Data-Driven Advocacy: The Voices of Women in America Initiative

1. Data-Driven Advocacy: The Voices of Women in America Initiative Presented by the Voices of Women in America Initiative Team

2. Two part initiative • The National Voices of Women in America On-Line Survey • Commission for Women Listening Tours in states, cities and counties across the country The Voices of Women in America Project

3. The Maryland Experience: • Inspired by a NACW webinar on Listening Tours • Held 19 Listening Tour Sessions all across the state • Conducted an on-line survey in four languages The Voices of Women in America Project

4. Each session sponsored by the Commission for Women in that county • Over 1400 women participated • Published a report to the Governor and the Legislature in August 2018 • Identified the “top five” issues for the women of our state: • Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault • Paid Time Off for Extended Parental and Medical Leave • Women and Drug Abuse or Addictions Problems • Too Few Women in Leadership Positions • Access to Quality, Affordable Child Care The Voices of Women in America Project

5. Importance of Data Gathering

6. What constitutes data? • Qualitative data: interviews, listening sessions, focus groups, other narrative information • Quantitative data: numeric data collected from surveys, national data sets, etc. What is the value for Commissions in gathering data? • Data gathered from the community provides important information and insights about trends, changes and concerns affecting women in states and localities. • Data, either qualitative or quantitative, provides evidence to inform Commission priorities and direct resources to most pressing needs. How can Commissions gather data? • Conducting listening sessions and focus groups • Distributing Voices of Women survey • Analyzing national or local data sets Gathering and Using Data

7. A Process Snapshot for Montgomery County, MD • In its 47-year history, the Commission has issued its Status of Women report three times, at roughly 10 year intervals: first in 1997, then in 2007 and again this year. • This iteration of the report covers many of the broad categories as the last report: • Demographics • Women and the Economy • Women and Health • Women and Public Safety • Women and Politics • Also features in-depth spotlights on poverty, quality of life and the primary election • Commission Recommendations • New interactive, web-based format • Outcomes: media interest, County Council briefing, briefings to other area women’s groups Gathering and Using Data

8. Key Findings from Montgomery County Status of Women Report • Overall, the findings underscore a number of positive trends for women who live and work in Montgomery County: • Over the last decade, women have continued to make material gains in education, employment, earnings, political representation and other key indicators of well-being, often outpacing national averages • However, the analysis also revealed some troubling trends and patterns that warrant further attention and study. These include: • significant increases in the number of women living in poverty; • racial and ethnic disparities in infant mortality rates and other health indicators; • rising rates of sexually transmitted infections; • sizeable numbers of disconnected girls and young women; • doubled rates of domestic violence reports in the last 3 years Gathering and Using Data

9. Introduction of Concept • What is a Listening Tour? The purpose and goals of the Listening Sessions: • To get to know our varied communities more intimately and gain their trust • To have a much deeper understanding of what is important to them and the challenges they face • To engage the community in developing solutions • For the Commission to be more visible, credible and effective within the community • To develop and strengthen partnerships with service providers and organizations • To present our findings to local and State leaders, with general findings as well as a breakdown for the different districts. • To provide recommendations regarding policy and services to local leaders as well as service providers and other organizations Listening Tours

10. Listening Tours in Sonoma County, CA Listening Tours in Sonoma County: • Types of locations. Community leaders invited. Refreshments. • Women’s Jail. Collaboration with those in charge of programming-provides a different perspective than they are accustomed to Lessons learned: • Be flexible! • Be creative in your promotion and outreach-think outside the box! Be aware of other activities in the community that may conflict • Quality over quantity! Sometimes smaller groups allow you to go much deeper into issues Listening Tours in Sonoma County, CA

11. NACW’s national survey asking women to tell us about the needs and concerns they experience in their everyday lives • Enabled by Commissions for Women all across the U.S. • Accessed on the NACW website homepage • CFWs and CSWs are asked to ensure that the voices of the women of their communities are included • We will send monthly reminders that you can send to your distribution lists and post on your websites and Facebook pages • Visit this link: http://bit.ly/NACWVoicesSurveyto take the survey – do it now! • Share it widely with every woman in your networks • Local/state data will be available to participating Commissions Voices of Women in America Survey

12. July 2019 NACW Conference – Launch • July – December 2019 • Gather data from the online survey • State and local Listening Tours begin • January – March 2020 • Analyze the data from the survey • Listening Tours continue • March – May 2020 • Survey report is developed • Participating CFWs write reports of their Listening Tours • July 2020 – Report of the Voices of American Women project is published at the NACW Conference in Loudon County, VA The Voices of Women in America InitiativeTimeline

13. The result will be a report to the nation listing the top five issues identified by the women of America • For participating Commissions for Women: • Expanded networks and outreach • Data to back up a “top five” issues list for your Commission’s agenda • Increased visibility and credibility Voices of Women in America Initiative:Real Voices/Real Data

14. Voices of Women in America Initiative Kristen CoreySecretary, NACWIowa Commission on the Status of Women, Staff

15. The Voices of Women in America Listening TourPurpose

16. The Voices of Women in America Listening Tour

17. The Listening Tour Process

18. Conducting a Listening Tour

19. Voices of Women in America

20. Voices of Women in America

21. Voices of Women in America

23. Questions?

24. Thank you Judith Vaughan-Prather, Executive Director, Maryland Commission for Women, judith.vaughan-prather@maryland.gov Tiffany Boiman, Director, Office of Policy and Programs, Women’s Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, boimant@gmail.com Jan Blalock, Commissioner, Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women, jblalock@sbcglobal.net Kristen Corey, Staff, Iowa Commission on the Status of Women, Kristen.corey@iowa.gov