About the Gender Equity Designer Program
A training program designed to help the public and private sectors strengthen gender equity infrastructure, processes, and work culture.
Despite decades of progress, gender inequities remain deeply embedded in the policies, practices, cultures, and systems that shape our workplaces and communities. Many leaders are committed to equity but struggle to move from intention to implementation. Without the right tools, organizations often address symptoms rather than the underlying systems that perpetuate inequitable outcomes.
The Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP) equips leaders and organizations with the knowledge, tools, and strategies needed to embed gender equity into the infrastructure of their institutions.
Grounded in WOMEN’S WAY’s Gender Wealth Framework, the GEDP moves beyond awareness-building to practical application. Participants learn how to identify inequitable systems, redesign policies and practices, and create organizational cultures that foster opportunity, belonging, and economic security for all.
Organizations that intentionally design for gender equity are better positioned to:
- Attract and retain top talent
- Foster innovation and stronger decision-making
- Build more inclusive and engaged workplace cultures
- Increase organizational effectiveness and impact
- Strengthen relationships with employees, customers, funders, and stakeholders
- Advance economic opportunity and shared prosperity
Advancing gender equity requires more than a statement of values. It requires operational and cultural shifts that are sustained over time. The GEDP helps organizations transform equity from an aspiration into a measurable practice.
Why Gender Equity Design Matters for your Institution
When institutions are designed with equity in mind, everyone benefits.
While organizations serving women and gender-marginalized communities often recognize these challenges, the reality is that nearly every institution—nonprofit, corporate, and philanthropic—has opportunities to strengthen gender equity within its operations and decision-making.
For Nonprofit Organizations
Your mission is centered on creating impact, but meaningful change requires internal systems and workplace cultures that reflect your values. The Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP) helps nonprofit leaders align organizational practices with equity goals, strengthen workplace culture, and build environments where all employees feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute.
By applying the principles of the Gender Wealth Framework, organizations learn how to create cultures of trust, belonging, and shared accountability—where employees experience psychological safety, have opportunities to influence decisions, and feel a greater sense of agency in shaping their work and the organization’s future. These conditions not only improve employee well-being but also enhance organizational effectiveness and community impact.
Benefits include:
– Stronger staff retention, engagement, and job satisfaction
– A workplace culture where employees feel heard, respected, and valued
-Greater psychological safety, trust, and collaboration across teams
– Increased employee agency, ownership, and leadership development
-More equitable leadership pipelines and advancement opportunities
-Improved program design and stronger community outcomes
-Greater alignment between mission, values, and day-to-day operations
-Enhanced credibility with funders, partners, and stakeholders
-A more resilient and adaptive organization equipped to navigate change
For Corporations and Businesses
Today’s workforce expects more than competitive compensation and benefits—they want workplaces where they feel respected, valued, heard, and able to thrive. Yet many employees, particularly women and gender non-conforming individuals, continue to experience workplace cultures shaped by bias, exclusion, unequal opportunities, and environments that lack psychological safety. These challenges can lead to disengagement, turnover, burnout, and lost organizational potential.
The Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP) equips leaders with practical tools and strategies to identify and address the policies, practices, and cultural norms that contribute to inequitable workplace experiences. Grounded in the Gender Wealth Framework, the program helps organizations create environments where employees feel a sense of belonging, have opportunities to contribute and lead, and are empowered to bring their full talents to the workplace.
Organizations that intentionally design for gender equity are better positioned to attract and retain top talent, strengthen leadership pipelines, foster innovation, and build cultures where employees are motivated to do their best work.
Benefits include:
– Increased employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention
– Greater psychological safety, trust, and belonging across teams
– Improved ability to identify and address biases that impact workplace culture and decision-making
– Stronger leadership development and more equitable advancement opportunities
– Enhanced innovation through diverse perspectives and inclusive collaboration
– Increased employee agency, ownership, and contribution
– Improved organizational performance, productivity, and resilience
– Stronger reputation as an employer of choice
– Greater competitiveness in attracting and retaining top talent
– A workplace culture where all employees can thrive and contribute to organizational success
The GEDP helps organizations move beyond diversity initiatives to build equitable systems and cultures that unlock the full potential of their people and drive long-term business success.
For Foundations and Funders
Funders play a critical role in shaping systems change. Yet advancing gender equity requires more than funding programs—it requires understanding and addressing the root causes of inequity embedded within economic, social, and institutional systems.
The Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP) provides funders with the framework, tools, and practices needed to deepen their understanding of how gender inequities impact economic outcomes and to integrate gender-responsive strategies into grantmaking, investment, evaluation, and organizational decision-making.
Through the GEDP, funders strengthen their ability to partner more effectively with nonprofit organizations and communities to co-design, support, and evaluate strategies that address systemic barriers rather than symptoms. Participants gain a deeper understanding of how to invest in long-term solutions that build power, expand opportunity, and create transformational change for women and gender-marginalized people.
Benefits include:
– A stronger gender equity lens across funding portfolios and investment strategies
– Deeper understanding of the root causes and systemic drivers of gender inequities
– Enhanced ability to partner with nonprofits in designing and evaluating equity-centered solutions
– More effective grantmaking that supports long-term systems change rather than short-term interventions
– Improved capacity to assess impact through a gender equity and economic mobility lens
– Greater alignment between funding strategies and desired social outcomes
– Stronger relationships with grantees built on trust, learning, and shared accountability
– Increased impact and sustainability of philanthropic investments
– Leadership in advancing transformational change and building a more equitable future/
The GEDP helps funders move beyond funding individual programs toward investing in the conditions, systems, and partnerships necessary to create lasting gender equity.
