Women in Arkansas are less likely to live above the poverty level than women nationally. In fact, statewide, 81.5 percent of women live above poverty, in contrast to 85.1 percent of women nationally. This represents a 4 percent gap of where Arkansas women lie on the economic scale, compared to the national level. This statistic is part of a report released in March by the Women's Foundation of Arkansas (WFA).
In honor of Women's History Month, the WFA released the report, "Economic Indicators for Women in Arkansas: State, Region, and County." This report is important to the future of our work and Arkansas women. In the past, we have published numerous reports on the status of women in our state, but this will serve as the first report to benchmark economic indicators that, when bundled together, ensure a woman's economic security and opportunity to create and grow wealth. This report is our invitation to have conversations with stakeholders across the state, not just about the economic status of women, but how together we can come up with solutions to the challenges they face.
Over the last 20 years, we have granted over $220,000 to more than 85 programs and organizations across the state. These funds have been used directly to improve the lives of women and girls in the state. And, 20 years ago, our founders placed a bet that by investing in women we might be able to improve the lives of all Arkansans.
We are known for our Girls of Promise® Initiative, which promotes STEM education, opportunities, and careers to girls and minorities. The last couple of years we have leveraged our GOP Initiative to develop stronger relationships with public and private partners, working to ensure that the state's computer science initiative is accessible to the traditionally underrepresented. Our initiative partner list includes Office of Governor Asa Hutchinson, Office of Lt. Governor Tim Griffin, Acxiom, AT&T Arkansas, Southwest Power Pool, Walmart, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Crafton Tull Engineering, Garver Engineering, CDI Contracts and Baldwin Shell Construction, to name a few.
Why are we spending our time investing in STEM initiatives for girls? For us, this is a long-term strategy to move girls on the path to economic security. It's critical to include girls and women in the pipeline of the growing STEM economy, both for jobs now and jobs that don't yet exist.
As the WFA turns 20 years old, we are considering our future "career," so to speak. We are working to be the leading resource advocate for women's economic security. We want to work with organizations and leaders that see both the value of women and the important role women play when they participate in the economy. When they are left on the sidelines, the entire state suffers.
We are proud of our footprint, our potential, and the voice we can lend to making women and Arkansas stronger.
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Anna Beth Gorman is executive director of Women's Foundation of Arkansas.
Editorial on 04/21/2018