Our Work

YWCA Greenwich Center for Equity and Justice (CEJ) serves as a community cornerstone, and it embodies our intersectional mission. The four pillars guiding the CEJ are community education, policy advocacy, direct programming, and systemic change initiatives. Together, with individuals and the private and public sectors, we seek to create a society where neither race, ethnicity, nor gender identity determines the trajectory or quality of people’s lives.

The CEJ’s consulting services equip clients to activate equity throughout their organizations. Our hallmark services are: Assessing Organizational Readiness, Defining Opportunities, Building Capacity, and Implementing Solutions for Change.

Designed to equip organizations and practitioners to rethink and develop policies, priorities, and culture through the lens of racial and gender equity, the Center for Equity and Justice seeks to create a society where neither race, ethnicity, nor gender identity determines the trajectory or quality of people’s lives.

Our work is guided by research and proven practice and informed by community and organizational context. The CEJ will be flexible and responsive in its work. Consulting, professional development, and training are key services the CEJ provides to build individual and collective capacity for systemic change.

Four Pillars

Creates space for knowledge building and discourse about gender and race.

Supports legislation and policies at a local, state, and federal level that advance gender and racial equity.

Equips participants with language and foundational knowledge about antiracism and gender equity.

Paves the way for our systems and structures to produce equitable outcomes.

Consulting & Training

The CEJ provides a range of services to build individual and collective capacity for systemic change. By leveraging assessment and evaluation, professional development, training, and coaching, we help leaders, practitioners, organizations, and coalitions co-create just solutions to solve challenges

Our consulting services are designed to support all phases of a project, and we can help you meet your objectives during a single phase.

  • Assessment & Evaluation. This form of data collection provides invaluable information and insights for organizations in the early stages of racial and gender equity efforts. We seek to understand the demographic composition of your organization, uncover opportunities and challenges, and articulate goals in our consulting design and practice. Evaluation is ongoing and woven throughout all phases of a project. Approaching evaluation in this way provides real-time information to inform decision-making.
  • Design & Development. Various conditions hold systems in place. To change systems, organizations must attend to factors such as policies, power dynamics, resource flows, and mental models as they (re)design programs, initiatives, and structures for equitable outcomes.
  • We recognize that the design and implementation phases of initiatives need to be carefully coordinated to achieve successful outcomes. Our responsive approach, as well as a deep understanding of human-centered change management, allows us to support organizations through the implementation of programs and initiatives rooted in equity.

Policy Advocacy through the Center for Equity & Justice

Grounded in Our Mission and Services

The Center for Equity & Justice leads YWCA Greenwich’s advocacy work, reflecting our mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. Our priorities grow from the needs we see daily in our childcare programs, early learning center, afterschool programs, and domestic and sexual violence services through the Harmony Project. We also serve as a community hub for events, conversations, and learning. These experiences guide our understanding of what families need to be safe, supported, and able to thrive.

Our 2026 Legislative Priorities

Community Health and Wellbeing

As a trusted third space, we promote access to safe, high‑quality aquatics programs including swimming instruction, safety education, and therapeutic movement. These programs help reduce drowning risk, build confidence for young swimmers, and support lifelong health. Our Fitness Center and group wellness classes create opportunities for movement, connection, and stress reduction that benefit the overall health of our community. Through these services, we support policies that expand access to healthy environments, strengthen community wellness resources, and promote equitable access to physical activity for all residents

Economic Empowerment and Advancement

As a childcare provider and youth‑serving organization, we understand the connection between economic stability and family wellbeing. We support efforts that increase access to affordable childcare, strengthen the early learning workforce, and improve long‑term financial security for women and caregivers.

Domestic and Sexual Violence

As the only provider of both domestic and sexual violence services in Greenwich through the YWCA Greenwich Harmony Project, we support policies that protect survivors and prevent violence. We advocate for increased access to safe and stable housing, expanded trauma‑informed services, and community responses that prioritize survivor safety. We also support prevention efforts in schools and youth programs, ensuring young people learn about healthy relationships, consent, and safe communities.

Funding Critical Programs and Initiatives

Our services rely on strong community investments. We support initiatives that help nonprofits respond to crises, deepen equity across programs, and close funding gaps that disproportionately impact underserved communities.

Racial Justice and Civil Rights

Youth Policy Advocacy

The Young Women’s Initiative (YW-I) is a one‑day workshop for high‑school and college‑aged young women and gender‑expansive youth. The program features dynamic speakers and guided sessions that offer mentorship, leadership development, and practical guidance. Young leaders explore issues that shape their lives and identities and gain tools to engage confidently in their communities. Participants are provided with a stipend for their participation.

Summer Policy Advocacy Internship

Each summer, student interns join the Center for Equity & Justice to learn how policy connects to community needs. Interns develop skills in research, communication, and project support while contributing to youth perspectives, through a research project and a presentation before our Board of Directors.

Workshops: Antiracism & Gender Equity Workshops

Towards Justice: An Antiracism and Gender Equity Workshop Series provides foundational knowledge, skill-building, and resources for organizational leaders, staff, and volunteers to begin to discuss and engage in racial and gender equity, individually and collectively. The workshop series includes four, 90-minute sessions and can be facilitated in-person or virtually. Each session is learner-centered and incorporates instruction through video, large and small group discussion, and reflection.

DIVE training is also available for early learning and youth practitioners, and it is supported by age-appropriate curricula.

Towards Justice Modules

  • Session 1: Diversity Awareness

Participants will explore their personal identity development, reflect on how their identities have shaped their thoughts and behaviors, and discuss how systems of power can cause their identities to be privileged and/or marginalized.

  • Session 2: Managing Implicit Bias

Participants will deepen their understanding of inclusion, unearth how bias impacts their interactions and decision-making, and discuss strategies for managing moments of bias when they occur.

  • Session 3: Everyday Anti-Racism

Participants will explore concepts of race, racism, and antiracism; briefly discuss the legacy of racism in the United States and how it impacts everyone; and identify actions they will take toward antiracism.

  • Session 4: Exploring Equity

Participants will discover the important difference between equality and equity and discuss opportunities for equity within their organizational context or community.

Other Training Opportunities. We understand each organization has unique priorities which call for training that goes beyond DIVE. The CEJ provides additional training on topics such as Marginalized and Privileged Identities, The History of Race in America, The Pervasiveness of Anti-Blackness, Breaking Free of Whiteness, and Human-Centered Change Management. Customized content can also be developed.