:: More WCC Action Initiatives ::

Education & Schools

WCC founded the Citizen’s School Committee and regularly collaborates with CSC. We work to ensure that every child has the necessary resources and support to achieve his potential. We host public forums on education and violence prevention in the schools. We encourage the school board and district to be fiscally responsible and engage the community in its decision making. We have hosted public forums to hear the candidates for the school board.

Currently, we seek to encourage the community to support public education, to support the levies, and to urge the legislatures to fix the school funding formula to promote equitable funding, high performance, and environmental health. We support the Collaborative Agreement Action Group’s tutoring programs in low-income neighborhoods and teach literacy skills to kindergartners, as well as its violence prevention initiatives. Every year, we present Education Awards to three high school senior women who submit essays in our competition.

Building Community though Dialogue

WCC builds community though forums on race relations and women’s empowerment. When the boycott caused us to cancel our National Speaker in 2005, we facilitated a town forum featuring the members of the collaborative. The Collaborative Action Group hosted dialogues between community leaders and the police, and dialogues between youth and community activists. It has helped implement the work of the Collaborate Agreement through Study Circles, Friends of the Collaborative and CPOP. Our workshop in Building Community Through Dialogue: Women Connecting Across Difference, focused on developing dialoguing skills and practicing courageous conversations across difference. See our woman’s leadership page.

“Securing a more just and livable community for all.”

Since this is the core mission of Woman’s City Club, WCC is concerned when we see the breakdown in our justice system in Cincinnati. We need to get a clearer understanding of the roots of crime in Cincinnati and learn to take proactive measures (as well as remedial ones) to improve the justice system in our city. WCC members are currently participating in a community-wide conversation to explore the concept of Restorative Justice and develop an action plan around this proven model of justice.

WCC works to improve the standards for equity, social, economic, and environmental justice. We petitioned United Way for equal funding of women’s organizations, such as the Girl Scouts and the YWCA. Recently, WCC members convened the League of Women Voters, Cincinnatus, Citizens for Civic Renewal, and the Urban League to work jointly on major issues confronting the city.

Monitoring of Local Government.

Many WCC members are actively attentive to the workings of City Council, Committees on Council, meetings of the Hamilton County Commissioners and Cincinnati School Board, and are quick to write letters to officials and the media stating WCC board-approved positions on issues of importance. New interest has emerged to reinvigorate WCC’s past role as public “watch dog” in order to hold our elected officials accountable.

Healing our City

WCC works to help heal the racial divide by providing a catalyst for collaborative action. WCC member serve as leaders and volunteers for organizations that promote peace and support victims of violence throughout the city. We hosted a domestic violence prevention luncheon with the Rape Crisis & Abuse Center at the YWCA. We have hosted a forum on violence prevention issues, gun control, and restorative justice. WCC founded “The Cincinnati Peace League” to study the causes of war and to foster a desire and will for peace in the community and in the schools. Read about our club’s history and see our long involvement in community issues such as these.

Promoting Pride of Place in our City

WCC supports a welcoming city, beautiful public parks and neighborhoods, and a vibrant life of the arts, Once a year, we schedule a special tour of the art museum; we present forums, museum and gallery tours to highlight the arts in Cincinnati. We raised funds in support of the Laughing Brook wetlands and the ecoventions public art project at Salway Park on the Millcreek. WCC members serve on the board or as volunteers in many arts organizations throughout the city. We support actions that create livability, equity, and pride in our city.