Status of Women & Girls in Minnesota: Launch Webinar is March 17

You’re invited to join a special presentation to launch our biennial Status of Women & Girls in Minnesota research report.

The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota has long invested in research to understand the realities facing women and girls across Minnesota so that we may target community-centered solutions. On March 17, we launch our newest report, the 2022 Status of Women and Girls in Minnesota, produced with the Center on Women, Gender, & Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Join WFMN president and CEO, Gloria Perez, for this online presentation with Dr. Christina Ewig, lead researcher of the report and faculty director of Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy (CWGPP), and Shawntera Hardy, founder of PolicyGrounds Consulting, and former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Together, we will address not only the data, but also the policy solutions that center the experiences of our state’s women, girls, and gender-expansive people.

Policy solutions, rooted in the expertise of communities experiencing the greatest barriers, have the potential to be a game-changer for Minnesota families, but how do we bridge the divides and build equity? In this conversation, we’ll share new data alongside policy paths forward for Minnesota women and girls.

As the leading research on women and girls in our state, this report details the profound gender inequities that persist in Minnesota, with greater disparities faced by Black, Indigenous, and women and girls of color, rural women and girls, LGBTQ+ people, and older women. Using data disaggregated across gender, race and ethnicity, place, and additional identities, the report shows how women and girls are faring in economics, safety, health, and leadership and reflects the context of our times.

We will discuss the significant inequities facing communities in Minnesota, the impact of COVID-19, and how we can center gender and racial justice in advancing community-led solutions. This ongoing research and community input informs the Foundation’s annual grantmaking and policy agenda, and identifies new areas where research is needed.

Intersectional Analysis Drives Solutions:
2022 Status of Women & Girls in MN
Thursday, March 17, 2022
12 p.m. to 1 p.m.

The data in this report is clear: we must dismantle gender and racial inequities, increase investments in community-led solutions, and transform our state’s systems so that all women and girls thrive.

After the event, a recording of this presentation will be posted on WFMN.org and our YouTube channel.

About the Panelists

Dr. Christina Ewig is Professor of Public Affairs and Faculty Director of the Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Throughout her career, she has published widely on gender, race and Latin American social policy. Her book, Second-Wave Neoliberalism: Gender, Race and Health Sector Reform in Peru (Penn State University Press, 2010) won the Flora Tristán Award for the best book on Peru, 2010-12, from the Peru Section of the Latin American Studies Association. Her research on health reforms in Chile, Colombia, and Brazil has been published in journals such as Comparative Political Studies and World Development, among others.

As Faculty Director of the Center on Women, Gender and Public Policy, Dr. Ewig works to stimulate research, teaching and public engagement on gender and its intersections with other forms of inequality. She leads the Humphrey School’s academic programming on gender and public policy, including teaching graduate courses on gender, intersectionality, and public policy. She also leads the Center’s research portfolio, which is centered on finding evidence-based policy solutions to gender-based disparities, with specific expertise on Minnesota. Dr. Ewig was formerly Associate Editor of the journal Social Politics, and elected Co-President of the Women and Politics Research Section of the American Political Science Association. She is currently editor of the Palgrave book series, Crossing Boundaries of Gender and Politics in the Global South.

Shawntera M. Hardy is an award winning public policy professional and serial entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience leading work in the areas of government affairs, healthcare access, economic and workforce development, environmental sustainability, city planning, and international affairs. She currently leads three ventures – Civic Eagle, a venture backed company building legislative intelligence tools for analyzing, tracking, and collaborating on bills in state legislatures and Congress; PolicyGrounds Consulting, a WBE and DBE certified advisory firm working exclusively with nonprofit, for profit and government executives, owners, and founders to provide strategic counsel and capacity across a range of challenges and opportunities; and Fearless Commerce, a nationally recognized company on a mission, through book publishing and “Backoffice “ programming, to build an ecosystem where Black Women are seen and positioned to operate competitive high growth businesses.

Previously, Shawntera served as the Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. Additional past leadership roles include: legislative assistant, city planner, healthcare lobbyist, environmental policy lobbyist and deputy chief of staff. Shawntera holds a bachelor’s degree in consumer affairs from The Ohio State University, and a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the State University of New York – University at Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning.