Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy                 June/July 2016
May 21, 2016 - Impact 100 RC's First Grant Awarded!

Members listen intently to presentations from Face to Face, SAY and VOICES

Counting the Votes

Our 3 wonderful finalists await the results with smiles on their faces

And the Winner is....VOICES! Winner
 

Impact 100 Redwood Circle has awarded its first $100,000 grant to VOICES, an innovative nonprofit that provides youth with the resources they need to make the leap from foster care to successful, independent adulthood. 
 
Grant Committee members with the winners
 
More than 100 members attended our May 21 meeting to hear presentations from the 3 nonprofit grant finalists, including Social Advocates for Youth and Face 2 Face.

VOICES will use the funds to develop and implement a Foster Youth Navigation (YEN) Program, which is aimed at increasing the percentage of foster youth successfully matriculating through college. YEN was proposed by a cohort of previous foster youth and will be led by a youth expert to address the emotional and developmental needs of those in the program. The end goal is to boost 40 participant's confidence and ability to attend and graduate from college thereby increasing their chance of living healthy, successful lives.
 
VOICES representatives Amber Twitchell and Mitch Findley, himself a former foster youth, made the winning presentation. "I've never felt this humbled," said Twitchell. "To be chosen in the company of two such dynamic competitors is just amazing. It is so heart-warming to know that the women of Impact 100 believe in our program and are able to make such an important investment in the lives of our foster kids.

In This Issue
See our Grant Award
Announcement:
-------------------------------------
  * Sunday, June 5 - Press Democrat
* Tues, June 7 - Sonoma Index Tribune
* Thurs, June 9 - Petaluma Argus Courier
* Monday, June 13 - North Bay Business Journal
* Online at the PD 

MembershipUpcoming Events
Save the Date!
 *  Thursday, Nov. 2nd
        5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Impact 100 Nonprofit Showcase
Details Coming Soon!


President's Message
May 21 was an auspicious date in the short history of Impact 100 Redwood Circle, as we awarded our first ever $100,000 Impact Grant! We are thrilled that the local nonprofit VOICES will benefit from this support. You can read all about the event and our award recipient elsewhere in this newsletter.
 
In my opening comments, I emphasized that the phenomenal success Impact 100 RC experienced in its "pioneer year" is entirely because of you. You believed in this concept and sent in your membership check; you joined a committee and read grants, or hosted house parties, or helped organize events; you reached out to your friends and invited them to become members, as well.
 
All of these efforts together - no matter how big or small - brought us to where we are today: 156 women strong, comprising 142 memberships!
 
As we embark upon our second year, I invite you to explore how you would like your Impact 100 experience to grow. Members who participate in committees universally report how gratifying it is to work with other talented, bright fellow members. 

I personally have had the privilege of working with the Leadership Team, and I sincerely thank these women for helping me launch Impact 100 RC: Jan Gilman, Vicki Groninga, Gayle Holste, Jan Houts, Suzy Marzalek, Carol Newman, Carol Orme, Sharon Robison, Cindy Schmidt and Toni Wilkes. 
 
Committees will be forming over the summer, so please be sure to email our Leadership Team if you would like to become involved with the Grants (Impact Grant or Community Grants), Membership, Marketing, or Education & Events Committee. And don't forget to renew your membership so we know we can count on your support in the coming year.   Thank you for joining me as we transform Sonoma County through our collective philanthropy!
 
Melissa
Contract signing at VOICES
Grants:  Introducing the Liaison Committee
This committee was created to form a bridge between Impact 100 and the winner of our Impact grant. We will be partnering with our winner, VOICES, to support them in their Youth Education Navigator Program (YEN).
 
As they get organized for YEN, we will let our membership know if there is anything we can provide them to help them succeed. For example, other Impact 100 groups have been asked for volunteers to assist with some portion of the agency's program.
 
The Liasion committee is also dedicated to elevating our winning agency's visibility in the community. We will do our best to make sure that the greater community is aware of the good work accomplished by VOICES.  Of course, one way to do that is to increase our own visibility by adding new members. We will be sure that our logo is associated with the VOICES'  grant and their logo is displayed on our web site. In that way we will mutually be helping each other.  As a beginning step towards this goal, we are thrilled that the video department at SRJC has offered to expand their wonderful work with us by creating a video narrative of the first year for our grant recipient.
 
