BWF Spoke Updates - April 2025

In the Bolder Way Forward Framework, there are 18 specific areas of focus (spokes). Each spoke, a key topic area where change needs to occur, is also a movement with a strategy that functions to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts. Effective work within the spokes is needed to create more expansive and cohesive change overall. To learn more about each spoke’s leadership, bold vision and goals, thriving statements, partners, and ways to get involved, please click on the individual spoke webpages (linked below). The following are monthly updates on what is happening within each of the Spokes:

Childcare/Pre-K: The Spoke sent out a legislative round-up detailing the results of all of the early childhood bills from this legislative session. You can sign up for this monthly update (which includes statewide efforts from partners) here. The Spoke highlighted the successful impact report from the Summit County needs-based childcare scholarship (which just completed its first year) on social media. The Spoke Coordinator convened with the Office of Early Childhood to learn more about parent positions on the five working groups within the Early Childhood Utah Advisory Council. In addition, the Spoke began work on county-based outreach and education by connecting with County Spoke Reps from across the state. 

Child Sexual Abuse: In March, the Child Sexual Abuse Spoke focused heavily on preparing for April’s Child Abuse Prevention Month. This included collaborating and aligning campaign efforts with our partners, preparing for an informative panel discussion via a UWLP webinar, and gathering key prevention resources to highlight. In addition, the whitepaper discussing results from the UWLP annual survey focused on Utahns’ Awareness, Perceptions and Attitudes was published, and Spoke Co-leads held a podcast to discuss the findings on child sexual abuse. Spoke Working Groups and the Child Sexual Abuse County Rep Community have started identifying new projects and action plans, and the Spoke Coordinator has worked on building relationships with Spoke partners, as well as creating an engaging community on social media.  

Domestic Violence:  Spoke partner Utah Domestic Violence Coalition (UDVC) wrapped up the 2025 legislative session, and unfortunately, the final state budget did not include any additional funds for DV services. They will continue to advocate for this support from the Legislature as shelters and service providers experience considerable increases in need. The Legislature also chose not to approve the money needed to maintain the Strangulation Exam Reimbursement Program. UDVC is committed to finding other funding sources to ensure that some of these exams remain available. The Spoke is creating a new sub-spoke to build relationships within Utah's religious communities and share resources for women who may be facing violence and not know where to turn for help. If you or anyone you know is interested in getting involved in the Domestic Violence & Religion Sub-Spoke, please email carey@careyvanwagoner.com. More information about the leadership and structure will be coming soon. The Dear Utah campaign welcomes survivors, family members, service providers, healthcare workers, law enforcement, and other individuals to share stories about their experiences with domestic violence to help raise awareness. The first edition of the Domestic Violence Spoke Newsletter will be released soon - please sign up here!  

Entrepreneurship: Co-leader Tara Spalding represented the BWF Entrepreneurship Spoke at Westminster University’s annual Small Business Conference. The conference was a huge success and helped attendees learn about AI-powered strategies for transforming businesses. The Spoke has welcomed a new Spoke Coordinator, Crystal Butler, who is excited to connect with individuals to help them engage in the work of the spoke. Working Groups are forming, and leaders are needed to help focus on various initiatives and efforts. To get involved or learn more about leadership opportunities, email Crystal at crystal.bwf@gmail.com.   

Finance: The Finance Spoke’s main focus is finding all resources available for financial assistance, literacy, and experience to help Utah women increase in financial confidence. They are connecting with as many counties as possible to ascertain the financial resources available locally. If you know of resources, especially in rural areas, please contact Angela (Spoke Coordinator) at atrawlings1@gmail.com. Statewide, Empowering Financial Wellness (USU Extension) held free Budget Mastermind Workshops in Hurricane and Heber in March as well as an online webinar on creating successful financial goals. In April, they will hold budget workshops in Ogden and Morgan. For Financial Literacy Month in April, many Spoke partners are offering additional educational opportunities. SheMoney will host a “Your Money and the Markets” Zoom call every Friday, and Mountain America Credit Union will have a “Investing in your Dreams” webinar on April 16. Utah Bankers Association has planned an event at West Jordan Public Library on April 22 for Teach Children to Save day. 

