We invite you to explore our site and discover resources, information, and community that might be meaningful to you. It is our hope that you will be drawn by the uniqueness of the work we do and the people we gather together.

Who we are

The Women's Building is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-service center for women and girls. Our mission is to provide women and girls with the tools and resources they need to achieve full and equal participation in society. Our vision is to create access and advancement for women and girls. We seek to equip and encourage them to be equal participants in society through collaboration and empowerment. We do this in a setting where diversity is cultivated and celebrated.

How we began

The origins of The Women's Building can be traced back to 1971 when a group of visionary women founded San Francisco Women's Centers (SFWC) to incubate emerging Bay Area women's projects. The first offices, on Brady Street, soon grew too small for the volume of work that we took on, like publishing a newsletter, staffing a community switchboard, and organizing activist groups. So in 1979, SFWC purchased Dovre Hall, a former Sons of Norway meeting hall and neighborhood bar, and transformed it into the first woman-owned and operated community center in the country. We are proud of our history, the stories that both the women and the structure of the building tell.

The Women's Building History Project documents the oral histories of the women who founded The Women's Building. A dramatic theater production, "She Rises Like A Building To The Sky," based on these oral histories, recently premiered in Arizona and San Francisco. An accurate, well-documented, properly archived history can be a valuable tool for other communities and future generations. Our archives are kept at the Gay and Lesbian History Society and are available for perusal. For more information on The History Project, please contact Susan Pedrick at susan@womensbuilding.org or (415) 431-1180 ext. 14.