Northshore Magazine

Northshore October 2015

Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.

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118 | OCTOBER 2015 nshoremag.com in-depth LIVE poverty than men," she notes. In fact, The Women's Fund pro- vides a number of startling local and national statistics in their 2013 "The Need Is Real" report. Among them the fact that one in seven females in Essex County lives in poverty, versus one in 11 males. Full-time working women's earn- ings average 76 percent less than earnings of their male counter- parts. In 40 percent of the coun- try's households with children, mothers are either the primary or the sole source of income, and 38 percent of single-mother families live in poverty. "The state of Mas- sachusetts is doing a great job of addressing some of these issues," says Hallowell. "But it is still very difficult for women in poverty; that's where we believe philan- thropy can close the gap." As Hallowell explains, directing aid to programs that help women and girls is more than just a philan- thropic pursuit: "Helping women and girls is a charitable decision, but it's also a great investment in the community and the economy. Even some of the country's major business enterprises are beginning to recognize that the fastest way to prosperity for the economy is by investing in women." A statistic from Goldman Sachs estimates that the GDP of the United States would increase by nine percent if women were employed and compensated equally to men. "We were founded in 2003 by a group of really visionary women who got together in a living room and said, 'Let's pool our money together, and raise money from some of our friends, and support women,'" recalls Hallowell. Current Advisory Board vice president Lynn Bryant was one of these early mem- bers. "We have a relatively brief photograph by Paul Lyden Lynn Bryant, advisory board vice president

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