Statements
Mission
AWAKE advocates for the systemic advancement of women and young people in Tennessee through education initiatives and policy change.
Background
Our issues-based, grassroots community began meeting informally in the fall of 2013 in Nashville. Only a few months later, we successfully drafted, lobbied, and passed our first piece of legislation to make Tennessee safer for women and kids. We quickly earned a reputation for acting efficiently, strategically, and collaboratively. All of our projects are guided by our conviction that women and kids in Tennessee deserve to be safe and healthy so that they can have access to opportunity and achieve equality in society. We organize out of a sense of urgency and relentlessly pursue progress for women and kids.
AWAKE has successfully passed nine bills into law, defeated harmful legislation, launched a state-wide educational campaign on child abuse prevention, developed a truancy intervention program that pairs pro bono attorneys with students for their truancy proceedings, and developed a semester-long curriculum and workshop that teaches middle and high school children and survivors of human trafficking about healthy relationships and financial independence. We accomplished all of this through the dedication and passion of numerous volunteers.
Impact
The work that we do in Tennessee is guided by a holistic and transformational approach to change making that impacts issues affecting women and young people at the macro level (policy) and micro level (individual education).
Since 2013, AWAKE has successfully drafted, lobbied for, and passed ten new laws in the areas of gender-based violence, women's health, and child abuse prevention. We have also worked with partners to prevent harmful legislation from becoming law. Our organization is bipartisan and strategic, partnering with lawmakers and organizations committed to the advancement of women and girls through policy initiatives.
Our educational offerings over the years have been varied and responsive to available opportunities and resources. Because of this strategic flexibility, we have had the privilege of serving hundreds of women and students. We recently partnered with the Davidson County Juvenile Court, Metro Nashville Public Schools, and the Nashville Bar Association to facilitate a program aimed at reducing youth violence and poverty by pairing pro bono attorneys with students for their truancy proceedings. Past community partners include the Metro Nashville Public Schools, Big Brothers Big Sisters, End Slavery TN, and Girls Inc.
Our newest curriculum, I Am an Advocate, is designed to teach youth how to advocate for themselves in their personal relationships, their schools, their communities, and within their government. We have also expanded this curriculum for survivors with End Slavery TN and Thistle Farms.
After recently hiring a Program Director, AWAKE plans to establish partnerships with new organizations across the state in order to reach more at-risk youth with our curriculum. Increased capacity also allows us to focus on establishing new programming that would educate the public on advocacy and legislative change, making participation in statewide policy initiatives more accessible to more Tennesseans.
Needs
Our organizational focus for 2024 is growth and sustainability. We are fundraising for a full-time Advocacy Director to join the team and expand our impact on state legislative priorities and statewide advocacy campaigns around gender equity issues.
In addition to financial needs, we are looking for partners and volunteers throughout the state who can work alongside our educational and advocacy initiatives.
CEO Statement
Tennessee has consistently ranked low regarding the status of women nationally. For example: In Tennessee, Black women are paid $0.68 and Hispanic women $0.53 per every dollar a white, non- Hispanic man makes; Nearly one in six women in Tennessee live in poverty; Tennessee ranks 48th in the nation for the percent of women in the state legislature; and Tennessee ranks 9th in the US for women killed by men.
With the understanding that many social issues including poverty, violence, and health disparities, are gendered issues, we seek to disrupt this trajectory in our state through education and policy change. We believe when people are equipped with the tools to advocate for themselves and their communities, they will better understand the power of their voice and the impact they can have on the social issues surrounding them. Similarly, we know state policy that is informed by the experiences of survivors and women on the margins of society, including Black, poor, immigrant, and trans women, will ensure a more inclusive and thriving society. Policies created by homogenous groups tend to exclude important aspects or leave loopholes in the social issues they are trying to solve. As a women-led, grassroots organization we seek to create holistic, innovative policy and support policy changes that lead to gender equity in Tennessee.
AWAKE's main avenues of systems change occur at the macro level through legislative advocacy and policy change and at the micro level through education that disrupts norms and traditions. Our theory of change proposes that efforts focused on both top-down and bottom-up systems change will ensure our work is holistic and transformative, impacting our lived experience by creating a more equitable and representative society for all communities.
Service Categories |
|
| Primary Category: | Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy - Alliances & Advocacy |
| Secondary Category: | Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy - Women's Rights |
| Tertiary Category: | Youth Development - Youth Development Programs |
Areas Served
AWAKE is a state-wide organization that serves all Tennesseans. Although we are based in Davidson County, the laws we help pass through the General Assembly affect every person in our state. AWAKE plans to expand its educational programming, beyond Middle Tennessee within the next year.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN |
