRI in 2001 as Rhode Island’s first organization dedicated to gender equity in the state. Twenty years later, the organization has helped pass several essential laws, including Temporary Caregiver Insurance, Pregnancy Accommodations, Eliminating the Tampon Tax, the Reproductive Privacy Act, the Doula Reimbursement Bill, the Fair Pay Act, and increasing the Minimum Wage to $15 an hour. We have given hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money to nonprofits working at the intersection of racial and gender equity, completed annual research on women’s status, and trained 99 women to be advocacy leaders in Rhode Island. WFRI has helped put dozens of women in office, trained hundreds in salary negotiation skills, and has been the leader in evidence-based gender equity work for the past twenty years. This event celebrates our past wins and all of the women who helped us get there.