By Shayna Mace and Katy Macek | Photo courtesy Sara Finger
Sara Finger has devoted her entire professional career to emboldening individuals to be effective advocates for positive change in Wisconsin.
After working at the Wisconsin Medical Society for four years, she was looking to dig into more direct advocacy work. That desire turned into founding her own organization in 2004 called the Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health, which she later turned into a nonprofit where she was executive director. The nonprofit focused on advocating for policies aimed at improving women’s health, safety and economic security, including reproductive freedoms for women, which Finger notes were slowly being peeled away.
“Twenty years ago, we witnessed an unprecedented attack on women’s reproductive rights that included legislation that allowed doctors, nurses and those on the frontlines of health care able to deny [women] basic reproductive health care, based on their own consciences. [There were] pushes for pharmacists and physicians to deny safe and effective birth control. It was incredibly alarming at the time — but it was precursor of what was to come,” she says.
In early 2024, Finger rebranded the nonprofit to Embolden WI. The name reflects the organization’s new focus from women’s health policy work in the state Capitol to supporting community-led initiatives aimed at increasing health equity and improving civic health in Wisconsin.
Finger elaborated on Embolden WI’s new mission.
What inspired the rebrand?
“The pandemic and the racial justice reckoning motivated us and many other advocacy groups to reflect and examine the newly highlighted threats and opportunities to health equity in Wisconsin. As a small, scrappy nonprofit advocacy group, we struggled to keep up with the demand for our women’s health policy work. As a white-led organization, we strategically chose to step back and work to center the voices and lived experiences of those on the front lines of health inequities, disparities and racism. Our staff and leaders decided to pivot and offer fiscal sponsorship to support aspiring nonprofits in our state.”
What is Embolden WI’s new model?
“We reflected on the amazing success of our existing PATCH (Providers and Teens Communicating for Health) and ECCHO (Engaging Communities to Change Health Outcomes) programs. And we thought, ‘What if that’s what we do? What if we extend our nonprofit status and our 20 years of nonprofit management and advocacy experience to other aspiring nonprofits that work on health and civic equity?’
It can be incredibly challenging to start a nonprofit and adhere to countless and costly administrative burdens. By fiscally sponsoring organizations, we can lend our 501(c) (3) status to community-led initiatives so they can attract donations and the financial support they need.
We now support and fiscally sponsor groups like Roots4Change Cooperative, which seeks to improve the maternal and child health landscape in Dane County. The women leading this effort are now freed up to engage and support Latino families, thanks to our administrative support and advocacy coaching.
We’ve had 16 applicants of groups that want to be fiscally sponsored (since January). We could not have anticipated this demand. This is new territory for advocacy work because societal needs can change quickly (like the pandemic showed us), and we don’t have time to wait for the IRS to approve nonprofit applications — which can take up to a year.”
What is the significance of Embolden WI in an election year?
“For the past two decades our organization has insisted that policy happens with us rather than to us. At Embolden WI, we’re extremely excited to provide administrative and structural support so that more groups can organize, innovate and effectively advocate for policy and system changes. We’ll always encourage people to exercise their right to vote, and we’re here to help create the conditions where every voice and vote matters.”
