Young Women’s Christian Association

The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland, and the nonprofit is headquartered in Washington, DC. The YWCA is independent of the YMCA, but a few local YMCA and YWCA associations have merged into YM/YWCAs or YMCA-YWCAs and belong to both organizations, while providing the programs from each. Governance Structure The World Board is the governing body of the World YWCA, and includes representatives from all regions of the global YWCA movement. The World Council is the legislative authority and governing body of the World YWCA. The 20 women who serve on the World Board are elected during the World Council, which meets every four years to make decisions that impact the entire movement. This includes the World YWCA's policy, constitution, strategic direction, and budgets. The Council includes representatives from the 100+ member associations that are affiliated with the global YWCA movement.