What YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region does

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region (YWCA GLBR) is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization headquartered at 205 6th St., Bay City, founded in 1895 (originally as YWCA Bay County) and operating as a local affiliate of YWCA USA. It serves women, girls, and families across four counties — Bay, Midland, Saginaw, and Isabella — with three core programmatic pillars: the Women's Economic Empowerment Program (WEEP), which encompasses free financial-literacy workshops Moving Ahead and Pathways to Progress plus an ongoing graduate community called Staying Ahead; InterACT, a cultural-competency and unconscious-bias training practice built on the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI); and The Dignity Project, a collaborative bulk-buying initiative distributing menstrual hygiene products to middle and high school girls in Bay County schools. The organization is supported by a network of signature community events including the annual Women of Achievement Awards and the Riverside Art Festival, the latter in its 52nd year in 2026.

The operating model is philanthropic: programs are offered free to participants, funded by individual donations, foundation grants, corporate sponsorships, two United Way chapters, and a small fee-for-service revenue stream from InterACT training delivered to for-profit companies and larger nonprofits. Pricing for InterACT enterprise engagements is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, while all social-service programs (WEEP workshops, InterACT for qualifying nonprofits, and The Dignity Project) are free to end beneficiaries. The technology stack is light — Squarespace for the website, QGiv for donations, JotForm and Google Forms for participant and volunteer sign-ups — with no proprietary technology platform, no mobile app, and no AI/ML capabilities disclosed.

Staffing is exceptionally thin: only two personnel are publicly identified (Executive Director Moira Branigan, who is a certified IDI Qualified Administrator with a Cornell certification, and Empowerment Educator Kim Wolf, who joined in May 2024), supplemented by a volunteer network that supports program delivery and event execution. Major philanthropic and corporate supporters include Dow, Enbridge, SC Johnson, Huntington Bank, PNC Foundation, Hemlock Semiconductor, The Alden and Vada Dow Foundation, The Morley Family Foundation, and the United Ways of Bay and Saginaw counties. The Working Wardrobe program was discontinued in December 2025 due to low participation and limited office space, and the organization holds a Candid Gold Seal of transparency (2025).

Name

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region

Legal name

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region

Website

https://ywcaglbr.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1895

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region is a Bay City, Michigan nonprofit affiliate of YWCA USA that delivers free women's economic empowerment programming (Moving Ahead, Pathways to Progress, Staying Ahead), InterACT cultural-competency training, and The Dignity Project period-product initiative to women, families, schools, and organizations across four Michigan counties.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bay City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable donations from individuals solicited through the website, newsletter, and events. Donation tiers support specific programs (e.g., $60 for one woman in WEEP, $150 stipend for Moving Ahead graduate).
2. Foundation and Corporate Grants: Funding from foundations and corporations including United Way of Bay County, United Way of Saginaw County, Hemlock Semiconductor CARE Grant, Huntington Bank, The Alden and Vada Dow Foundation, The Morley Family Foundation, PNC Foundation, SC Johnson. Programs are free to participants thanks to this philanthropic support.
3. Fee-for-Service Training (InterACT): InterACT cultural competency training offered on a fee-for-service basis to for-profit companies and larger nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits under 30 people could receive free training in 2022 thanks to funders Dow and Enbridge.
4. Event Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships for signature events such as the Women of Achievement Awards and Riverside Art Festival.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region is a nonprofit social services organization that delivers free women's economic empowerment programs (Moving Ahead, Pathways to Progress, Staying Ahead), cultural competency training for organizations (InterACT), and a period-product access initiative for students (The Dignity Project), all funded through philanthropy, grants, and community donations. Signature community events include the Women of Achievement Awards and Riverside Art Festival.

Product overview

YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region operates as a social services nonprofit offering a portfolio of programs focused on women's economic empowerment and social justice. The core offerings include the Women's Economic Empowerment Program (WEEP) with its workshop series (Moving Ahead, Pathways to Progress, and Staying Ahead for graduates), InterACT cultural competency training, and The Dignity Project addressing period poverty. Signature events include the annual Women of Achievement Awards and Riverside Art Festival. The organization also facilitates community engagement through volunteer opportunities, newsletter subscriptions, and donation collection. All programs are provided free of charge to participants, supported by community philanthropy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Women's Economic Empowerment Program (WEEP): Programs including Moving Ahead, Pathways to Progress, and Staying Ahead focused on financial education and economic self-sufficiency for women.
• InterACT
• The Dignity Project

Products and services

• Women's Economic Empowerment Program (WEEP)
• Moving Ahead
• Pathways to Progress
• Staying Ahead
• InterACT Training
• The Dignity Project

Quantifiable outcome

• In 2024, every school responding to the YWCA GLBR survey in Bay County indicated they needed support providing period products to students.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bottom Line: Nonprofit focused on college access and career readiness for first-generation students from low-income backgrounds, with strong financial literacy and economic self-sufficiency programming. Overlaps with YWCA GLBR's Moving Ahead and Pathways to Progress curricula.
• YWCA Greater Los Angeles: Regional YWCA affiliate providing women's economic empowerment, sexual violence services, and housing programs. Closely comparable mission and program mix to YWCA GLBR, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago: Another YWCA local affiliate delivering women's empowerment programming, economic advancement services, and DEI training in a defined U.S. region. Operates the same WEEP-style economic empowerment and racial justice mission under the YWCA USA umbrella.
• Period, Inc. (Menstrual Equity nonprofit): Youth-led nonprofit addressing period poverty and menstrual equity through product distribution and education. Directly comparable to YWCA GLBR's The Dignity Project in mission, though Period operates at national scale.
• All Flowers Group (Alliance for Period Supplies): National diaper bank-style network for period supplies, connecting member programs to donated menstrual products for distribution. Comparable to The Dignity Project's collaborative bulk-buying distribution model.
• Dress for Success: Global nonprofit focused on women's economic empowerment, providing professional attire, career development, and financial literacy tools to women in need. Highly comparable programmatic overlap with YWCA GLBR's WEEP and former Working Wardrobe offerings.

Emerging players

• Women's Bean Project: Nonprofit social enterprise providing workforce training and job readiness for women facing barriers to employment. Comparable mission around women's economic self-sufficiency and skill-building, with a different earned-income model.

Broad incumbents

• YWCA USA: National umbrella organization for all YWCA affiliates, including YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region. Directly comparable as the parent network providing advocacy, brand, and federated fundraising support for local women's empowerment affiliates.

Others

• United Way of Bay County: Regional funder and partner of YWCA GLBR, supporting WEEP and other community programs. Comparable as a regional community-impact nonprofit operating in the same Bay County geography and funder ecosystem.
• United Way of Saginaw County: Co-sponsor of YWCA GLBR's WEEP program. Operates as a regional community-impact nonprofit in one of YWCA GLBR's service counties with overlapping funder relationships.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ywcaglbr
• Instagraminstagram.com/ywcaglbr
• Xx.com/YWCAGLBR

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about YWCA Great Lakes Bay Region