Speakers
Eileen Maloney-Simon, CEO, of the YWCA of Greater Miami-Dade County, Inc., was appointed by the Board of Directors on June 15, 1995. The YWCA of Greater Miami-Dade is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. The YWCA accomplishes this mission through direct services and collaborations that are designed to improve the quality of life for women and their families. Its budget is over $5 million annually and over 82% of the budget is committed to programming for children including early childhood learning centers, after school programs, financial literacy and family wellness programs. The agency employs 175 full, part-time and seasonal employees. In FY 2013, the YWCA served over 15,000 individuals. Over 90% of its employees are women and 65% of its programs serve women and girls.
Since her appointment she has been successful in bringing numerous programs and partnerships to the agency and expanding its services including: establishing the Neighborhood Family Center that incorporates holistic family and child care services at the YWCA’s main offices in Overtown; creating in partnership with the 11th Judicial Circuit and Court Administrator’s Office Court Care: A Better Place to Be serving families attending judicial proceedings in the Family, Criminal, and Child Support Enforcement Courts; opening and managing the first public playground built in the Overtown neighborhood in a decade; establishing the Financial Empowerment Program to help women and families improve their financial knowledge, begin a savings plan and participate in matched savings opportunities; helping to permanently establish the Susan G. Komen Foundation’ s Greater Miami/Ft. Lauderdale Komen Race for the Cure in South Florida; dramatically expanding breast and cervical cancer education, outreach, and screenings for medically underserved women of color in Miami-Dade and South Broward counties; and collaborating with Miami-Dade County’s Building Better Communities Bond Fund, to construct a new facility for service expansion in the City of Miami Gardens scheduled for 2014.
The YWCA collaborated with the Intel Foundation and the Boston Museum of Science to bring an Intel Computer Clubhouse to the Overtown neighborhood. This program provides a creative environment that brings technology into young people’s daily lives, helps to bridge the digital divide that exists in underserved neighborhoods, and assists youth in planning for their future.
A native of Miami, FL, Eileen graduated from Barry University in 1975 and went on to complete her Masters Degree in Public Administration in 1978 at Florida International University. She was named in the Top Women Led Businesses for the past four years by The Commonwealth Institute, she has been honored with the Pepsi Everyday Hero Award, and the agency has won awards from the Alliance for Human Services and the Women’s Chamber of Commerce for its work in carrying out its mission. She is married and has four children.