Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee Executive Director Lisa Attonito
The Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee is an organization dedicated to fostering economic empowerment, leadership development and educational opportunities for women and girls. Offering HER scholarships, a program for nontraditional female students studying at Milwaukee area colleges and universities, as well as funding to impactful community organizations through its Women’s Fund Social Change Grant Program, the Fund is promoting change for women at a time when longstanding realities in the workplace have come to light and provoked international discussions. With that in mind, Off the Cuff recently spoke with Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee Executive Director Lisa Attonito about advancing female leadership in Milwaukee and the significance of the #MeToo movement.
Considering the #MeToo movement, do you think this is a significant moment for women? Or just some women? What are your thoughts?
I think it’s a significant time for people. I think the #MeToo movement is generating conversations in many communities. I also think that there are different conversations happening between men and women and maybe men themselves. What I’ve heard from several men is that when they saw that #MeToo stream on their Facebook profiles they were very overwhelmed and surprised over how many women were affected and I think for women that wasn’t surprising at all. I feel like that aha moment is helpful in advancing equality for women. We have to have a realization before we can change our attitude, then we can begin to shift our behavior and change how we interact. That change in behavior eventually changes the culture. So, for me, the #MeToo too movement isn’t necessarily for one segment of society. It’s about what culture we want to create and live in and everyone contributes to it, both men and women and anyone who is on the spectrum.
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What do you think Milwaukee can do better as far as fostering female leadership? What changes would you like to see?
That’s an interesting question because I think there have been numerous efforts. I feel like while there have been some successes, I don’t think we’re done yet. I would bring back something we did in 2017 … In 2017 we celebrated the 45th anniversary of Title IX. Title IX has provided better access to higher education and scholarship dollars, eliminating the filter of gender when it comes to opportunity. Because Title IX ensures equitable opportunity for people at any federally funded educational institution. To foster leadership, people have to be educated and have access to information. I’m not sure there’s an easy answer to your question.
It’s a big question.
It is a big question. In my research I learned that as women fought for the right to vote in the early 1900s they believed at the time that if they only had the right to vote their lives would be better and women would become elected officials. Roll the clock forward: While we do have women as elected officials, I don’t think we had the ground swell that the women were thinking. That was the case when Title IX was passed and we thought that if women could enter college more easily that we would be able to advance more quickly and in fact there are more women that are college graduates today than men. Yet, we have not moved as quickly through the power structure, right? I mean that’s why you’re asking this question. What can change? We thought the right to vote would change things. We thought that access to higher education would change things and they have, but not to our satisfaction. There’s still more work to do. It’s complex and I think we have to work it from many aspects.
Looking to the future, is there anything you would like to change or expand with the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee?
Yes. Absolutely. We are a granting entity and we are very interested in making sure that there are always resources available for women. So, we are definitely interested in expanding our endowment and inviting more people to make gifts to the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, whether it’s an annual gift or something from their estate. We also want to generate more dollars so that we can have more scholarships for nontraditional women students. The ripple effect of one woman obtaining a bachelor’s degree is very difficult to quantify because not only does it affect her, but her family and her extended family. Maybe even her neighborhood and her community. I’ve had women come back and tell me what they’ve done, and you’re like, “Wow, one woman did this. Look at what one woman has done with her degree and her aspirations.” It’s fabulous.
To learn more about the Women’s Fund of Greater Milwaukee, visit womensfundmke.org.
