Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy - March 2019   


President's Message
 
We Are Not Alone 
 
Did you know that Impact 100 is an international organization? You may be aware of Impact 100 Sonoma. They helped us by sharing lots of good information to help get us through our first Impact Grant season. As our older "sisters," they have been generous with their time and have provided help when we are uncertain about the next steps in our development.
 
Perhaps you didn't know that all together Impact 100 has 53 established chapters and 8 more currently in development. There are 4 chapters in Australia and 1 in Tasmania! In fact, Impact 100 has collectively given out a total of $55 million since its establishment in 2002.
 
Some chapters, like Pensacola FL, are very large with over 1,100 members. Palm Beach, FL has over 500 members, with Cincinnati close behind at 400 members.
 
All Impact chapters share the same mission and goals, but we do things uniquely. For example, our chapter is one of a very few that has a Community Grants program. Some chapters have a membership drive the first 3 months each year with all members on the same annual calendar.  Several chapters are instituting a First Gen program for young women.
 
Impact 100 has a very short history for so much good work. Wendy Steele created the concept and founded the first chapter in 2002. She was the winner of the Jefferson award for her work in 2014. Wendy currently lives in Michigan and she, her husband and their five children are active volunteers.
 
Impact 100 is planning the first (to my knowledge) global conference in Pensacola, FL from October 27-29. It will provide an opportunity to develop friendships, share best practices and learn tips for success.
 
If you are interested in learning more, click here: Impact100council.org. There are some wonderful success stories that should make all of us proud to be members of Impact100 Redwood Circle.
 
Jan Gilman
President, Impact 100 Redwood Circle
Need Help Finding a Non-Profit to Nominate?
   
The Education Committee wants to remind Impact 100 RC members that a Non-profit Resource List and Grant Eligibility Information are available on our website.  These tools are helpful in selecting a non-profit to nominate. 
In This Issue
 Upcoming Events
NEW! Member Education Session  
Thursday, May 2nd 
4:00 - 5:30 p.m. 
Yulupa Co-Housing
Topic: The Environment 

Membership Meeting  
Monday, June 24
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Scottish Rite Center
600 Acacia Lane
Santa Rosa  
 
Summer Social 
Saturday, August 24
Start time: 9:30 a.m. 
Great Blue Heron Hall of the Laguna de Santa Rosa
900 Sanford Road, Santa Rosa
 
Note: Kevin Munroe, the Executive Director of the Laguna Foundation will be speaking to the group.   
 

Welcome to the newest members of our circle! 
 
Sara Geber
Katie Kinzel
Sarah Quinto
Corrine Byrd
Madi Mount
Bruni Thylin
JeanE Polley
 
Several Non Profit Organizations Benefit from Community Grants 
 
This year, Impact 100 RC will be awarding five $10,000 community grants. This is a laudable achievement, notably since the Community Grants are in addition to the $100,000 Impact Grant that we will be awarding in the fall. The full membership will be selecting the five community organizations during the voting window of April 26 to May 10.  Mark your calendar for June 24 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at the Scottish Rite Temple to come celebrate the winning grantees for 2019, and hear reports from last year's grant recipients. 
 
Meanwhile, behind the scene, the Community Grant Committee (CGC) has been busy laying the groundwork for selecting the top-ten finalists from whom the membership will select the winning five grantees. Of the 35 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) invited to submit an application, 28 submitted proposals on time. The vetting team determined if the submitted proposals met the guidelines. In order to reduce bias, and place more focus on the program and community need that it addresses, the Community Grant Committee will be field-testing a new process. CGC members will read applications with the names and addresses redacted.

