We are thrilled to announce the new Visionary Prize for Women’s Economic Empowerment, created and funded by the Hostetler/Wrigley Foundation and Visionary Women, a nonprofit that focuses on engaging conversations with innovative leaders and funding high-impact initiatives for women and girls.

“Angella Nazarian, co-founder and President of Visionary Women and I have been casual friends for several years, but I didn’t realize both of our foundations had such similar and symbiotic purviews until we ran into each other last summer and had a thoughtful discussion about women’s issues,” says Sue Hostetler Wrigley, co-founder of the Hostetler/Wrigley Foundation. “What I love about Angella is she has the same sense of urgency about solving these problems as I do. Advancing parity and equality for women has been my life’s work, and it only strengthens our efforts when we collaborate with other like-minded organizations. With aligned missions, what we can achieve together is far greater than what we could each do separately.”

The $100,000 PRIZE will be awarded to a female leader of a nonprofit working to advance women’s economic empowerment in the US via access to capital and resources that support economic advancement (mentoring, training, business support, etc.). Additionally, priority will be given to programs addressing issues that have been exacerbated as a result of the pandemic and that help remove barriers to women’s full participation the workforce. “The situation for women only got worse during Covid so in my estimation, there is no time to waste,” says Hostetler Wrigley. “We dreamt up the broad strokes of the prize, and in short order made it a reality. Helping support, champion and recognize female-owned businesses or organizations that are engaged in advancing economic empowerment and development for other women is a central mission at the core of the Hostetler/Wrigley Foundation, and creating our own prize just seemed like the quickest and most direct way to get desperately needed funds into the hands of deserving individuals.”

Please Apply Here

Applications for The Visionary Prize for Women’s Economic Empowerment are now open through the end of the year. “We hope the prize money will help the winner continue to help other women—just in a bigger and better way,” says Hostetler Wrigley. “A central tenet of our foundation is for fundees to consider ways of becoming self-sustainable, so it is our hope that the award funds provide an organization the resources to research options for self-sufficiency. And, the application process introduces us to women and groups working in this space who we didn’t already have a relationship with and whose progress we can track to potentially support in the future.”

Interested applicants can visit visionarywomen.com to apply before the deadline of December 31, 2021.