“I Came Home with Hope”
Reflections from the 2026 Mary’s Pence Grantee Gathering By Anisa Hajimumin When Comfort Dondo, Founder and Executive Director of Phumulani: African Women Against Violence, invited me to accompany her to the 2026 Mary’s Pence Grantee Gathering, I thought I knew what awaited me. What I did not expect was to leave with a renewed sense […]
Forming Friendships Between Iraqi and American Women
One week after President Trump announced the Travel Ban in January of 2017, IARP announced their idea to organize a woman’s friendship group at a community gathering. Since then, a group of 12 women, 6 women of Iraqi culture and 6 women of American culture have been meeting once a month.
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Oldest ESPERA Partner Expresses Gratitude for Mary’s Pence
Since 1991, the Contertación de Mujeres has been dedicated to the “acompanimiento” of women confronting violence. We know in our very bodies how difficult it is to give birth to an organization and evolve with it.
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Educating Immigrant Parents in Pittsburgh
The collapse of the steel industry in the 1980’s resulted in the out-migration of nearly half a million people. This employment disaster led to many years when few immigrants came to Pittsburgh in search of jobs and a new life.
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A Progression of Changes for ESPERA Women in El Salvador
At first, the women were nervous to take out loans. Because they had not had previous experience with lending, the women were worried that they would not be able to pay the loans back.
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Meet Our New Fall Intern Ruth!
I decided to apply for the internship because the chance of learning about social media, and writing articles for newsletters, seemed like the perfect opportunity to expand my learning experience. I also really love the Mary’s Pence mission of helping and supporting all women.
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Salt of the Earth: Genevieve O’Hara Brueggemann’s Legacy
Throughout her years of support, Genevieve regularly wrote to us and attended events when she could. She loved our yearly summer reading list and often let us know which of the books she had read and that she would be sharing it with her friends.
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Mary’s Pence Gives Me Hope
Mary’s Pence gives me hope because in a year where communities are seemingly divided, our grantees suggest to me that there’s more going on than meets the eye – that communities are capable of coming together to solve problems.
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Economic Autonomy: The Journey to Dignity and Liberty
Because ESPERA goes beyond the money, our work is helping the women address some of the major consequences of machismo. By encouraging women to take leadership roles Mary’s Pence fortifies individuals striving to have a stronger voice in their homes and their communities.
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Para la Concertación de Mujeres de Suchitoto, la autosuficiencia económica es el camino a la dignidad y la libertad
ESPERA ve más allá del dinero; nuestro trabajo en conjunto con la Concerta consiste en propiciar que las mujeres tengan claridad de las consecuencias más nefastas del machismo. Además de fortalecer a la Concerta como organización y apoyando a las mujeres para que asuman liderazgo.
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