She Leads Justice Awarded Fund’s 30th Anniversary Signature Grant

New Haven, Conn. (Nov. 21, 2025): The Community Fund for Women & Girls is marking its 30th anniversary with a signature grant award of $100,000 to She Leads Justice (SLJ). The award will advance the Fund’s commitment to creating systems change for the social and economic advancement of women and girls in Greater New Haven. 

Christine Kim, Fund Chair, underscored the Fund’s history of signature grants, which help maximize impact through targeted support. 

“She Leads Justice will not only expand the capacity of its operations with this award, but will also expand civic engagement efforts, galvanizing local leaders who turn out to the polls and to the podium, self-advocating, community-building and shaping policy,” said Kim.

Formerly known as Connecticut Women’s Education & Legal Fund (CWEALF), SLJ has worked for more than 50 years to expand access to civil legal services in Connecticut to women. It has been a driving force behind policy change, having led advocacy that resulted in the passage of Connecticut Family and Medical Leave Act.

The two-year signature grant supports a 10% expansion of SLJ’s Pathways to Economic Autonomy programming in Greater New Haven. The program connects women in poverty with legal education and referral services, and provides resources around community organizing and civic engagement, helping to mobilize around state policy. 

The nonprofit’s work began in the early 1970’s and it received one of its earliest grants from The Community Foundation. It has been a longtime partner with the Community Fund for Women & Girls as a grantee and builder of coalitions.

“From one of the very first grants issued to She Leads Justice by The Community Foundation to today, in this pivotal moment for women and girls, this partnership helps sustain and strengthen our shared mission,” said The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven President and CEO Karen DuBois-Walton.

The grant also supports SLJ’s advocacy efforts around policy reform and their related efforts to support women leaders in local communities. Additionally, the organization will create a “Women’s Economic Justice Plan,” a social media campaign for educating the public about policies affecting women of color and women in poverty.

“We were built for this moment,” said She Leads Justice Executive Director Janée Woods Weber. “Every generation, especially women, have been called upon before us to help move our communities forward, help move our state forward, help move our society forward.”

Woods Weber continued, “The data clearly shows that investing in women, especially investing in girls, is one of the best ways to not only uplift individuals in their families, but also whole communities.”

Media Contact: 
Matthew Higbee, Director of Communications 
The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
Email