About Us
Women AdvaNCe is the megaphone for women and marginalized communities in North Carolina. We follow the needs of underserved populations, uplift the discussions that matter to the women in our state, and inform our readers about all the work that leaders across the state are doing to advance women’s rights in North Carolina. Through storytelling and advocacy work, we are shifting the culture and policies in our state toward justice and equity.
Women in our state, especially disabled women, LGBTQ+ women, and women of color, are too often silenced or discouraged from raising concerns about justice and equity. We cannot build a world where everyone can thrive without hearing these stories. We know that by shedding light on the issues impacting our communities, we are changing the world.
We do this work because it works. More than anything else, evidence shows that stories are most effective at changing hearts and minds. We’ve seen it happen. Our work has informed perspectives of leaders across our state, from Congressional Representatives and state legislators to investigative journalists and nonprofit leaders.
By sharing the stories of women in our state, we’ve already helped change our state’s policies and culture for the better — and we’re only just getting started.
Our Mission
To make North Carolina a place where all people can thrive free of violence and inequity rooted in gender, race, ability, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, and economic identities.
Our Vision
We are shifting the culture and policies in our state toward justice and equity by uprooting systems of oppression. We use storytelling to:
- Build connection and community
- Advocate for solutions to systemic sources of injustice
- Raise awareness of community organizing strategies
- Create sources of joy as resistance and sustenance, and
- Record the histories of movement organizers, especially those who are most marginalized.
Our Values
- We are explicitly trans inclusive and anti-racist.
- We are anti-capitalist and committed to decolonizing ourselves and our movement.
- We believe progress moves at the speed of relationships. (Shout out to Kim Pevia.)
- We value slow, sustainable progress that honors the capabilities of chronically ill and disabled organizers and allows all of us to make space for healing and our humanity in our work.
- (Interested in reading more about this? Check out Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha)
Our Story
In 2012 a group of North Carolina women, frustrated by lack of honest and relevant coverage of issues facing women and their families got together to create a new way to advocate and communicate information helpful to ALL women across North Carolina. Thus Women AdvaNCe was born, an independent nonpartisan educational institute dedicated to improving the lives of North Carolina’s women and families by providing education and encouraging constructive public dialogue about progressive ideas and public policy initiatives.
We are committed to an inclusive environment that values and respects diversity of culture and identity.