Community Impact & Engagement
The YWCA remains at the forefront of addressing issues of racial and gender inequities. We are a member of a regional and national movement working together to strengthen our voice in the local, state and national governments. We are committed to engaging our community in these issues. The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts strives daily to continue to provide opportunities to help women and their families reach their fullest potential. We will continue to take social action towards racial justice, women’s economic advancement, and the empowerment of women and girls.
Director of Community Impact and Engagement
David Guadalupe is our Director of Community Impact and Engagement. Coming from a background in Art and Education, he has been working hard creating workshop content and getting connected with those in our community, complimenting our Advocacy Coordinator's skills in outreach to create an even stronger Community Impact and Engagement department.
Advocacy
One way we work to achieve our mission of racial, gender, and social equity is through Advocacy.
Workshops
We host free and professional workshops for the public, schools, and businesses across Southeastern Massachusetts on varying topics such as gender and racial equity, menstrual access, maternal health, and more. You can find our free workshops and events here.
Legislative Advocacy
Legislative advocacy refers to efforts to influence legislation, or official laws. We do this through contacting our legislators – city councilors, state legislators, and federal legislators – to share our views on an issue and ask them to vote a specific way on a bill. We used legislative advocacy to help pass An Act to Establish Pay Equity and the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program. We have also been involved with the IAM Bill to ensure menstrual access and equity.
Coalitions
When several groups share a common goal, they can form a coalition to work together to have that goal met. An advocacy coalition may focus on addressing legal, political, or social issues. We used the method of joining a coalition when we joined with the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women and other supporters of pay equity and PFML at Women's Advocacy Day, held each year in the spring at the Massachusetts State House.
Mobilization of public support and action
Mobilizing public support and action includes providing information to our network about legislation, policies, or social or political movements related to our mission, and then providing information about how people can take action. This may include asking people to contact their legislator, participate in a rally, or share information on social media about the importance of an issue.
Questions about our advocacy? Contact David Guadalupe DGuadalupe@ywcasema.org or (508) 999-3255.
Please click HERE to view the YWCA USA Advocacy Page!
Partner and Donor Links:
Health and Wellness
The YWCA Southeastern Massachusetts is the strategic leader of the Health Equity Community of Practice (HECoP).
We work to ensure that community-driven properties remain at the forefront of New Bedford’s policy agenda to build a sustainable foundation for long-term systems change in Southeastern Massachusetts.
This work drives civic engagement and improves health outcomes for our community.
The HECoP is dedicated to convening cross-sector community-based stakeholders to advance community-driven policy change in five priority areas:
- Community Health/Health Access
- Mental Health
- Civic Engagement
- Food Access and Systems, and Housing
- Access to supportive mental health services
These priorities were identified through a multifaceted community prioritization process and were informed by the 2025 South Coast Community Health Alliance (SoCHA) Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA).
This work is made possible through funding from the Point32Health Foundation.
Voter Registration
Nearly 2 million of Massachusetts’ population of 6.8 million people are NOT registered to vote.
The YWCA wanted to be a part of changing that since elections, both national and local, are important to the laws and funding distribution that impact our daily lives. We have partnered with Mass Voter Table to help provide outreach to encourage people to register to vote and make a plan to vote. Mass Voter Table is a non-partisan organization that makes 20,000+ phone calls each year with targeted outreach to help encourage people to register to vote and educate them on the importance of voting.