Our Goal

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation has shown a long-standing commitment to women’s and gender-expansive people’s educational equity in the Santa Cruz and Monterey area. Women’s voices from all levels of society and from all backgrounds should be represented. It is essential for our society to increase opportunities for women and gender-expansive individuals to be included in dialogues and to advocate for change in their lives and in their communities. Promoting women’s and gender-expansive people’s educational equity requires not only an effort to increase their representation in male-dominated academic fields, but also the promotion of intersectional feminist analysis and gender as a legitimate category of academics and theory. Unfortunately, Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies programs are not a priority for all institutions of higher learning. Many colleges and universities do not offer comprehensive Feminist Studies programs, and many programs have been eliminated entirely or have experienced drastic budget cuts. As a response to this gap, the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation seeks to partner with institutions of higher education in the Santa Cruz and Monterey area to enhance, establish, or reinstate Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies programs that present intersectional teachings. The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is specifically choosing community colleges and state colleges in order to ensure that women and gender-expansive individuals of all economic backgrounds have access to the tools to advocate and make change in their lives and communities.

What We Look For

The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation would like to support programs, organizations, and initiatives that incorporate the following components through existing (or proposed) guidelines:

  • The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation looks for Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies academic programs/departments that examine how societies organize gender roles and relations and how these intersect with other hierarchies of power. This area of study explores the implications of patriarchal institutions and structures of inequality.
  • The major should coordinate Feminist Studies courses, across disciplines, that critically examine problems and solutions to social inequality, oppression of women and interpretations of gender differences between men and women.
  • We look for colleges and universities that show a commitment to Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies programs through institutional support and a dedicated plan for sustainability.
  • Proposals for up to five years of support will be considered. Please see our Feminist Studies Proposal Instructions for more information.

As part of this initiative, the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is creating a Feminist Studies Collaborative for Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties. Grant recipients will be asked to attend quarterly meetings to explore new ideas and best practices in the field of Feminist Studies and collaborate with other local programs. Resources for Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies program development can be found at the National Women’s Studies Association. Please see their list of Essential Resources and Administrator’s Handbook for comprehensive best practices. Contact NWSA’s national office staff for one-on-one consultations and advice.

Multi-Year Proposal Requirements

Proposals for multi-year funding strategies (up to five years) must contain a detailed plan explaining the institutional support of the Feminist Studies program. This plan must be separated by year and outline the program growth/enhancements and the institutional funding commitment for each year individually.

To be considered for support, programs must incorporate the following components through existing (or proposed) guidelines:

Institutional support shown through submittal of an Internal Memorandum of Understanding:

Each application must include an Internal Memorandum of Understanding, which represents a partnership with different departments, offices and entities within the institution of higher education. Each applicant must provide an IMOU as a single document that includes signatures and dates from all partners. Signatures must be current (dated during the development of the proposal) and include titles and organizations. The IMOU must be signed by the vice president, president, vice chancellor, and/or chancellor of the institution of higher education and the chief executive officers and/or directors of all participating partners within the institution(s).

Letters of support may not be submitted in lieu of the IMOU.

The IMOU must do the following:

  • Identify the departments, offices, or entities designated to receive and administer grant funds and to manage and coordinate program activities within the institution of higher education
  • Clearly state the roles and responsibilities each partner would assume to ensure the success of the proposed program
  • Indicate approval of the proposed program budget by all partners
  • Describe the resources each partner would contribute to the project, either through time, in kind contributions, or other (e.g., office space, staff)
  • Indicate support of instructors and courses being co-listed under the Feminist Studies program

Recommended language to be included in the IMOU:

  • The below signatories will work in conjunction to strengthen and institutionalize a Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies program in X College’s academic community. The support and cooperation of the undersigned is vital to the success of the Feminist Studies program. They agree to maximize their collective efforts to ensure the program’s effective implementation and sustainability.

Please explain the institutional support of the Feminist/ Gender/Women’s Studies program and how this will be enhanced over time. Plan must be separated by year and outline the program growth/enhancements and the institutional funding commitment for each year individually. If institutional funding is limited the first year, the plan must include no-cost ways of integrating and supporting Feminist Studies for the first year as well as a plan to increase institutional funding over time. As this is a competitive, discretionary program of the Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation, there is no guarantee of continuation of funding.

  • The Department Chair may be full-time or part-time.
  • Proposal must include complete job description.
  • Job description should include: attending quarterly collaborative meetings, coordination of course offerings, supporting and recruiting adjunct instructors, collaboration across disciplines, developing new courses, improving existing courses, implementing best practices in the field, etc. Candidate must have demonstrated knowledge of feminist theory and thought.

The university should provide in-kind office space for the program.

For Community Colleges, the Feminist/Gender/Women’s Studies program must offer a degree that allows and encourages students to transfer to CSU and UC schools

  • Program must offer courses to fulfill as many GE and A.A./A.S. requirements as possible

Program has a comprehensive plan to recruit, support, and maintain students within the program. Program must demonstrate a clear intersectional curriculum that fosters diversity and cultural sensitivity.

The program must offer at least 9 units of Feminist Studies curricula per term

Several institutions have indicated that funding is currently very limited. The list below includes strategies for no-cost ways to integrate and promote Women’s Studies. If institutional funding is limited, the plan must include low-cost and no-cost ways of integrating and supporting Feminist Studies for the first year as well as a plan to increase institutional funding over time.

Please consider the following strategies for no-cost ways to promote Feminist Studies at your institution:

  • Add an agenda item to regularly scheduled committee meetings that addresses the recruitment of women to the college, such as an analysis of practices on campus that alienate or invite women to experience the full potential of the campus: access to child care, availability of night classes, campus safety, mentoring and career development programs for women in male-dominated fields.
  • Create a Feminist Studies Consortium of instructors from different departments who are interested in promoting Feminist Studies.
  • Think creatively about the course offerings and collaborate with existing departments. For example, ask the engineering department if someone would be interested on teaching a course on women in STEM.
  • Host recruitment events on topics such as “Women in STEM”, “Ending Violence Against Women” and “Increasing Child-care Access in the Community”
  • Publicize a compilation of all Feminist Studies related courses when course registration opens
  • Host events and lectures to introduce students to Feminist Studies

  • There is a preference for applicant organizations for which women and gender-expansive individuals of color are the primary decision-makers.
  • There is a preference for applicant organizations that integrate gender equity into their personnel policies, such as robust parental leave, child care, flexible work schedules, and relationship abuse workplace policies.

Please note: The Peggy and Jack Baskin Foundation is not afraid of the word feminism! We encourage you to openly discuss your intersectional feminist programming, goals, or approach.

To Apply

APPLY FOR A GRANT

Unsolicited proposals will not be accepted.