Women’s Policy Institute works to:  

The Women's Policy Institute is a year-long program that includes four three-to-four-day experiential training retreats in Sacramento. During the program, Institute fellows work in self-selected teams to develop and implement specific policy advocacy projects of their choosing.

Team projects provide practice on the policy advocacy skills taught during the retreats and require participants to exercise their personal resourcefulness. Each team works with a mentor who is experienced in public policy work. A core faculty of experts provides continuity throughout the program and additional faculty is brought in to teach on particular topics as needed.

Teleconferences, emails and an Intra-net support an informal network that helps keep team members connected between retreats and provides additional training.

Cindy MaranoCindy Marano was one of the architects of the Women's Policy Institute. She dedicated her life to improving the lives of people living in poverty. Public policy was her favorite vehicle for bringing good ideas into the public arena. She firmly believed that given the advantage of good mentoring, people closest to any problem are best suited to creating effective policy solutions.

In recognition of Cindy's lifelong commitment to achieving economic equity for women, the Cindy Marano Memorial Fund was established at the Women's Foundation of California to support immediate and strategic actions to influence policies that will improve the lives of low-income people, particularly women. It is designed to be a rapid response fund that can meet critical policy action needs quickly.