Develop. Empower. Advocate.
i-YW, an inter-collegiate leadership program, works to develop a community of young women leaders by incorporating proven best-practices, such as mentoring, experiential learning, community service learning, small group discussion and activities to foster bold leadership in its young women.

Through i-YW, female college students across Worcester come together to organize events on campus to raise public awareness about women issues, educate their peers, work with and support the YWCA Central Massachusetts, and mobilize advocates to speak out for women’s rights and access to services.

i-YW also serves as:

• a forum to discuss ideas
• an opportunity to learn more about oneself
• a fun way to meet new people

Participation Criteria

• Sophomores and juniors in colleges/universities throughout Worcester County
• Ages 18-21
• Minimum C+ average
• Submit completed application by posted deadline
• Have a successful face-to-face interview
• Attend, actively participate in, and be on time to all meetings
• Complete community service learning project

 Topics covered in the program are:

• Genuine Networking
• Leadership Styles for Success
• The Art of Public Speaking
• Practical Money Skills
• Understanding Racial Justice
• Professional Development for Career Advancement

A number of talented, successful local women will join us and share their knowledge and skills as it relates to leadership in their lives and careers throughout the program.

For more information or to get involved in i-YW, please email ywlp@ywcacentralmass.org.

This month we ask you to remember the many women who have come before us, laying the foundation for our community, as well as the women of today who have continued their tradition of service.

Image for Facebook and Twitter
Celebrate Women’s History Month today by downloading the image to the left to use as your Facebook and/or Twitter profile photo during the month of March. To save the image below to your computer, right click the image to the left and save it to your computer.

Katharine F. Erskine Award for Women
The YWCA Central Massachusetts encourages you to nominate an outstanding woman for the Katharine F. Erskine Award. Your nominee should show a commitment to the YWCA mission –eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all – and meet the following criteria:

• distinctive achievement and service in current profession;
• service to community with a demonstrated commitment to social and racial equality;
• demonstrated commitment to serving as a role model for women and girls;
• live and/or work in YWCA’s geographic service area which includes all cities/towns in Central Massachusetts.

The award is presented in the following 5 categories:

Arts & Culture
Business & Law
Social Service & Government
Medicine & Science
Education

Do you know a past Erskine recipient? Click here to see over 70 women the YWCA has recognized in the past 18 years.

To nominate a woman leader, submit an online nomination by completing the form below. To mail in a nomination, please click here to download the nomination form.

You may re-nominate candidates who were nominated in previous years and did not receive the award. Members of the YWCA Board of Directors are not eligible for nomination.

If you have any questions, please contact Jo-Serena Rodriguez at 508-791-3181, ext. 3049 or via email at jrodriguez@ywcacentralmass.org.

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This year, the YWCA, one of central Massachusetts’ most important and reliable resources for women and families in our community celebrates its 125th Anniversary. You have been an important part of what the YWCA has been able to accomplish and we want you to join the celebration! We have exciting plans to make our celebration meaningful, not only to all of our partners and friends, but to all of those who rely on the YWCA to help them build better lives.

Fearless Commitment to our Mission

When we began, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, the YWCA provided safe housing for women coming into the city to work in the factories. Over the years we have changed and grown, but we remain faithful to our mission: eliminating racism and empowering women. Our transitional housing program is still one of our core programs. Child care and domestic violence prevention are our mainstays. Health and fitness are key, along with a variety of programs that help girls and women develop and mature into lifetime leaders.

Leadership for a Lifetime

To make this special milestone one to be remembered, the YWCA will launch a new initiative aimed at providing leadership training for young women in central Massachusetts. Our leadership training initiative responds to a significant unmet need in our community. While the YWCA has established programs to respond to the needs of elementary school and middle school-aged girls, there is a need for mentoring and guiding young women once they enter the workplace. We feel that building a program that will help us meet the needs of women of today is the best way to commemorate the accomplishments of the past 125 years.

Frame the Future

Helping the YWCA launch new programs or enrich established efforts will make a huge difference to the women in central Massachusetts and by doing so you will honor an illustrious past while dedicating a promising future. If you would like to receive an invitation to the 125th birthday bash, please click here. If you are interested in getting involved with this initiative, please email ywlp@ywcacentralmass.org.

Young Women’s Leadership Initiative Sponsors

The following organizations have made a commitment to support the YWCA’s efforts and its commemorative initiative.

