About Us Dear Friends, Today I speak to you from a place of great encouragement. As I reflect upon the past year and a half since joining The New York Women’s Foundation®, I am energized by what has been accomplished and am eager to continue our efforts to uplift the lives of women, girls and communities in New York City. The Foundation shares in many important victories this past year, through the work of our grantee partners. One such partner, EQUALITY NOW, spearheaded the efforts of the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition as it successfully lobbied the New York State Legislature to enact tougher penalties for perpetrators of this horrific crime. The Human Trafficking Law, which was recently signed by Governor Spitzer, is the strongest legislation of its kind in the country. In addition to our ongoing relationships with all of our incredible grantee partners, this year the Foundation partnered with more organizations than ever before, including the Open Society Institute; the Global Fund for Women; Oxygen Media; the Gallup Organization; Funders Concerned about AIDS; The Institute for Urban Education at Eugene Lang College; Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center; Legal Action Center; Third Wave Foundation; Women’s Prison Association; Harlem United Community AIDS Center; Center for Women’s Global Leadership; Dobkin Family Foundation; The New York Foundation; North Star Fund; The NYC Social Justice Fellows Program; The Union Square Awards; The Osborne Association; Muslim Women’s Institute for Research & Development; Youth Ministries for Peace & Justice; Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition; Girls Inc of NYC; Institute for Women’s Policy Research; Women of Color Policy Network; Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy; Sakhi for South Asian Women; Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition; Reconnect, a program of Women in Prison Project of Correctional Association of New York; and Sauti Yetu Center for African Women. We are so very honored to have had the opportunity to work together. With these partners we have hosted several important public forums have increased awareness of issues that are of particular importance to women and girls. They include such topics as the intersection of faith and social justice, the need for strong ties between local and global activism, the disproportionate and alarming impact on HIV/AIDS among women, and the devastating effect that incarceration is having upon women and the families in New York State. The Foundation has also reached its highest level of funding to date. At Our Celebrating Women Breakfast®, we raised an unprecedented amount to fund cutting-edge, women-led programs. At this event we were also fortunate enough to witness the extraordinary vision of activist philanthropist Abigail E. Disney, who challenged all of us to give beyond our comfort levels and to recognize our “interdependence” upon each other. As we look back with pride at the gains we have made, we are mindful that there is still much more work to be done. In the coming months and years, we will continue to rely heavily on our participatory grantmaking efforts in choosing innovative and effective responses aimed at supporting low-income women and girls in New York City to achieve economic independence. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to collaborate with you over the past 18 months, and I look forward to continuing our work together for a long time to come. Sincerely, Ana L. Oliveira President & CEO