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Non-profit

The Women’s Collective

Website:

www.womenscollective.org/about-us/
Location:

Washington, DC
Tax ID:

52-1929922
Tax-Exempt Status:

501(c)(3)

Budget (2021):

Revenue: $1,371,002
Expenses: $951,970
Assets: $1,490,785
Type:

Human-Services Agency
Formation:

1995
Founder and Executive Director:

Patricia Nalls
Budget (2022):

Revenue: $898,000
Expenses: $873,000
Assets: $1,500,000

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The Women’s Collective is a Washington, D.C.-based human-services agency which provides a variety of health and social care to women and girls at risk of or living with HIV/AIDS. 1

History

The founder and executive director of the Women’s Collective, Patricia Nalls, was diagnosed with HIV in 1986 shortly after losing her husband and three-year-old daughter to the disease.  Widowed, ill, and with two children to support, she sought help only to find that services were largely geared to the needs of gay men, not to those of women and their families. 2

She set up a private phone line in her home where women struggling with HIV could share their experiences. The phone line evolved into a private support group which in 1995 formally incorporated as a nonprofit. 3

Activities

The Women’s Collective addresses the self-defined needs of women and girls living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS. The majority of those it assists are low-income African Americans and Black immigrant women living in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It is the only HIV/AIDS-focused human services agency in the region solely dedicated to women. 4

From a single office in Washington, D.C., it offers a continuum of HIV prevention and management services. These include medical case management; psychosocial case management such as linkages to housing, child care, and food; HIV testing; HIV prevention education; and patient self-management coaching. Hot meals, support groups, a drop-in resource center with computers, and a mental health counselor are also available on site. The Women’s Collective organizes family and social activities, including holiday celebrations, as well. 5

Executive director Patricia Nalls provides training and technical assistance to community-based, regional, national, and international private and governmental agencies. These have included the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Health Resource Services Administration. 6

The organization’s vision for the future is a world in which there are no new HIV transmissions and a cure for AIDS has been found. 7

Funding

The Women’s Collective is supported by contributions and grants and by program services revenue. About 88 percent of its income is derived from contributions and grants, the remaining 12 percent from program services. 8

From 2017 through 2023, The Women’s Collective received $1,038,974 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the Comprehensive High Impact HIV Prevention Projects for Community-Based Organizations program.  It received support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a site for a Johns Hopkins University HIV prevention project, Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS and Prevention (SISTA-P). Total joint project funding from 2020 through 2023 was $696,480. 9

Private foundation contributions in 2022 included an unrestricted grant from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids of $12,500; general support in the amount of $10,000 from the Greater Washington Community Foundation; and $12,000 in unrestricted support from AIDS United. 10 11

Leadership

Patricia Nalls grew up in a Guyanese family of South Asian descent. Her family emigrated from Guyana to the United States when Nalls was 16. She married in her early twenties and went to work as a community organizer for an international anti-hunger nonprofit before founding the Women’s Collective. 12

She has co-authored four research articles published in peer-reviewed journals exploring psychosocial differences between African American and East African immigrant women in response to HIV. 13

References

  1. “About Us | The Women’s Collective.” Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.womenscollective.org/about-us/.
  2. Chhibber, AuthorKavita. “The Indian American Face of AIDS.” KavitaChhibber.Com (blog), October 28, 2004. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://www.kavitachhibber.com/2004/10/28/the-indian-american-face-of-aids/.
  3. Watkins-Hayes, Celeste. Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality. Univ of California Press, 2019. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://books.google.com/books?id=hfabDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=patricia+nalls&source=bl&ots=nVrxFx2woQ&sig=ACfU3U0StE3a-K93OTh6Qp_pqZr59Uz-uw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUpoOT_YSEAxVbkYkEHZSgClI4PBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=patricia%20nalls&f=false.
  4. “About Us | The Women’s Collective.” Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.womenscollective.org/about-us/.
  5. Howard University Telehealth Training Center. HIV and Gender Based Violence Part II. Accessed February 1, 2024. https://www.huttc.org/on-the-go/39-gender-2/index.php.
  6. Ruane, Kate. “Women’s Leadership and Lesbian Activists’ Impact in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS in DC.” Tagg Magazine (blog), May 7, 2018. Accessed February 1, 2024. https://taggmagazine.com/rhp-lesbian-activist-hiv-aids-panel/.
  7. “About Us | The Women’s Collective.” Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.womenscollective.org/about-us/.
  8. Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon. “Womens Collective, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. Accessed January 30, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/521929922/202323199349310442/full.
  9. “TAGGS Site Search | HHS TAGGS.” Accessed February 1, 2024. https://taggs.hhs.gov/SearchSite.
  10. Grantmakers.io. “Grantmakers.Io – A Community Project.” Accessed February 1, 2024. https://www.grantmakers.io/.
  11. “The Womens Collective | Washington, DC | Cause IQ.” Accessed January 30, 2024. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/the-womens-collective,521929922/.
  12. Watkins-Hayes, Celeste. Remaking a Life: How Women Living with HIV/AIDS Confront Inequality. Univ of California Press, 2019. Accessed February 2, 2024. https://books.google.com/books?id=hfabDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=patricia+nalls&source=bl&ots=nVrxFx2woQ&sig=ACfU3U0StE3a-K93OTh6Qp_pqZr59Uz-uw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiUpoOT_YSEAxVbkYkEHZSgClI4PBDoAXoECAIQAw#v=onepage&q=patricia%20nalls&f=false.
  13. Google Scholar. Patricia Nalls. Accessed January 31, 2024. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C46&q=Patricia+Nalls&btnG=
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Nonprofit Information

  • Accounting Period: December - November
  • Tax Exemption Received: August 1, 1995

    • Available Filings

    Period Form Type Total revenue Total functional expenses Total assets (EOY) Total liabilities (EOY) Unrelated business income? Total contributions Program service revenue Investment income Comp. of current officers, directors, etc. Form 990
    2021 Dec Form 990 $1,371,002 $951,970 $1,490,785 $42,838 N $1,050,483 $308,146 $0 $128,742
    2020 Dec Form 990 $1,184,668 $1,033,141 $1,189,933 $161,018 N $846,058 $333,931 $0 $125,671
    2019 Dec Form 990 $1,264,548 $977,638 $887,115 $9,727 N $891,150 $361,847 $0 $118,018 PDF
    2018 Dec Form 990 $945,274 $993,573 $605,547 $15,069 N $668,339 $276,935 $0 $115,328 PDF
    2017 Dec Form 990 $1,196,602 $1,218,329 $649,674 $10,897 N $1,167,722 $28,725 $0 $114,727 PDF
    2016 Dec Form 990 $1,487,814 $1,426,378 $706,889 $46,385 N $1,484,514 $3,300 $0 $123,261 PDF
    2015 Dec Form 990 $1,375,402 $1,468,468 $627,137 $28,069 N $1,371,426 $3,312 $101 $120,288 PDF
    2014 Dec Form 990 $1,083,471 $1,417,396 $714,280 $22,146 N $1,082,380 $0 $242 $120,140 PDF
    2013 Dec Form 990 $1,053,908 $1,486,900 $1,057,916 $31,857 N $968,836 $79,261 $424 $121,304 PDF
    2012 Dec Form 990 $1,512,790 $1,675,663 $1,532,602 $73,510 N $1,431,118 $68,944 $1,234 $119,205 PDF
    2011 Dec Form 990 $1,048,968 $1,529,600 $1,667,405 $45,437 N $915,793 $128,173 $3,072 $113,373 PDF

    Additional Filings (PDFs)

    The Women’s Collective


    Washington, DC