Women4Change Indiana — Newsletter: Wrap-Up Women's History Month

April 8, 2024

Women’s History Month ended on High Note with Women4Change

The women of W4C are making history right now.

Women4Change’s civic education, GOTV, and Youth Engage! work was highlighted on WRTV as a part of the wide-ranging work Women’s Fund does to support women and girls in Central Indiana.

Tamara Winfrey-Harris, CEO, Women's Fund underscored that only 2% of total philanthropic giving goes toward women and girls in the United States, which is why the Women’s Fund is so crucial in Indiana.

Our CEO, Angela Carr Klitzsch drove home that our “first priority is getting Hoosiers out to vote this year in what could be a game-changing year for Indiana.”

Hoosier women have been registering to vote in higher numbers than in the last twenty years, but one thing to know that it’s MORE challenging for young and first time voters to vote this year: Election Security HB 1264 places more identification barriers in place for first time voters- so we must help voters meet those requirements (your ID must match your address) and it’s more difficult to vote absentee if you’re away from home, as well.

Hoosiers, you must know there was a bill filed this year in Indiana to eliminate free rides on Election Day, begging the question: why is our legislature making HARDER for Hoosiers to vote?

Bottomline- if Hoosiers show up and vote for lawmakers who aren’t leaving women behind, we will see change. If you don’t, we won’t.

The future of Hoosier women and girls is up to you.

View the Women’s Fund Segment here:
https://www.wrtv.com/news/womens-history-month/womens-history-month-womens-fund-of-central-indiana-focuses-on-improving-lives-of-girls-and-women

Coming in for the win to mark the end of Women’s History Month, we celebrate our very own Sara Hindi for earning IndyHub’s “Person of the Year”.

Here’s what IndyHub had to say about her:

“We’re thrilled to announce the 2024 IndyHub Person of the Year, Sara Hindi!
Sara Hindi is a proud American of Palestinian-Jordanian descent. She was born in Amman, Jordan, and has lived in Central Indiana for about 21 years.

She is currently the Chief Communications Officer for the Indianapolis City-County Council. Previously, she was a legislative intern with a local lobbying firm and had served the refugee community in Indianapolis for 7 years at Exodus Refugee Immigration.
Hindi holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Public Affairs from the O’Neill Indianapolis School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis. She is also an alumna of Hoosier Women Forward and IndyHub’s 1828 Leadership Project.

Sara currently serves on three boards driving change in the city: Indiana Muslim Advocacy Network, Women4Change, and ACLU of Indiana.
Her hard work and dedication have earned her many awards, such as being acknowledged in the 30 Under 30, presented by Arab America.” -IndyHub

Learn more at IndyHub.org.

Congratulations, Sara, and thank you for all you do at Women4Change and for Indianapolis.

Women4Change’s Herstory

March may have come and gone, but Women’s History Month serves as an important opportunity to share the history of Women4Change.

Every March we are given the chance to acknowledge trailblazing women who have led the way for change in all fields and all communities. This year's Women’s History Month theme was “Women Who Advocate for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion”.

As this official celebratory period soon has concluded, we wanted to take the time to briefly reflect on our own history. Women4Change was founded by Rabbi Sandy Sasso and Jennifer Nelson-Williams in response to the breakdown of civility they witnessed during the 2016 presidential election campaigns. Noting the increasing intolerance and harmful rhetoric that was evident in their communities, these two women desired to restore civic discourse here in Indiana. The rest is history, in the making.

Since 2016, incivility is still evident in public discourse and Women4Change remains committed to equipping Hoosiers with the tools and resources they need to engage in our democracy in a healthy manner. We are inspired by those who have come before us and who have epitomized this year's Women’s History Month theme. While the future of the health and safety of Hoosier women is uncertain, we will continue to advocate on behalf of ALL women in Indiana to achieve equitable outcomes in health, economic stability, and personal safety.

We strive to work toward a future of equitable policy that responds to the needs of Hoosier women and is free from bias and discrimination.

Thank you to the women who carried out this work before us.

Thank you to the women who are doing this work beside us, on our Board of Directors.

Thank you to the women who will continue this work until the day it is done.

Women4Change news for next week:

On Monday, April 8th, Women4Change will be at the Kurt Vonnegut museum as an effort to commemorate this once in 1,000 years total solar eclipse event.

Personal safety is one of Women4Change’s pillars, and we want Indiana to be safe.

Here’s a quick crossword puzzle to help! (Spoiler alert. We’ve included the answers.)

Sincerely,

Women4Change Indiana