Learn How Collective Action Impacts Social Capital by Meg Seitz
It's often said, "It's not what you know, but who you know". Personal relationships and networks provide opportunities. That is social capital.
Social capital is the overarching theme for our education programs this year.
In her opening remarks during this year's Women & Wisdom event, President Arrington Mixon recounted a close-to-home story of how the Women's Impact Fund - our grant thinking and our impact - has been a part of the impact of social impact.
A Leap of Faith & A Vision Realized: How ourBRIDGE for KIDS is Making a Difference
by Meg Seitz
It all started with a leap of faith and a vision.
A big vision, at that - to provide immigrant children in Charlotte a place to go after school where their heritage would be honored and their parents would know they were safe.
Today, ourBRIDGE for KIDS is a touchstone for the immigrant community of Charlotte, offering academic support and intercultural awareness in a space that focuses on the social-emotional needs of children. Read more...
GRANTS TEAM
by Anna McClelland, Grants Chair 2018-2019
Regardless of how long you've been a member of Women's Impact Fund, this time of year is always filled with nail-biting excitement! On March 7th, your Grants Team selected the top ten finalists that will be taken to membership for a vote in April.
In 2012, Women's Impact Fund made a $52,600 two year grant to Carolina Thread Trail. The purpose of the grant was to fund two Trail Master training programs to add 32 new trail maintenance and building experts to lead volunteer workdays, to support the volunteer outreach coordinator and to improve communications about the Thread Trail and volunteer access with a new website.
At the end of the grant 45 Trail Masters were actually trained and 750 volunteers engaged. Forty volunteer workdays were held resulting in 10.5 miles of the Thread Trail being built and maintained by volunteers.
The new website became a vital part of The Thread's marketing and social media connection to the public and volunteers. It also allowed for a new interactive online map to be utilized region-wide.
Carolina Thread Trail reported that our grant brought a new level of prestige and respect to the organization that it was able to leverage into new partnerships and grants.
Giving through Leadership
By Jayna Altman and Lisa Miller
One of the key tenants of Women's Impact Fund (WIF) is to build leadership and develop our community through service. As such, serving on a non-profit board is an excellent opportunity to meet the community needs while developing our members' leadership potential.
To meet the need and encourage members, WIF developed the Nonprofit Board Leadership Program in conjunction with the Lee Institute.
We have two outstanding leaders to recognize this month.
Toni Freeman and Ann Caulkins.
Ann Caulkins has been named Senior Vice President of Novant Health and President of the Novant Health Foundation. Ann is responsible for designing and implementing the Foundation's philanthropy across all of Novant Health's markets as she also works to increase the profile of the foundation within the communities Novant Health serves. Ann served for the past 12 years as president and publisher of The Charlotte Observer. She has been a true leader in the community. In addition to her Women's Impact Fund membership, Ann currently serves on the boards of CrossRoads Charlotte, The Fletcher School and the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library Foundation. She is a member of the International Women's Forum, Women Executives and the National Association of Corporate Directors.
WIF Board of Advisors member Toni Freeman will be honored by Leadership Charlotte with the Schley R. Lyons Circle of Excellence Award on May 7. The award is given annually to a Leadership Charlotte alum (Toni is class of 2016) who has demonstrated outstanding leadership qualities. A past WIF board chairperson, Toni recently moderated the panel for WIF Women & Wisdom. She is currently Executive Vice President of the Arts & Sciences Council. The Leadership Charlotte breakfast event is 8:00 a.m. May 7 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
We Want to Know More About You!
The website and member portal is your one stop shop for events registration, dues payments, and profile information. Your profile is important to us because it will be the primary source of contact for you. If you have not yet logged in updated your profile, please do so today!
For those of you who have not yet had the opportunity to update your profile, please do the following:
Log into our website: http://womensimpactfund.org and click on the Member Login tab at the top right of the screen.
In the top bar, click on Member Profile.
Your user name is your email address and the initial password is password1. Once you log in, please change your password.
The member profile should only take a few minutes to complete -- but the information you share will be invaluable to us. We look forward to hearing from you!
The Women's Impact Fund Development Committee has organized the "Beyond the Dollars: Women as Philanthropic Influencers Event" with the Foundation For The Carolinas. Women's Impact Fund members are invited to a breakfast discussion.
The mission of Women's Impact Fund is to strengthen communities by maximizing women's leadership in philanthropy through collective giving, education and engagement.
