UW Women’s Center Fact Sheet & Backgrounder
Founded
1971
Office
Cunningham Hall, University of Washington
Mission
The University of Washington Women’s Center is a vital place where women and men
partner to build a culture of gender equity campus-wide, locally and globally. We
provide educational programs, individualized services, skills training, research and
community outreach.
Students, staff, faculty, & community members
Markets
served
Programs &
services
Employees
Making Connections Program, Lifelong Learning Program, Re-Entry Program for
returning Students, Gender Equity & Violence Prevention Program, Resource &
Information Referral Services, Human Trafficking Research, Workshops & Forums
3 Full, 2 Part Time, 1 Hourly, 10 Student Work Study Students
Profile
Non-Profit, University Based
Management
team
Sutapa Basu, PhD, Director
Judy Howard, Divisional Dean of Social Sciences
Ana Marie Cauce, Dean of Arts and Sciences
Catherine Clark, Law Office of Catherine C. Clark, PLLC
Dawn Trudeau, Community Volunteer
Dolores Sibonga, Esq. Municipal Court Judge
Edie Hilliard, Community Volunteer
Eileen Concannon, Community Volunteer
Glenna Olson Sr. Vice President & Managing Director, U.S. Bank
Jane Bulman, Community Volunteer
Laura Elfline, Mosaic Solutions
Marianne O’Bara Attorney at Law, Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Megan McCloskey, Rafel Law Group
Nancy Woods Professor and Dean Emerita, School of Nursing, UW
Patricia Dawson MD, PhD, FACS, Diagnosis & Treatment of Breast Diseases, Swedish
Hospital
Rosanne Cohn, Community Volunteer
Ruth Johnston, Senior Assoc. Treasurer, Student Fiscal Services, UW
Sanya M. Lawless AVP, Liberty Mutual Agency Markets
Shelli Gonshorowski,
Stephanie Rempe Sr. Assoc. Athletic Director/SWA, Intercollegiate Athletics, UW
Suzanne Poppema, Community Volunteer
Tami Hansen, President, Flow Energy
Vijya Patel, Vijya & Associates RE/MAX NW
Advisory Board
Major
Investors
US Bank, CRAY, YWCA, Muckleshoot, Puget Sound Energy Foundation, Dorsey &
Whitney LLP, College Spark, Amgen, Reach Scholars Foundation, Women’s Funding
Alliance, Fordham Street Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, State Farm
Insurance, Community Foundation, Nesholm Family Foundation
Partners
Amgen, Microsoft, Systems Biology, Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, and University of Washington School of
Engineering, School of Dentistry, Prosthetics Lab, Speech Pathology, Neurology, and
UW Women’s Center Fact Sheet & Backgrounder
Company
Contact Info
Other
Company
Resources
School of Nursing
Women’s Center
Phone: 206.685.1090
University of Washington
Email: womens@uw.edu
Bagley Hall, Room 484
Fax: 206.685.4490
Box 351380
Web: depts.washington.edu/womenctr
Seattle, WA 98195
Website: depts.washington.edu/womenctr
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=13853269473&ref=search
Twitter: http://twitter.com/uwwomenctr
Women’s Center History
The Women’s Center is housed in historic Cunningham Hall, the first building built for women in
Washington. Cunningham Hall was named for Imogen Cunningham, a trailblazer who graduated from
UW in Chemistry in 1907 and became one of the world’s first professional female photographers. Since
its inception 100 years ago, the Women’s Center has served the community in numerous ways, including
providing a meeting place for the suffragists who fought for women’s right to vote in our state. These
meetings culminated in 1910 when Washington State became the fifth state to award women the right
to vote. The Women’s Center at Cunningham Hall continues to serve the women and girls on campus
and in the community with programs and services geared toward facilitating success in their personal,
professional, and educational goals.
UW Women’s Center Fact Sheet & Backgrounder
Programs & Services
Making Connections
Making Connections is a highly successful, yearlong program aimed at encouraging local high school girls
from low-income, first generation families to pursue higher education. The Women’s Center specifically
targets girls who are interested in careers in the STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math).
The program benefits more than 100 students per year, each of whom receives tutoring, mentoring, and
assistance preparing for college, including help with scholarship applications, financial aid, and counseling.
The students also attend an intensive three-day training program focused on academic excellence,
techniques to succeed in college, and leadership skills. In 2008 and 2009, 100 percent of the Making
Connections graduates went on to higher education. The national average for high school graduates
attending college is just 60 percent.
