The Women’s and Girls’ Fund (WGF) is primarily a volunteer effort supported by Kern Community Foundation (KCF). The WGF is guided by the leadership of the Vision Committee and Community Advisors. The assets of the Fund are professionally managed and invested by KCF, providing oversight of Fund grant decisions.
WE will transform the lives of women and girls in Kern County by mobilizing the power and passion of women working together.
- Women Educate to create awareness of women’s and girls’ needs unmet by current strategies.
- Women Endow a permanent fund whose annual yield supports programs benefitting women and girls throughout Kern County.
- Women Empower one another and our girls to become philanthropists and advocates of positive social change.
2020 Report on the Status of Women and Girls in Kern County
This report is a true labor of love, compiled as a gift to our community by The WGF at KCF.
Only published once every five years.
Grantmaking 2024
- $25,000 – Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) Friendship House: Girls Leading the Way Through STEM.Teen Mothers Transcending. The funding will empower 80-100 girls residing in Southeast Bakersfield’s 93307 area with hands-on STEM education. Concentrating on robotics, team building, mentorship, and leadership, the program connects participants with women STEM leaders, ensuring representation and fostering soft skill development.
- $25,000 — Charmed & Chosen, Inc: Empowerment Program. TheThe funding will provide ongoing support for girls in grades 7-12 across Kern County the Empowerment Program offers monthly empowerment sessions focused on educational attainment, mentoring, mental wellness, financial literacy, work force readiness, and college preparation. Participants will also attend events such as a STEM EXPO, Mental Wellness Symposium, and Career Shadow Day.
- $20,000 — Kern Partnership for Children and Families: Take Control of your Future- One Step at a Time! The funding will assist 15 pregnant or parenting teens in applying to and gaining entry to an institution of higher learning. Participants will work with a mentor to identify their future employment goals and build an academic road map and vision board to get there.
- $19,000 — Kern Dance Alliance: SHINE for Girls: DANCE + MATH = SUCCESS Expansion Project. This grant will fund bring the program to 25 girls residing in Lost Hills, CA. SHINE for Girls: DANCE + MATH = SUCCESS is a curriculum-based, after-school program for girls in grades 6-8 that uses kinesthetic learning by combining formal dance training with rigorous math instruction to improve girls’ math scores and spark their interest in STEM.
Judi McCarthy Woman and Young Woman in Philanthropy Award (JMPA)
This award is given to a young woman and woman who has made exceptional contributions of her time, talent, and treasure to improve the quality of life in Kern County. Nominations for 2025 will open in January 2025.
2024 Judi McCarthy Women’s Philanthropy Awardee
Cynthia Lake
2024 Judi McCarthy Young Women’s Philanthropy Awardee
Noor El Kereamy
Grow Our Giving: A Call to Action!
The principles of The WGF are that: Women Educate, Women Endow, and Women Empower….with the foundational belief that we transform the lives of women and girls in Kern County by mobilizing the power and passion of women working together. When our endowment grows, our giving grows and creates larger, more impactful grants that provide opportunities to directly affect some of the root causes impacting women and girls, thereby creating lasting and sustainable change within our community for generations to come.
Get involved
Donations may be made by personal or business check or credit card (transaction fee applied). Please make a check payable to Kern Community Foundation, WGF, in the memo.
For more information, or if you have any questions, please write to us at WGF@kernfoundation.org.
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