**NEWS: Faculty Fellowship Program -- Applications Due June 11, 2008!

The Women and Gender Research Initiative was founded in 2002 to promote community-based programs and research that inform the prevention of and intervention in gender- related oppressions.  The initiative works with community members to effect social change through social policy, advocacy and community development. The Initiative also is committed to documenting, collecting and making public the contributions of individuals whose lives reflect previously untold experiences and resilience. Over the last two years, the Women and Gender Research Initiative has benefited from the support of the Steans Center for Community-Based Service learning, and has developed, funded and implemented several successful community-based projects.   

The Women and Gender Research Initiative projects seek to:

• Prevent and intervene in gender-related oppressions.
• Document, collect, and make public the contributions of individuals whose lives reflect previously untold experiences and unrecorded resilience.
• Engage the community by strengthening and expanding partnerships with individuals and organizations committed to the eradication of gender-related oppressions

Research projects collaborate with community groups such as:

• Teen girls in changing urban neighborhoods
• Low-income families
• Programs supporting domestic violence survivors
• School programs to prevent relationship violence

Each project aims to empower the voices of those who are rarely heard.