A Cornerstone of the Community

During Palo Alto's formative years, the Club was the women's arm of local government and school affairs at a time when women were ineligible to vote or hold political offices.

Uniting people and place, the Woman's Club of Palo Alto builds on a proud history of public engagement. Our members apply themselves in creative and philanthropic ways to accomplish great things both in the local community and within the club.

The Woman's Club of Palo Alto is a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs as well as the California Federation of Women's Clubs.  We have the largest number of members of any women’s club in California.  

Woman's Club or Women's Club?

The official name of the club is the Woman's Club of Palo Alto, not the Women's Club of Palo Alto or Palo Alto Women's Club (despite the sign at our venue) 

By using the original name, the Woman's Club of Palo Alto, we strive to honor our historic roots and express gratitude for the intense activism of our early members.

The Woman’s Club of Palo Alto originated in the 19th century during the Woman’s Suffrage movement and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement. Alice Park, an active club member, worked hard for women’s rights locally and abroad and Emily Pardee Karns Dixon, twice president of the Woman's Club of Palo Alto, led the successful local drive for California women’s voting rights in 1911.

Philanthropy

Each year, the Woman’s Club of Palo Alto selects 4-6 nonprofit organizations in the local community for grant awards.

Grants Recipients

Community Outreach to Local Nonprofits

Club members collect food, clothing, and other provisions, and volunteer at many local nonprofit organizations in the community.

Abundant Grace Coastside Worker.
Adopt-a-Teacher
All Five Preschool
Alta Housing
Beechwood School
Boys and Girls Clubs
Buena Vista Mobile Home Park

Catholic Worker House
Coastside Hope
Community Service Agency
Creative Montessori School
City of Palo Alto Police & Fire Depts
Day Worker Center
Downtown Streets Team Food Closet

Ecumenical Hunger Program
EPACenter
Fair Oaks Community Center
Family Connections
Family Giving Tree
Haven Family House
The Hub Aged-Out Foster Kids

Jewish Family & Children’s Services
Learning Home Volunteers
Life Moves-Redwood City & Mountain View
Lytton Gardens
Move Mountain View
Nuestra Casa
One Life Counseling Center

Palo Alto Veterans Medical Programs
Parisi House
Peninsula Healthcare Connection
Ravenswood and Redwood City District Schools/Libraries
Ravenswood Family Health Clinic
Survivors of Domestic Violence
St Anthony’s of Padua

St Elizabeth Seton School
St Francis Center
Santa Clara Juvenile Probation Department
Survivors of Domestic Violence
Ten Books-A-Home
The Opportunity Center
WeHOPE programs