Groups Commit $100 Million to Program for Minority Women

A group of foundations focused on gender equity has pledged $100 million to an Obama administration effort aimed at improving economic opportunities for women and girls of color, the Christian Science Monitor writes. The five-year Prosperity Together program, backed by the Women’s Funding Network, is focused on bettering the livelihoods of low-income women and will be supplemented by another $18 million from a collection of research institutions studying living conditions for minority females.

The effort was announced Friday at a White House-sponsored forum on achieving equity for minority women and girls, who suffer disproportionate arrest and teen-pregnancy rates compared to white females, and have a wider pay gap, earning 60 percent of what white males make. Since announcing his foundation-backed My Brother’s Keeper effort for black and Hispanic males last year, President Obama has faced calls to apply similar energy and resources to helping females of color.