Gender Pay Gap: Congratulations to the Corporations Working Group for their outstanding contribution to the success of the Spoke’s annual event on March 25, which celebrated Equal Pay Day! The Spoke is appreciative of the corporate leaders who shared their success stories as male allies and underscored the crucial role we all play in addressing the gender wage gap in Utah. The feedback from attendees has been overwhelmingly positive. A link will be added to the resources section of our webpage soon so all can view the event and find inspiration. The Communication/Education Working Group continues to meet regularly to develop educational modules focused on compensation strategies and plans, with a goal of releasing them in early summer. Additionally, the Data/Research Working Group received training from the US Census Bureau on utilizing census data. They have also established significant partnerships with various research groups at the University of Utah to support future Utah-specific data research projects.

Health Across the Lifespan: Spoke Leaders convened a meeting with all Sub-Spoke and Working Group co-leads to help facilitate communication and collaboration. Partnership with the Utah Association of Local Health Departments compliments the County Spoke Representatives in raising awareness across counties. As federal funding challenges have impacted the Utah Department of Health & Human Services and other organizations, strategies to help amplify their work present opportunities for the Sub-Spokes. To join these efforts, contact Amy Anderson (Spoke Coordinator) at amy.z.anderson@usu.edu. 

Higher Education Attainment: The Spoke is currently seeking a co-lead for our Barriers Working Group. Efforts are underway to aggregate and simplify resources that can be shared with women interested in returning to school or seeking alternative sources of credits (at the high school or professional/work experience level), and input is needed from individuals with university or tech school experience in this process. The Barriers Working Group is also seeking connections with student-based clubs for women that may be able to host a listening group so that stories can be collected of how women have managed to work through the barriers to education in their lives. If you have a connection to these groups or are interested in helping with these initiatives, please contact the Spoke Coordinator at courtney.bwf@gmail.com. 

Home & Family: In March, the Spoke had a successful book club discussion and is excited to continue these kinds of discussions in the future. Spoke Leaders held several leadership meetings to help organize the working groups. One of the Sexual Wellness Working Group Co-leads, Chelom Leavitt, published a free Sexual Mindfulness e-course on the Utah Marriage Commission website. The Single Mothers Sub-Spoke has a new webpage and is making significant progress. The Sub-Spoke helped pass Utah legislation for child support collection, has gathered resources (including financial help/scholarships), and encourages any single mothers to join the Utah Single Mothers Coalition Facebook Group.

K-12 Initiatives: The Spoke is excited to announce that the Early Numeracy Math Matters Campaign has launched on the K-12 Initiatives Spoke Instagram! Research has shown that making math a daily experience by engaging with children before kindergarten is essential. This can be simply done by counting games, recognizing shapes, playing board games, etc. The Math Matters Campaign features short videos (“reels”) from Utahns that highlight how parents/caregivers/etc. are incorporating these types of activities into a child’s day to make every day “count”. The Spoke welcomes Utahns to participate and share your reels by inviting the K-12 Initiatives Instagram account to be a collaborator on a reel you post/share, or If you don’t have Instagram or don’t want to post collaboratively, you can send your videos through the Math Matters Campaign Reel Submissions form.

Leadership Development: The Spoke is focusing on empowering the next generation of leaders through the Organizations for Girls & Young Women Working Group. On Tuesday, March 25, Spoke Co-Lead Shirlayne Quayle and Working Group Co-Lead Steph Smith met with nine high school students at Rowland Hall. They introduced the Bolder Way Forward movement, sharing its mission and why it is especially important in Utah. This sparked an insightful discussion on the need for leadership development opportunities for girls. The students were eager to get involved, recognizing the value of this initiative in their community. The Spoke is excited to keep the conversation going and create more opportunities for young people to engage in the movement. If you are interested in being involved, please contact Laney Benedict (Spoke Coordinator) at laneysconnection@gmail.com. 

