Our Research
Our research is community-centered and informed in collaboration with local experts. We conduct a combination of quantitative and qualitative analysis in our studies, and we make sure we get an accurate representation of the communities we serve. This work informs all of our initiatives, so it’s important that we’re thorough, fair and equitable in the process.
Women and Girl’s Study
of Greater Fort Wayne
The economic health of women and future success of girls is crucial to our community’s success. Knowing that, The Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne stepped back and asked, what is the current state of women and girls’ well-being in Allen County? We realized we couldn’t answer that meaningfully—the last time our community took a comprehensive look at the economic health of women and girls in our county was in 1974. And we think more than 45 years is too long to go without assessing more than half of our population.
While the journeys of each individual woman and girl in our community is unique, the Women and Girl’s Study of Greater Fort Wayne reveals their predominant story. Understanding the overarching story provides a place for investment and partnership to begin.
Young Women & Girls Report
When we completed our initial Women and Girl’s Study of Greater Fort Wayne in 2020, we learned that girls perform well academically, earn more high school honors diplomas than boys, and are more than twice as likely to have a bachelor’s degree than their mothers and grandmothers. But we still have work to do. We needed to hear more from the 12-24 age group. So, we convened three focus groups to center their voices, elevate their experiences, and show the next generation that we’re listening.
"If advocacy for women and girls is about giving voice to the voiceless - gathering and analyzing data is about making the invisible visible ... We cannot close the gender gap without closing the data gap."
- Melinda Gates
Does this work move you? Become a member or contact us today to get involved.
Key Factors Affecting Women’s Economic Self-Sufficiency
Women’s economic self-sufficiency is defined as 250% of the Federal Poverty Level, or about $50,000 for a family of four.
In Allen County,
we’re doing some things right.
Girls perform well academically.
Younger women are more than twice as likely to have a bachelor’s degree than their mothers or grandmothers.
75% of working age women are in the workforce—outpacing our state and national peers.
But we still have work to do.
Women’s median earnings are $15,590 less than men’s.
26% of women did not access healthcare because of cost.
70% of women have experienced crime in their lifetime.
