Advocacy Priorities
Our advocacy plan supports the mission of YWCA Greater Pittsburgh by engaging in strategic initiatives that empower women, especially women and girls of color. We bring attention and focus on the ways they are marginalized so that we can influence the systemic policy change needed to advance race and gender equity locally, statewide, and nationally.
YWCA’s Current Advocacy Priorities
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Affordable, Quality Early Care
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Preventing Homelessness
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Racial Justice
To protect and improve affordable, quality early care programs, services, and policies that empower women, children, and the families we serve.
- To ensure that families have access to early care programs that meet the accreditation standards of the Department of Human Services and the highest quality ratings of PA Keystone Stars.
- To monitor the Child Care for Working Families Act to insure that working mothers can afford quality care.
- To advocate for policies that increase the wage standards for early care staff professionals.
To strengthen funding, including legislative appropriations, for programs and services that prevent homelessness for the women, children, and families we serve.
- To join the PA branch of the National Low Income Housing Coalition at the state level.
- To partner with the Pittsburgh United organization Affordable Housing Department for collective impact.
- To empower women to engage in self efficacy toward their housing values.
To inform and educate our community about the racial justice issues that impact the women, children, and families that we serve, with an emphasis on women’s economic empowerment and civic engagement.
- To partner with the Black Political Empowerment Project on voter engagement.
- To serve on the advisory committee of the Black Women’s Policy Agenda.
- To lead a strategy toward wage equity for the women most marginalized as indicated in the Pittsburgh Gender Equity Report through the Level Up Greater Pittsburgh Pay Equity Campaign.
YWCA Awareness Campaigns
Black Women’s Policy Center (BWPC), Women and Girls Foundation (WGF), and YWCA Greater Pittsburgh (YWCA GP) have launched a collective pay equity campaign to close the gender pay gap in the Pittsburgh region. Learn more
Since it was launched in 1995, the YWCA Week Without Violence has grown from a grassroots initiative into a global movement to end violence against women and girls. At YWCA, we know that not all violence is acknowledged or responded to equally and that some victims go unrecognized altogether. YWCA’s objectives are to educate individuals about their role in preventing the spread of violence and hatred and to heighten awareness of alternatives to violence.
The YWCA Racial Justice Challenge is designed to create dedicated time and space to learn and strengthen effective social justice habits, particularly those dealing with issues of race, power, privilege, and leadership.
Issue Papers
Educational Opportunities Blueprint for Success: Investing in Affordable, Quality Child Care.
Voter Education & Empowerment
YWCA is committed to educating eligible individuals and groups about registering to vote, protecting voting rights, and accessing accurate voter information. Activities include National Voter Registration Day, providing assistance updating and applying for voter registration, and educational opportunities that promote voter empowerment.
- Register to vote & check your voter registration status
- Support Voting Empowerment in your area:
– The Black Political Empowerment Project
– League of Women Voters of Greater Pittsburgh - Find your polling place