Organizational Strategies & Workplace Culture: The Spoke has added Carrie Brown as a Co-Lead for the Communications Working Group. The Research and Best Practices Working Group is in the process of bringing on new co-leaders as well. The Spoke is excited about these additions who will help with research and share the best practices and successes of companies throughout the state. To get involved in one of these Working Groups, please email Kristen Lee (Spoke Coordinator) at klee.abwf@gmail.com. 

Political & Civic Representation: The Political & Civic Representation Spoke spent time this month putting together a document with additional details about each of the Spoke’s partners. The purpose of this document is to share more details about what each partner organization does and what they offer to Utahns. This is currently being finalized and will soon be added as a resource to the Spoke webpage. The Spoke is also focused on amplifying and promoting partner voices and events through social media posts and through our newsletter. Contact Britney McCausland (Spoke Coordinator) at britneym.bwf@gmail.com to sign up for the newsletter and to learn more about how you or your organization can get involved.

Poverty & Homelessness: The Spoke is going through some restructuring upon former Co-Lead Peggy Green’s departure, and thanks her for all of her excellent leadership these past two years. New co-leads are being identified to join Karen McCandless, and together they will help refine the Spoke’s focus to fill the gaps that exist for women experiencing poverty and homelessness across the state. The Cache County Coalition and a County Spoke Rep will share BWF and Spoke information/resources at the upcoming 2025 Utah State University Food Security and Hunger Solutions Symposium on April 17. 

Sexual Assault: This month the Sexual Assault Spoke was busy preparing for April’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month along with the Start by Believing Day event being held at the Utah State Capitol on April 2. A new Sub-Spoke has been created to maintain focus on this movement through sustained commitment to the Start by Believing Campaign. You can find additional information, including a list of what you can do to get involved on the Sub-Spoke webpage. All Utahns are encouraged to support by taking the Start By Believing pledge and using the hashtag #sbbutah so that the Spoke can track its influence.  

Sexual Harassment & Gender-based Discrimination: The Spoke is working on preparations for the upcoming Sexual Harassment Awareness month in May. These preparations include planning an in-person event focused on sharing information and resources on sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as discussing the economic impact of sexual harassment in the workplace and why employers should care. Advertising for this event will be released in the next couple of weeks. Additionally, the Spoke is continuing to compile resource lists for sexual harassment victims and gathering research on gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace. To get involved in these efforts, contact Brooke Piippo (Spoke Coordinator) at brookepiippo21@gmail.com. 

STEM Fields: The STEM Fields Spoke County Rep Community (CRC) met for the first time this month, and the Spoke is excited to continue to engage with each county to provide resources and support local events and efforts. The Spoke would like to welcome Dr. Spencer Magleby (Principal/Consultant, Magleby Innovation Consulting) & Owen Miller (Outreach Coordinator, UVU Smith College of Engineering and Technology) as new Co-Leads for the Higher Ed STEM Education Working Group. This new leadership is excited to start building a team of interested individuals to help move forward with initiatives helping women and girls in connection with higher STEM education. Work has been done to collect the most recent data points for the Spoke metrics dashboard to continue tracking progress towards Spoke goals. The Spoke is also working on new member outreach at various events, including the Women at Work Networking Event in April, which is being organized collaboratively by the STEM Fields Spoke and five other BWF Workplace Spokes. To find out more on how to get involved, collaborate on events, learn about opportunities to lead or engage in a working group, or serve as a County Spoke Rep, reach out to Ashley Patterson (Spoke Coordinator) at ashleyp.bwf@gmail.com. 

Workforce Development: The Spoke has been focused on coordinating with the other BWF Workplace Spokes for a joint networking event on April 7. The Community Resources Working Group is creating a survey to help gather community resources throughout the state for women who are job seeking, want to advance their workforce skills, obtain higher education, new skills, or certifications to transition and advance their careers. The Working Group is connecting with County Spoke Representatives to ensure that information on all available resources is collected, especially in Utah’s rural communities. Contact Angela Rawlings (Spoke Coordinator) at atrawlings1@gmail.com for more information on this initiative and other opportunities to be involved.