• 2025 Racial Justice Summit

    The 23rd Annual Racial Justice Summit is happening on September 25–26, 2025. Click the button below to explore the new Summit Website Hub and register for the experience today! Registrations are open until August 29.

    Explore the Summit

  • Youth Mural Unveiled: A Celebration of Youth, Art, and Restorative Justice

    The three-panel mural, born from restorative justice circles and a co-creation process came together for the first time among the artists and an audience of community members.

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  • The Art of Coming Together in Circle: The Creation Story of a Youth-Centered Community Mural

    Born from a spark of inspiration, Madison youth co-created a powerful mural through restorative justice circles and community art. Learn more about the collaboration behind this transformative project and YWCA Madison’s new Restore Art program.

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  • Reflections from YWCA National Conference for Executive Directors

    Gery Paredes Vásquez, Executive Director of YWCA Madison, shares deep insights from YWCA National Conference with Executive Directors. She offers important takeaways on how YWCA Madison plans to navigate the challenging times with love, joy, and dignity.

    Click Here to read

  • Moving with the Spirit of a Humming Bird: An Open Letter from YWCA Madison's Executive Director

    This week, Gery Paredes Vásquez, Executive Director of YWCA Madison, travels to Phoenix to join fellow YWCA leaders from across the country. As she prepares for this national gathering, she reflects on a powerful story shared with her in Teotihuacan—a myth of Coatlicue, the Earth Goddess, whose vulnerability gave rise to immense power and protection.

    Read Here

What’s Happening at YWCA Madison

Blog
Art, Tenacity, and YWeb: How Dani RAD is Building a Creative Future
Art, Tenacity, and YWeb: How Dani RAD is Building a Creative Future

In 2020, Dani RAD returned to Madison, a place where they had spent a portion of their childhood before completing high school in Illinois. Dani found themselves at YWCA and saw an opportunity with the YWeb Career Academy, marking an important milestone in building their career as an artist.

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YWCA’s August Advocacy Week of Action and In-District Lobby Day (August 4-8)
YWCA’s August Advocacy Week of Action and In-District Lobby Day (August 4-8)

From August 4 to August 8, 2025, YWCA Madison will be participating in YWCA’s August Advocacy Week of Action and In-District Lobby Days. Together, we will ensure that those we elected to represent us in the government know the depth of our impact and the real lives behind the programs we are protecting. 

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Youth Mural Unveiled: A Celebration of Youth, Art, and Restorative Justice
Youth Mural Unveiled: A Celebration of Youth, Art, and Restorative Justice

The energy inside the Madison Children’s Museum was nothing short of electric on the evening of July 10. After months of planning, dreaming, and creating, youth from YWCA Madison’s Restorative Justice Clubs gathered for a moment they had been anticipating—the joining of their collective mural.

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YWCA Madison is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all.

YWCA Madison envisions a community where people of all racial, ethnic, socio-economic and gender groups are valued and included, and discrimination and injustice are eliminated.

  • Employment & Transit

    Employment & Transit

    Economic empowerment is more than simply having a job. Our goal is to create economic justice. 

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  • Housing & Shelter

    Housing & Shelter

    We believe housing is a human right; everyone deserves safe, affordable, and stable housing. 

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  • Race & Gender Equity

    Race & Gender Equity

    YWCA Madison provides a spectrum of programming aimed at creating a more just and inclusive society. 

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  • Restorative Justice

    Restorative Justice

    Providing alternative discipline models to keep students in school and out of the justice system.

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Community Impact ↘

YWCA Madison provides direct services, empowerment programming, and advocacy to support marginalized individuals and families, especially women and girls of color, while working to challenge structural barriers to equity.

  • Economic Advancement

    YWCA’s employment training, career navigation, job search support, paid internships, and financial classes help low-wage workers build economic security.

  • Homelessness & Housing

    YWCA’s eviction prevention, rental assistance, affordable housing, and basic needs programs, such as food and hygiene, help low-income households find stability.

  • Safety & Health Access

    YWCA’s emergency shelter for DV survivors, health access programs, and gender-based violence advocacy help protect the well-being of women and families.

100%

of families enrolled in the Steps to Stability program gained and maintained housing stability in 2022.

91%

of families enrolled in YWCA Madison's Third Street program maintained housing stability in 2022.

90%

of youth who participated in a Restorative Justice circle completed their agreements to repair harm/conflict.