The White House Council on Women and Girls gathered academics, activists, government officials and philanthropists for a forum about women and girls of color on Friday. After the daylong event, the Obama administration announced that Prosperity Together, a group of women’s foundations, will dedicate $100 million over the next five years to improving the economic status of low-income girls and women of color. The White House also announced an $18 million pledge from Wake Forest University’s Anna Julia Cooper Center and 23 other institutions of higher learning to fund research on women and girls of color over the next five years.

The interventions and research will focus on five major areas that impact women and girls of color:

• Revamping discipline systems that exclude girls of color from school and better supporting their success
   
• Improving outcomes for those who have contact with juvenile justice and youth service systems, including reducing detention for status offenses
   
• Creating and supporting opportunities for inclusive STEM education
   
• Reducing teen births in communities of color via pregnancy prevention programs
   
• Driving economic prosperity by supporting tax credits and supporting programs that address the cultural and educational needs of low-income women and enhancing access to high-quality child care

Learn more about the initiatives here.