Re-Entry for Returning Students
The Women’s Center annually advises over 1,200 individuals, both men and women, who are considering
returning to school after a significant time away. Many program participants have lost jobs, or have been
through divorce or the loss of a spouse, requiring them to seek training toward a new career. Women’s
Center advisors provide support and counseling to program participants during the application process and
provide safety nets for students in their academic pursuits after they are accepted to the University.
Lifelong Learning
The Women’s Center offers over 100 low-cost continuing education classes, workshops, and lectures each
year. Over 2,500 individuals from campus and the local community attend our classes annually.
Research & Policy Development
The Women’s Center has played a vital role in research regarding the impact of human trafficking and
violence against women. Executive Director Sutapa Basu was instrumental in advocating for the adoption of
legislation protecting trafficking victims, making Washington one of the first states to offer such protections.
The Women’s Center has recently collaborated with the UW Jackson School of International Studies to
expand its research, educational programs, activism, and policy development, and regularly partners with
other university departments and community groups, and hosts forums on a wide range of gender issues.
Recent events have included community luncheons with activist Lilly Ledbetter and author Nicholas Kristof.
Gender Equity & Violence Prevention
The Women’s Center offers regular training on violence prevention, and partners with campus organizations
on activities designed to encourage both men and women students to become knowledgeable about and
active in efforts to reduce violence against women, sexism in everyday life, and to encourage positive
masculinity.
In addition to its myriad programs, the Women’s Center is a vital part of the University of Washington’s
dedication to equity and diversity. The Center provides a safe and supportive space for women students,
staff, faculty, and community members to seek advice and counseling, and to participate actively and fully in
the University system and succeed in their educational, career, and life goals.
UW Women’s Center Fact Sheet & Backgrounder
Event Overview
On November 8, 1910, after a long and heroic struggle, the women of Washington State won the right to
vote. This event changed our lives in ways we’ll never be able to fully calculate, but consider these
achievements:
 We are the only state in the country that has a woman governor, two women US senators, and a
woman chief justice of the state Supreme Court. Washington also has the highest percentage of
female elected officials.
 Women now lead some of Washington’s most powerful and innovative organizations in the
private, public, and non-profit communities.
 For the past one hundred years the Women’s Center at the University of Washington has
advised, educated, and trained several generations of community activists, scholars, and
business women, and hundreds of college graduates in families where no previous member had
attended school beyond high school.
For these and at least one hundred other reasons, on November 6th—one hundred years after
Washington state women gained the right to vote—the University of Washington’s Women’s Center will
be presenting Women Unbound: Celebrate the Legacy, a gala evening to commemorate and honor this
monumental anniversary.
We invite you to join us on this festive night as we honor one hundred women who were the first to
break the barriers in business and politics, the arts and sciences, education, and family and community
life.
Event Sponsorship
PIONEER
$15,000
LEADER
$10,000
PARTNER
$5,000
• Entry for eight to private VIP
cocktail reception
• Seating for sixteen guests
• Option to donate six seats
back to the Women’s Center for
student participation
• Full-page highlight in
commemorative program & and
recognition on invitation and all
promotional materials
• Sixteen VIP parking passes
• Sponsor name announced
during event and throughout on
electronic signage
• Prominent signage at event
• Special recognition in Public
Service Announcements, press
releases, other media requests,
and blog postings as possible
• Recognition in UW Report to
Contributors and Women’s
Center newsletter
• Complimentary VIP tickets to
all Women’s Center events,
2010-2011 academic year
• Entry for eight to private VIP
cocktail reception
• Seating for eight guests
• Half-page ad in commemorative
program & recognition on
invitation and all promotional
materials
• Eight VIP parking passes
• Sponsor name announced
during event
• Prominent signage at event
• Recognition in UW Report to
Contributors
and Women’s Center newsletter
• Seating for eight guests
• Recognition in
commemorative program and
on invitation and all
promotional materials
• Sponsor name announced
during event
• Recognition in UW Report to
Contributors (UW Annual
Report) and Women’s Center
newsletter
SUPPORTER
$2,000
• Seating for eight guests
• Recognition in commemorative
program
NOTE: A portion of your
sponsorship gift is tax-deductible
as specified in IRS regulations.
The UW Foundation is registered
as a charitable organization. An
official letter calculating the
deductible portion of your
sponsorship will be mailed upon
receipt of your sponsorship gift.