Make your gift a tribute…
Is there a special woman in your life who is an inspiration to you – mother, aunt, sister, mentor? This Mother’s Day, honor her with a gift to the YWCA. For gifts of $30, the YWCA will send a custom Mother’s Day card to inform her of your tribute. For gifts of $50 or more, we’ll send cards to two women who inspire you. 

Outside Image:

Inside Message:

Mother’s Day is a time for fond memories and warm thoughts – for expressing the feelings and words that often go unspoken – for letting those special women in our lives know they are loved and appreciated.

To guarantee delivery by Mother’s Day, please make your donation by 3:00 p.m., May 5 2011. Online payment only, please contact jrodriguez@ywcacentralmass.org for other payment options.

Tribute Cards

Step 1: Tribute Information
Once you have completed the form below, please click ‘send email’. After the form below has been submitted, please click on Step 2 to be redirected to a secure site for credit card processing.

Click on Step 2 to be redirected to a secure site for credit card processing.
Step 2: Payment Information

The following lists books that address women’s issues as well as the elimination of racism.

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America
Author:  Barbara Ehrenreich

The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World is Still the Least Valued
Author: Ann Crittenden

America’s Childcare Problem: The Way Out
Author: Suzanne Helburn and Barbara Bergman

Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Other Conversations About Race
Author: Beverly Daniel Tatum

How to Mother a Successful Daughter: A Practical Guide to Empowering Girls from Birth to Eighteen
Author: Nicky Marone

How To Father a Successful Daughter
Author Nicky Marone

The Tortilla Curtain
Author:  TC Boyle

Farewell to Manzanar
Author:  Jeanne Houston

Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine
Author:  Bebe Moore Campbell

When the Emperor Was Divine
Author:  Julie Otsuka

April Raintree
Author:  Beatrice Mossiner

Shame of the Nation
Author:  Jonathaon Kozol

Dinarzad’s Children
Author:  Pauline Kaldas

Covering
Author:  Kenji Yoshino

White Like Me
Author:  Tim Wise

The Bluest Eye
Author:  Toni Morrison

Enrique’s Journey
Author:  Sonia Nazario

Caucasia
Author: Danzy Senna

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
Author:  Anne Fadiman

How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Author:  Julia Alvarez

Americans in Waiting
Author: Hiroshi Motomura

Interpreter of Maladies
Author:  Jhumpa Lahiri

Uprooting Racism
Author:  Paul Kivel

Tthings you can do to celebrate Women’s History Month:

1. Thank the women in your life who have been role models, mentors and friends.

2. Get to know women committed to making a difference in the lives of women and girls. Meet our Fearless Leaders.

3. Support companies who support women. Start with those who have generously donated to the YWCA.

4. Lend your knowledge and time to a child or young professional by becoming a mentor.

5. Join our movement to empower women and eliminate racism. Become a member of the YWCA.

6. Start a book club and read about brave and powerful women. See our suggested readings.

7. Help support our programs. Donate to the YWCA.

9. Get involved in the fight for a state budget that will support women and girls. 

10. Volunteer for an organization that helps women. Become a volunteer.

YWCA staff and board members understand the realities of racism, white privilege, and institutional racism., as well as our role to eliminate racism.

The YWCA’s policies, practices, program content, service delivery, and relationships reflect our stated intentions.

We track legislation at the local, state, and national level to ensure progress toward racial justice- i.e. hate crimes, affirmative action, civil rights, violence against women, poverty, and access to early childhood education.

We gather and provide data to inform public policy decision makers.

We stay focused on our roles to eliminate racism and to achieve peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all people.

We welcome all stakeholders to the movement for social change.

Linda Cavaioli has served as Executive Director of the YWCA of Central Massachusetts since 1992. In this position, Linda reports to a 30-member board of directors and oversees the daily operations of a $6 million non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of racism and empowerment of women.

Linda is active in the community and serves as a member on the board of directors of the United Way of Central Massachusetts. Linda serves as a Commissioner on the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. She is also a member of the Martin Luther King Community Breakfast Committee, City Manager’s Task Force on Bias and Hate, United Service Executives, and Worcester Women’s History Project. She also has served as regional chairman of the YWCAs of New England Council and is a member of the National Association of YWCA Executives. Currently Linda is the Chair of the YWCA USA Regional Leadership Committee.

Before joining the YWCA, Linda was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Resource Development at the United Way of Central Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Hampshire and a MBA from Clark University.

Linda and her husband John Medbury are the proud parents of five children and five grandchildren.