About Change the Story

Change The Story (CTS) was launched in 2015 as a multi-year initiative to align philanthropy, policy and program to fast-track women’s economic well-being in Vermont. Our work is fueled by three core partners – the Vermont Women’s Fund, Vermont Commission on Women and Vermont Works for Women. Learn more about Our Partners and our Staff & Leadership.

Before we could change the story, we needed to know more about women’s status in Vermont. Access to good data on women’s economic status, wages, and employment were limited – it was either siloed, unpublished, or not disaggregated by gender. So, our first project was to develop our own. Over a two year period we published four reports: three focused on women’s wages, employment patterns, and small businesses, and the fourth focused on women’s access to leadership positions. Much of the data in the reports is either new, or not regularly collected or published. Wherever possible, our data is specific to Vermont, and all of the data is critical – not just in what it reflects about women, but in its implications for the entire Vermont economy. Learn more about Our Research.

While engaging in research we also began engaging the community – primarily focusing on working with businesses and men, as important levers to improve gender equity. We work with allies across the gender spectrum, because we know that to change the story for people who experience gender oppression it takes ALL of us. To engage our allies, we built teaching tools that put our data into action – including our Let’s Talk Gender and Let’s Talk Harassment conversation card decks. Learn more about What You Can Do, and about our work with Employers.