Goren recently made the leap from head of the public-private partnership Corporation for National and Community Service to the Washington Area Women's Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of women in the capital region.

Why did you make the move?

I had been in the federal government for many years, most recently leading the Corporation for National and Community Service supporting nonprofits. I made the change to be working more closely with my own community. I've lived in Washington for a long time, I brought up my children here, and [it] seemed fitting to join an organization with issues in my backyard.

Will you be bringing any changes to the foundation?

Right now I'm learning about the organization and its partners. Over the next six to nine months I'll be looking at the goals we want to achieve and how we can strategically work toward them. I'll be asking a lot of questions.

What issues do women face in Washington?

Recently released data shows that single-women-headed households are the most likely to be living in poverty in the region. Child care expenses are enormous and an impediment to single women with children getting into the work force. The cost of living is 30 percent of income, and with child care that increases to 50 percent. There's not that much left to live on after that.

What can be done?

We need to provide better job skills training and find ways to reduce the cost of child care while maintaining quality. We need to focus more on our Stepping Stones program.

What's that?

Stepping Stones is a major focus of our grants and programming work. It focuses on raising the economic stability of single-women-headed households through financial education and job skills training. - Freeman Klopott