Advocacy & Policy Development

Reimagining the Workplace (RTW)

During the pandemic, while City employees cared continuously for the community despite personal struggles, the CCSW began leading an open forum for connection and dialogue. This small group grew organically to include 100+ employees across all departments, positions, and tenure levels. These forums have continued, and employees now share collective wisdom and propose improved workplace policies addressing gaps they experience firsthand. The RTW group prioritizes enhancing the City's culture, processes, practices, and infrastructure while advocating for transparency, accountability, and empathy from leadership. Most importantly, RTW provides an informal, non-hierarchical space where colleagues can share information and build meaningful relationships.

Cambridge Coalition Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation

The Commission convenes a coalition of community stakeholders working to prevent and address commercial sexual exploitation in our city.

This diverse group unites: small businesses, nonprofit organizations, Cambridge Public Schools, the CARE Team, faith communities, police, and lived experience experts including, My Life My Choice, Amirah, HEAT, Safe Exit, ATASK, and Eva Center.

Our coalition is Cambridge's first comprehensive, coordinated response to commercial sexual exploitation. The coalition’s priorities include:

• Implementing prevention strategies that protect targeted youth and adults
• Increasing awareness and recognition of exploitation throughout the city
• Creating pathways to safety and healing for survivors
• Training businesses, schools, and other city entities to recognize and respond to trafficking
• Building a safer Cambridge where exploitation cannot grow

Guided by survivor voices and evidence-based approaches, the coalition recognizes that poverty, homelessness, addiction, and trauma are the root causes of sexual exploitation and must be addressed. This initiative centers accountability for buyers while providing compassionate support for those exploited. The effort aims to make Cambridge a leader in prevention that other communities can follow. 

Gender Equity Inquiry

The Women's Commission is conducting a Gender Equity Inquiry (GEI) to understand how gender equity is currently addressed across City departments and programs. This inquiry recognizes the complex interplay of gender with race, socioeconomic status, ability, age, and other intersecting identities that shape people's experiences. The Commission is investigating how a gender equity lens, if applied, would enhance service delivery to meet the diverse needs of women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals across Cambridge.

Identity, Relationships, and Media

The Women's Commission created this activity guide to help staff working with middle and high school youth address gender and gender stereotypes through identity, relationships, and media. This guide was developed in direct response to requests from city departments and organizations serving Cambridge youth. Many local youth programs are helping meet the social and emotional needs of young people. This often includes navigating difficult but important social topics that affect youth, such as race, gender, and sexuality. This guide provides clear, practical activities that recognize the complex, intersectional nature of identity. Each activity is designed with a holistic approach to help engage youth in thoughtful discussions and learning. The guide also features information about gender-focused programs in Cambridge, resources for youth workers, and resources for young people.

Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative (DGBVPI)

The Domestic and Gender-Based Violence Prevention Initiative emerged from a collaborative vision of community stakeholders and elected officials. As an early champion, the Commission was instrumental in supporting its transformation from grassroots advocacy into a critical municipal priority. After years of CCSW's leadership, strategic planning, and persistent advocacy alongside community partners in the domestic violence space, the Initiative now resides in the Office of Equity and Inclusion, reflecting the city-wide commitment that the Commission helped foster. The CCSW continues to guide this vital work through its representation on both the Steering and Executive Committees, building on its long-standing historical role as Cambridge's primary municipal advocate for addressing gender-based violence. Through this ongoing leadership, the Commission actively works to engage and mobilize Cambridge's diverse communities to challenge and change attitudes, behaviors, policies, and practices that perpetuate gender-based violence.