News
Alumna Spotlight: Blanca Medina
A huge congratulations to one of our amazing Alumnas Blanca Medina for recently facilitating WANDA’s new Financial Literacy class focused on budgeting. We are thrilled to announce that she will be the lead facilitator for our next partnership cohort with MidPen...
DiversityInc Profiles WANDA Mom, Charisse
WANDA alumna Charisse Fontes shares her story in this DiversityInc article, "Race, Homelessness and the Role of Corporate Social Responsibility." Read the full article: https://bit.ly/3YWZ3u5 "When Fontes was homeless, she was determined to improve her...
Keep Moving Forward
Moving forward is what WANDA moms do – they overcome obstacles and build a legacy of accomplishment that inspires others and changes their family’s trajectory upwards. MLK honored his mother and talked of how the best thing she and other mothers could do was instill a...
WANDA Awarded Grants from Atkinson Foundation and Sutter Health
We are thrilled to share that the Atkinson Foundation and Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation each awarded WANDA $10,000 in grant funding in support of our program and operations. We’d like to extend our gratitude to both foundations for their continued support...
Alumna Spotlight: Charisse Fontes
At the end of last year, one of our very own alumna Charisse Fontes had a full circle moment as she taught one of WANDA’s most popular seminars, “The Value of Traditions.” The seminar allows our moms to explore what makes a tradition and how they have opportunities to...
Levi’s® and Fred Warner Treat Single Mothers to Holiday Shopping | 49ers
This past holiday season, San Francisco 49er Fred Warner partnered with Levi's® to host a shopping event exclusively for our single mothers. WANDA moms were treated to clothes for themselves as recognition of their role in being the head of their family. During the...
WANDA Awarded Two Year Grant under CZI Community Fund Initiative
We are excited to share that we're one of the 64 orgs in San Mateo County who will receive funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Community Fund! CZI Community Fund is an annual grantmaking program that pairs grants with capacity building resources to support community...
“Equity Acumen: Understanding How Systems Shape Lived Experiences”
Valuing Who We are at Work is an ongoing project exploring how personal experiences shape the way asset building professionals engage in the work and affirms the value of advocacy grounded in lived experiences. Read the research brief by Melody Ng, CABC Racial...
Volunteer Spotlight – Diana Orozco
Diana is a WANDA volunteer and member of our Partnership Committee charged with building our collaborative engagement plan, management process and evaluation. She has also worked with the Program Committee on English to Spanish translation of WANDA’s curriculum...
Giving Thanks – Child of a Single Mother
I have been lucky to lead WANDA for just over 8.5 years now. I joined as the Executive Director in 2014, shortly after the birth of my first daughter. The mission really resonated with me. I was raised by a single mother in cyclical poverty in San Francisco. We faced...