Via: Dallas Business Journal

The Dallas Women’s Foundation announced Wednesday that it is now the Texas Women’s Foundation.

The news came during a luncheon, which celebrated the culmination of a 5-year campaign that raised $50 million.

Roslyn Dawson Thompson, president and CEO of the Foundation, said the name change better captures the foundation’s statewide focus.

“As Texas Women’s Foundation, our goal is to transform Texas for women and girls by advancing economic security for women, girls and families across the state, and by ensuring opportunities for them to lead in every sector — from the classroom, to the first job, the board room and the halls of government,” Dawson Thompson said.

For 33 years, the Texas Women’s Foundation has leveraged research to spotlight the financial disadvantages of women. In Texas, 29 percent of households are headed by women, and of the households in poverty, 54 percent are headed by women, Dawson Thompson said.

“With research, we are able to reach a common understanding,” Dawson Thompson said. “With a common understanding, we then can stand together for the positive changes to be made. That could be through policy changes or making corporations more aware of the disparities, so they can disappear.”

With more than $35 million in assets, the foundation raises approximately $8 million a year from a broad base of donors, including individuals, foundations and corporations, the organization said. The funds also are used to sustain the foundation’s $5 million in annual grants, mission-focused gendered asset investments and support for programs aimed at helping Texas women and girls.