Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Femergy in support of operational capacity building.
Femergy provides girls and women with the skills-training they need to overcome gender barriers in public and private spheres. Femergy’s holistic programs enhance girls and women in the areas of education, leadership, health, and wellness by encouraging them to explore and celebrate their strengths, their voices, who they are today, and who they will become in the future.
Femergy intends to expand existing workforce development programming and support services. Through project-based learning, mentoring, career coaching, case management, internship opportunities, hands-on workshops, and more, Femergy is teaching and training girls and women how to create and maintain economic self-sufficiency and contribute to the Central Ohio community and workforce.
In 2023, Femergy officially opened the Femergy Restorative Center, a centralized hub for equitable access to resources, programming, and collaborative community development. The Femergy Center not only contributes to workforce development for girls (12-18) and women (21+) in Central Ohio, but also supports other local non-profits and small businesses through co-working/co-creating opportunities. Opening the Femergy Center in downtown (43215) Columbus fosters collective impact with surrounding school districts, businesses and other agencies.
With this funding, Femergy will be able to add additional personnel to assist with program management and expansion at the Femergy Center. This impact investment would allow the organization to extend co-creating/co-working memberships and launch an additional memberships for purchase. The initial five memberships to be sponsored by the City would allow for local startup businesses and grassroots nonprofit organizations to apply and receive a one-year membership that would provide business mentorship, facility usage, financial counseling, and more. These services support Columbus’s growing population of female-owned and female-centered entrepreneurs and small businesses, with an emphasis on collaboration to create interconnected support networks across Columbus. With the launch of this program, Femergy would be able to create a revenue-generating service to support the agency. This, in turn, would support additional personnel to deepen the impact of current Femergy programming. With increased capacity, Femergy can create additional partnerships with Columbus City Schools and other community organizations to provide after-school and enhanced workforce development opportunities for youth.
These services target high school girls and entry level women professionals. 92% of our client population identifies as girls and women of color, and 78% identify as economically disadvantaged. Providing equitable workforce readiness, professional development, and business development opportunities to these populations is essential to creating community-wide economic self-sufficiency among some of the most vulnerable populations. By the end of 2024, Femergy anticipates directly serving an additional 100 high school girls and 10 startup businesses or grassroots nonprofits.
Fiscal Impact: Funding is available within the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund.
Emergency action is requested in order to provide Femergy with resources in advance of the upcoming school year.
Title
To authorize the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Femergy in support of operational capacity building; to authorize an appropriation and expenditure within the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund; and to declare an emergency. ($100,000.00)
Body
WHEREAS, Femergy provides girls and women with the skills-training they need to overcome gender barriers in public and private spheres; and
WHEREAS, Femergy intends to expand existing workforce development programming and support services; and
WHEREAS, with this funding, Femergy will be able to add additional personnel to assist with program management and expansion at the Femergy Center; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily operation of the City Clerk in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with Femergy to provide the resources in advance of the upcoming school year, all for the immediate preservation of the public health, peace, property, safety and welfare; and now, therefore,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the City Clerk is hereby authorized to enter into a grant agreement with Femergy in support of operational capacity building.
SECTION 2: That the City Auditor is hereby authorized and directed to appropriate $100,000.00 in the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund, fund 1000, subfund 100018, to Columbus City Council per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 3: That for the purpose authorized in Section 1 of this ordinance, the expenditure of $100,000.00, or so much thereof as is necessary, is hereby authorized in the Neighborhood Initiatives subfund per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 4: That the City Auditor is authorized to make any accounting changes to revise the funding source for all contracts or contract modifications associated with this legislation.
SECTION 5. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.