Women for Change
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Tuesday, June 22 2010
Snapshot: Stephanie Davis 
Stephanie Davis, 62, is executive director of Georgia Women for a Change, which she started in her living room in the mid-1980s, first under the name of Women’s Policy Education Fund. It is a nonprofit, multi-issue advocacy organization aimed at achieving progressive public policy for women and girls. Georgia Women for a Change was modeled after the Washington, D.C.-based National Partnership for Women & Families (see Snapshot on Debra Ness).
Davis was public policy adviser on women’s issues for former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. In that position, she worked on the mayor’s Dear John Initiative, a campaign to end child prostitution and human trafficking in Atlanta. In addition, Davis is on the national board of the White House Project and is founding director of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation. A Florida native, Davis lives with her cat in Atlanta.
Womenetics: Why and when did you change the name of your organization?
Stephanie Davis: We changed the name about a year ago to reflect the change in our mission. We decided we wanted to start a movement, a unified voice for women and we couldn’t do it within the confines of a small group. We had to invite others. So we became Georgia Women for a Change, which can be read as saying Georgia women say the status quo is unacceptable, or it can be read as Georgia Women, for a change (instead of men). There’s a double entendre. We want to promote women’s leadership.
Womenetics: How do you choose your issues? I was surprised that you were supporting legislation like raising tobacco taxes. Why?
Davis: Because Georgia is one of the poorest states in the country, and we have one of the lowest tax rates and one of the lowest taxes on tobacco. And the tobacco companies are marketing to teen girls. This administration supports special interests and giving tax breaks to the wealthy. The budget is dwindling, which means the state is cutting services that often benefit women. This legislation didn’t pass but we often fight uphill battles.
Health care reform is also very important to us as women. We look through a gender lens at all issues, but the obvious issues are reproductive health care, choice, rape, and domestic issues.
Womenetics: What’s been your biggest frustration in your job?
Davis: The lack of resources, which every nonprofit struggles with. We’re advocates. We have a good business model; I’d put my books up against anyone’s. But we have a no-fee-for-service model; we’re selling a mission, and that’s harder to fundraise for.
We are trying to get a conversation started. Even if we don’t win legislation, we make sure legislators know that women are watching. There are not a lot of battered women in the legislature, so who will fight for them and for rape victims and kids who are being forced into prostitution? We wanted to set a minimum age for prostitution because right now young teens are being sent to jail. They are being treated as criminals instead of victims. We’re not trying to legalize prostitution, but help the girls victimized by it and put the onus on the men.
Womenetics: How long have you been with Georgia Women for a Change, and where did you come from? What is your background?
Davis: In the mid-1980s, I did this as a volunteer. I was a founding director of the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and policy adviser to Mayor Shirley Franklin. Now I’m a paid executive director. My background is in nonprofit, social justice, and public policy. I want to help make progressive change happen for communities that haven’t had a lot of access to power. We’ve come a long way with feminism and civil rights, but we still have so far left to go.
Womenetics: What in your childhood led you to this path?
Davis: My mother was the first woman to run for office in Florida from the West Coast. She went from the Florida House of Representatives and then to the state senate. I come from a long line of social activism. This has been the central issue since I was a little girl. I was told the reason I was born was to change the world. I have had the most fun I could possibly imagine. I’ve changed people’s lives and changed minds. My mother is still incredibly politically active. No one runs for office in Florida until they check with her.
Womenetics: If you weren’t doing this, what would you do?
Davis: (She takes a few minutes to think about it.) I thought about entering public office. But I’m a much better advocate on the outside than sitting in the chamber feeling like a lone voice.
Womenetics: What did you want to be when you grew up?
Davis: I have had many other interests, but I can’t imagine how I could monetize them. Travel is one of the most important things we can do, to see other cultures and the commonalities between people. There’s just not one way to see the world. My life is great. Every morning I wake up with purpose to change the world, and every day I do.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