We want to keep our Membership fully informed about our connection with VOICES and their anticipated success. Please look for ongoing articles in the newsletter and on the website.

Finally, a BIG thank you to members of the 2015/16 Grant Committee:  Carol Lynn Wood, Laurie Parish, Barbara Ramsey, Vicki Groninga, Karen Thompson, Jenny Downey, Suzy Marzelak, Dorothy Weicker, Maria Pappas, Barbara Hopp, Sharon Beckman, Thea Hensel, Sarah Laggos and Laurel Greenfield.   Adjunct Members: Gayle Holste, Cindy Schmidt, Carol Newman, Chris Chang-Weeks.
Your Co-chairs:  Carol Orme and Jan Gilman
Membership Update
We are happy to report that our member recruitment for Impact 100 RC's inaugural year has been an overwhelming success. The Membership Committee is grateful to everyone who has recommended interested women. Our membership totals 157 as of this writing. Please continue to spread the word.
 
A big thank you to Jan Gilman for hosting a May house party. We welcomed two new members, Marie Mitchell and Louise Packard. All other guests picked up registration forms to complete at home.
 
Thanks to our members who have already renewed for 2016/2017. If you joined us between January and June of 2015, please consider renewing your membership today. Those of you have not already done so can easily renew by visiting our website. Go to the "Join Us" section and click on "Become a Member". There you will find links to forms for either Individual or Dyad membership. Please read and fill out the form completely. You can either pay by check or credit card. You can also make installment payments. You will need to print the form, fill it out and send it to the Foundation whether you are paying by check or credit card.
 
If you have not already done so, would you please visit the Members Only area on the website and fill out the Member Survey. We truly do want to get to know you better, and this is one of our only ways to accomplish that goal.
 
Finally, a special thanks to our Membership Committee members Maureen Feldman, Judy Farrell, Carol Keiner, Susan Milstein, Carol Newman, Laura Robertson, and Sudha Schlesinger without whom our accomplishments would not have been so grand or fun!  If you are interested in joining the Membership team, please contact your co-chairs: either Toni Wilkes or Cindy Schmidt -- the more the merrier! 
Events & Education - What a Celebration!
While awaiting the grant announcement, Impact100 RWC members enjoyed a bountiful buffet of appetizers, and sparkling wine was poured by two of the E&E committee spouses. The dining hall was creatively decorated-particularly the flowers that were donated and arranged by the E&E committee members.

During its first year of event planning, the 14-member committee produced five completely different events and met its goal of affordable, high-quality and member-engaged meetings with an eye toward a low impact on the environment.  A big thanks to the E&E team: 
Debra Marzak, Ellen Wear, Laurie Parish, Liz Bortolotto, Janie Herring, MK Hicks, Esther Rich, Pat Clothier, Linda Higueras, Pam Kerr, Sudha Schlesinger and Shirley Anderson.   Your Co-chairs:  Gayle Holste and Sharon Robison 
Thanks to our Sponsors!
The Marketing Committee extends its humble appreciation for the generosity of sponsor and in-kind support during our pioneer year.

We couldn't have done it without you:  
A La Heart Catering;  Breathless Wines;  Chateau St. Jean Winery;  
Chevron; Lenore & Howard Klein Foundation;  GE Foundation;  
GW Randall & Associates;  KR Catering;  KingSingsPR;  Moxie Salon;  Oliver's Markets; 
PTE Lighting;  Party Tents & Events;  Scottish Rite & Masonic Center;  Santa Rosa Junior College Digital Media Program;  Stockham Construction; Western Tree Removal and Williams Selyem Winery. 
 
To get more information on our wonderful sponsors, along with links to their websites, click here.  Also, a big thank you to the members of our 2015/16 Marketing Committee:  Gayle Holste (Chair), Jan Houts, Vicki Groninga, MK Hicks, Melissa Kelley, Helga Lemke & Sudha Schlesinger. 
We need YOU to get involved!
As our 2015-16 inaugral year wraps up, we need to keep in mind that this is an ALL VOLUNTEER organization.  Many members have given generously of their time and talents to make Impact100 RWC a success.

Our committees are always looking for a few more good women. If everyone does just a little bit, together we can accomplish great things.