ClearSighted
(1996, Nan Silva, Marcia Festen, Zelphia Ford,
Marcia Lipetz, and Cathe Wood)

A Grantmaker's Guide to Using a Gender Lens
Chicago Women in Philanthropy Chicago, Illinois

Many of our philanthropic colleagues have asked Chicago Women in Philanthropy how they could better incorporate gender issues into their grantmaking. Our Clearsighted tool provides a set of basic questions from which to begin a gender-based assessment during proposal evaluation, site visits, and follow up. Use it as a guide, not a hard and fast checklist.

Using a gender lens means examining a particular issue with a focus on the real life conditions of women & girls and acknowledging that gender is a powerful predictor of experience and opportunity. It allows us to see connections such as those between unemployment and lack of child care, homelessness and rates of domestic violence, infant mortality and lack of access to prenatal care.

The four categories represented here are divided into two sections: "Yes or No" questions that can be used while reviewing proposals and "Dialogue" questions for use on site visits and meetings with grantees. Using these questions is a first step to ensuring that women & girls are better served through philanthropy.

Category I. Is the program supportive of the
participation of women & girls?

Yes or No questions:
• Do recruitment, training, and organizational materials depict women & girls in leadership roles? Do the images reinforce stereotypes? (For example, are men shown as active participants and women as observers?)
• Is the language used welcoming and gender neutral (congressman v. congressional representative)?
• Are women & girls offered nontraditional and leadership roles?
• Does the program anticipate women's safety concerns with regard to location, transportation, and program scheduling? How does the program anticipate child care needs of participants?

Dialogue questions:
• Are there specific plans in place to recruit women & girls? If so, what are they?
• How well do program resources permit the full participation of women & girls? (For example, are girls provided equal time and resources at local athletic facilities?)
• In what ways are women & girls encouraged and/or permitted to take risks and to learn nontraditional skills and roles? (Are resources/programs focused on gender stereotypes so that girls are only offered gymnastics, or are they also offered and encouraged to participate in other activities like basketball and auto shop?)
• In what ways does the program attend to real life concerns of women & girls, such as safety, transportation, accessibility, child care, and scheduling?
• What is the proportion of women to men being served? Is this proportion relevant both to the need and to the program's purpose? Do the program's retention rates for women & girls favorably compare to those for men & boys?
• How does the program measure outcomes in terms of women & girls? Are they the same as for men & boys? (For example, in a job training program, are men and women being trained for and placed in comparable wage jobs?) How do the results compare, and what accounts for this?
• In co-gender settings, how are male participants and staff members taught respectful modes of behavior toward women? Can you give an example of a staff intervention in this area?

Category II. What is the internal attitude of
the organization toward women & girls?

Yes or No questions:
• Are women adequately represented in staff and board leadership positions? Are women on staff offered growth opportunities?
• Does the allocation of resources (program priorities, program planning, funding of programs, programmatic offerings, etc.) reflect the most pressing concerns of the women & girls being served?

Dialogue questions:
• How does the organization encourage the participation of women & girls in program planning and evaluation?
• Does the organization seek out appropriate gender-related expertise or collaboration/partnerships for program planning and staff development?
• How are board and staff recruited and trained? Does staff training address issues of discrimination, equity, and language bias regarding gender, race, disability, and sexual orientation?
• What are the organizational policies on issues such as pay equity, sexual harassment, family and medical leave for staff, and retirement benefits?

Category III: How are gender and multicultural issues
reflected in the organization?

Yes or No questions:
• Do program content and staff approaches reflect an understanding of gender differences in learning styles, self esteem, and assertiveness?
• Do programs and policy work related to gender issues incorporate an understanding of age, race, nation of origin, sexual orientation, etc.?

Dialogue questions:
• How does the organization understand the issues of culture, class, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity; and how is its understanding reflected in organizational philosophy and program operations?
• Does the organization incorporate into outreach and program strategies the ways in which specific race, ethnic, and cultural dynamics affect the interests and needs of specific groups of women & girls?
• Do the organization's mission and operating style reflect, in whole or in part, those of the community of women & girls served? Is the program staff representative of the women & girls in the program by gender, race, and ethnicity?

Category IV: Does the organization provide programs and services relevant to the current political, social, and economic environments of women & girls?

Yes or no question:
• Does the program prepare women & girls to function and grow in current political, social, and economic environments and to enable them to increase choices available to them? (For example, does the job training program provide skills in sectors of the labor market with high wages and long-term growth potential?)

Dialogue questions
• Does the program use current events as a catalyst for discussion and exploration? Are women & girls being prepared to deal with current social realities?
• Does the organization understand the supports women & girls need to be successful within a specific program, and does it link effectively with other organizations and services as necessary? (For example, do programs trying to increase fathers' involvement with children actively take into account past abuse or violence if it occurred in the mother/father relationship; are appropriate strategies implemented as a result?)
• Does the organization recognize the need for social change and work toward changing the conditions that adversely affect women & girls?

Chicago Women in Philanthropy's 1992 ShortSighted report alerted local grantmakers to the lack of funding available to support the needs of women & girls.

The report recommended that Grantmakers:
• Examine current grantmaking using a gender lens.
• Seek out opportunities for funding organizations that are serving women & girls through RFP's, newsletters, annual reports, or partnerships and collaborations.
• Increase funding to organizations intentionally working for and with women to more effectively deliver services and to advocate for change in the institutions and systems which keep women marginalized.