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March 8, 2009
Alcoa Foundation increasing opportunity for women and girls
As the world marks International Women’s Day, Alcoa Foundation has confirmed its continued commitment to increasing opportunities for girls and women through a range of community-based partnerships and programs to promote optimal health and wellbeing and ensure equal access to quality education.
Since 2006, Alcoa Foundation has invested $5.3 million in programs to benefit women and girls. From maternal and women’s health programs, to supporting girls in the pursuit of careers as science and innovation leaders – Alcoa Foundation is working to address issues that impact women of all backgrounds at all ages and from all regions where we have a presence.
These programs are contributing to improving education, health and wellbeing, workforce diversity, and equal opportunity on all levels.
- Across the US, Alcoa communities are working with partners such as Girls Inc., Boys and Girls Clubs, Girl Scouts and Big Brothers and Big Sisters, to empower young women to reach their full potential through a through a suite of gender-specific programs around health, science, math, and technology, economic and financial literacy, leadership and advocacy skills. In Michigan, Alcoa Foundation supports young women to attend the STEPS (Science, Technology and Engineering Preview Camp), one of the nation’s leading technology based outreach programs for introducing girls to manufacturing, engineering and other sciences skills through interaction and mentoring from female teachers and professionals. For six years, Alcoa Foundation has supported the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), to encourage women to enter engineering careers. SWE runs a series of professional development seminars aimed at building understanding and practical skills for women in engineering studies and jobs.
- In Europe, Alcoa Foundation is supporting the delivery of vocational training and skills-building workshops for women in France to improve the confidence of participants in actively seeking employment and negotiating employment terms. A Foundation grant in Germany is empowering women and girls to protect themselves against violence, and supporting those impacted by sexual abuse through an emergency counseling service.
- In Africa, Alcoa Foundation is partnering International Foundation for Education & Self-Help (IFESH), to build the skills of instructors in Guinea’s Boké prefecture with practical trainings on good practices in girls’ education – a critical development issue for Guinea. The program prepares teachers to educate young girls about basic concepts of gender and equity, basic maternal health concepts, and the role of mothers in family education.
- In Asia, Alcoa Foundation is working with Central South University in China’s Hunan Province to engage female students in engineering studies thus broadening their career prospects in a field that is largely the domain of male students in China. The project has awarded scholarships to 63 outstanding female undergraduate and masters’ students for academic achievement.
- In Suriname, the Medical Mission Primary Health Care is integrating screening, testing and early treatment services directed at cervical cancer prevention and primary care services for women, supported by a a three year $108,000 Alcoa Foundation grant. This program is being taken into health centers across Suriname’s interior region with a target of reaching 80% of women aged 25 to 55.
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