Components of the GEDP
Program Objectives
By the end of the training program, participants will:
• Develop the mindset and skills to drive transformational change
• Design more equitable organizations, communities, and systems
• Build cultures where people can thrive
• Measure what matters
• Become a catalyst for systems change
The Curriculum
The Gender Equity Designer Program is a series of workshops, tools, and resources designed to introduce equity awareness, intelligence, and practices with a gender lens.
Participants learn:
• How our economic system creates and maintains gender inequities
• How dominant narratives shape our mental models
• How to create conditions for greater gender equity in organizational culture, practices, and programs
Testimonial
“Perhaps the greatest contribution of the GEDP was not changing our philosophy but helping us strengthen the connection between our values and our internal workforce practices. It reinforced our belief that economic equity requires both individual support and structural solutions.”
– Executive Director, Along The Way
GEDP In Action
Learn about how GEDP is being implemented across sectors to implement gender equity design.
Nonprofit: Along The Way
Along The Way | Philadelphia
Along the Way is a GEEP grantee partner, a program that uses the GEDP to strengthen the capacity of local nonprofits in the care sector to integrate gender equity into their operations and workplace culture.
Through the Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP), Along The Way strengthened its commitment to embedding equity into organizational systems and workplace culture. The organization applied lessons from the Gender Wealth Framework to develop a staff-centered wellness model that balances employee autonomy with organizational responsibility, while reinforcing the belief that caregiver well-being is essential to achieving equitable outcomes for families. Together, these investments are helping Along The Way build a more resilient organization capable of advancing economic mobility for women and children for years to come.
“Perhaps the greatest contribution of the GEDP was not changing our philosophy but helping us strengthen the connection between our values and our internal workforce practices. It reinforced our belief that economic equity requires both individual support and structural solutions.” –Executive Director, Along The Way
Nonprofit: Connectedly
Connectedly | Philadelphia
Connectedly is a GEEP grantee partner, a program that uses the GEDP to strengthen the capacity of local nonprofits in the care sector to integrate gender equity into their operations and workplace culture.
Connectedly supports children, families, and communities by providing trauma-informed services that strengthen relationships, promote healing, and foster long-term well-being. Grounded in a commitment to equity and restorative practices, the organization works to create environments where both participants and staff can thrive.
Through the Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP), Connectedly has translated learning into meaningful organizational change. The team developed new organizational Value Pillars, drafted a formal exit interview policy, and began reexamining internal communications, policies, and accountability practices through the lens of the Gender Wealth Framework. These changes are helping embed gender equity into the organization’s culture while strengthening decision-making, staff engagement, and future planning.
“In conjunction with the Accelerator Project, this grant and its programming give us an invaluable opportunity to implement growth and change at the organizational level. Such work is difficult to incorporate into daily operations, but the Community of Practice shows us that it is possible to implement gender and racial equity, along with restorative accountability, into our regular tasks and future planning.” – Executive Director, Connectedly
Nonprofit: Therapy Center of Philadelphia
Therapy Center of Philadelphia | Philadelphia
TCP is a GEEP grantee partner, a program that uses the GEDP to strengthen the capacity of local nonprofits in the care sector to integrate gender equity into their operations and workplace culture.
For nearly five decades, the Therapy Center of Philadelphia (TCP) has provided affordable, trauma-informed, anti-racist, and gender-affirming mental health care for women, transgender, and gender-expansive individuals. Through accessible, sliding-scale therapy, TCP ensures that financial barriers do not prevent people from receiving the long-term mental health support they need to heal and thrive.
Through the Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP), TCP is reimagining its organizational culture through a gender equity lens. Inspired by restorative accountability and feminist leadership practices, the organization is implementing a collaborative tri-leadership model and developing a Gender Equity Culture Framework that will guide decision-making, accountability, and workplace culture. These efforts will strengthen both the organization’s internal practices and its ability to provide equitable, affirming care for the communities it serves.
“WOMEN’S WAY provided the organizational stability that allowed an essential gender-affirming mental health provider to remain open during a period when other providers were closing, while simultaneously helping the organization redesign its culture around restorative accountability and shared leadership.” – Executive Partner, TCP
Nonprofit: Women In Dialogue
Women In Dialogue | Philadelphia
WID is a GEEP grantee partner, a program that uses the GEDP to strengthen the capacity of local nonprofits in the care sector to integrate gender equity into their operations and workplace culture.
Through the Gender Equity Designer Program (GEDP), Women In Dialogue has deepened its equity-centered approach by examining how systemic inequities influence both organizational practices and community engagement. The organization has strengthened efforts to remove barriers to participation, expanded how it evaluates inclusion and relevance across its programs, and reinforced its long-standing commitment to ensuring directly impacted women lead advocacy efforts and shape policy solutions. GEEP also fostered valuable collaboration with fellow cohort organizations, creating new opportunities to share expertise and build stronger networks for advancing gender equity across Philadelphia.
“Internally, we are more conscious of how systemic inequities and personal biases impact our functioning, and we now have more awareness and skills to address those.” -Community Member, Women in Dialogue
Bring GEDP To Your Institution
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