About Us

The York Region Women’s Foundation (YRWF), a non-profit organization that was incorporated in 2016 (962843-6), is dedicated to improving the lives of racialized and marginalized women and girls living in York Region.

We aspire to provide resources, support and education in the pursuit of three main goals:

Combatting

Violence against Women

Advancing

Economic Opportunties

Increasing

Health and Wellness

Our Mission

The York Region Women’s Foundation invests in women and girls through research, education, programs, and advocacy to create measureable change and a chance for a better life.

Our Vision

Our vision is a community in which women and girls have equal opportunity, support and resources to thrive and reach their full potential.

Our Strategic Goals

  1. To challenge gender stereotypes that are imposed on women and create an atmosphere of constraint and oppression.
  2. To create women-specific solutions through innovation and collaboration.
  3. To advocate for institutional investment of women’s issues, with a focus on our priority groups, including women newcomer/immigrant women, those with a disability, and young girls at risk of exploitation.
  4. To be a credible and leading resource for women’s issues in York Region.
  5. To address the obstacles faced by girls and women in accessing appropriate services, including language barriers, lack of cultural sensitivity/understanding, familiarity of services, accessibility and perception of otherness.
  6. To create positive and measurable change for women’s quality of life through the implementation of sustainable programs and initiatives.
  7. To support women throughout their life stages (adolescence, young adult, mature adult, ageing adult).

Our Guiding Principles

Inclusion

  • Giving all women and girls the opportunity to participate in and contribute to our activities, within an anti-oppressive, anti-racist framework.

Listening

  • Providing women and girls a space to express their specific needs and barriers they face in order to create suitable solutions for their betterment.

Sharing

  • Encouraging women and girls from diverse backgrounds to share their experiences to foster strength, build solidarity and gain knowledge from one another.

Connecting

  • Collaborating with other non-profits, businesses, government, policy-makers, academics and media to help women and girls achieve success.

Leading

  • Supporting the leadership of women and girls across all sectors through opportunity, support and resources.