Below are the names of the nonprofit organizations that were nominated. Organizations with an asterisk have submitted an application:
 
ACR (Audubon Canyon Ranch)*
The Bird Rescue*
Brush Creek Montessori School*
Cinnabar Theater*
Compassion without Borders
Conservation Action Fund for Education*
Conservation Corps North Bay*
Corazon Healdsburg*
Free to Be*
The Friends of the Petaluma River
Green Music Center*
Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation
Land Paths*
Legal Aid of Sonoma County*
Lifeworks of Sonoma County*
The Lime Foundation*
Literacy Works Center
The Living Room*
Lomi School Foundation and Psych*
Luther Burbank Center for the Arts*
NAMI Sonoma County*
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center
PAWS as Loving Support Assistance Dogs*
PDI Surgery*
Point Blue Conservative Science
Rebuilding Together Petaluma*
Redwood Empire Food Bank*
Russian RiverKeeper*
Sebastopol Area Senior Center*
Shakti Rising*
Sonoma County Chapter Girls on the Run*
Sonoma County Philharmonic*
Weaving Earth
Welfare League*
Women's Recovery Services*
 
 
Chris Chang Weeks & Carol Newman, Co-Chairs 
2019 Impact Grant
Nominations Are Due April 15th 
 
You all should have received an email from the Impact Grant Committee inviting you to nominate a non-profit for the $100,000 Impact Grant (nominations are due to us by April 15th).  We hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity to consider the many non-profits in our communit y doing very impactful work.  They must be nominated in order to apply for our grant, so we're hoping for a good representation. Stay tuned for further updates from the Impact Grant Committee as we work over the upcoming months to eventually bring you three finalists for your vote in November (make your calendars now for the Annual Meeting on November 9th).  If you have any questions or suggestions, don't hesitate to contact the Committee co-chairs Vicki Groninga  - vickigroninga@sonic.net or
Suzy Marzalek -
suzymarz@gmail.com .
 
We also want to thank Marianne Messer for her amazing work as Committee co-chair over the past two years.  Marianne is relocating to Newcastle, CA, and we wish her a wonderful next life chapter!  Marianne has volunteered to stay involved with the Committee from afar, and we are grateful that we'll be able to stay connected. 
 
Suzy Marzalek & Vicki Groninga, Co-Chairs 
   
Progress Report from Catholic Charities

Last November, Impact 100 Redwood Circle awarded our $100,000 impact grant to Catholic Charities to support their work providing emergency services for homeless children. The program will link every child with individual supported services to reduce the traumatic impacts of homelessness and provide families with emergency child-care resources to further support families in their search for permanent housing.
 
Catholic Charities hired dynamic and passionate Toni Abraham to serve as the Children's Resource Manager. Since beginning her work in January, Toni has alrea dy established trusting relationships with families in need in order to best understand their needs, advocate on behalf of them and support their search for stable housing and child-care. Her early work has also involved developing and implementing a child assessment tool and data collection tools. Protocols and procedures are being developed for compliance reporting, and resource allocation. The program is off to a great start.  
 
Stay tuned stories about the families served through the Impact grant and for opportunities to tour Catholic Charities' Family Resource Center and learn more about their work to stabilize homeless families.
 
Kristen Nelson & Carol Lynn Wood,  Co-Chairs 
Education Committee
Member Feedback from Feb. General Meeting  
Although we all come with different viewpoints, experiences and passions, we found common ground in our understanding of giving.   The first step in this process is identifying critical needs in our community
 
To that end, members shared a robust discussion by identifying these needs at the February general meeting. They fell within the five service categories identified by Impact 100 Redwood Circle at its inception. While human services have some of the most robust needs in the community, the environment, education, arts and health are critical to the well-being of all community members. Discussion revolved around such important issues as climate change, Russian River vulnerability, access to healthcare for adults and children, particularly mental health and substance abuse issues.
 
Young people are the cornerstone of our community and support for pre-school access, ESL opportunities and vocational skills in preparation for the jobs of the future are vital. A frequently overlooked issue is the arts for young people, a point which was brought up in many of the discussions.
 
Common agreement persisted concerning affordable housing, vulnerable populations, diversity and disaster relief. While impact has little to no effect on the economy or infrastructure these issues are recognized as components of our community health.
 
While the tasks seem daunting, we can all recognize that our effective philanthropy is making contributions to many of these issues each year. Members made suggestions for future programming to be followed-up by Impact 100 RC committees.

NEW! Education Sessions for Impact 100 RC members      
As a result of the feedback we obtained from members, the education committee is arranging five education sessions based on the five categories our Impact Grant's support: arts & culture, environment, health, education and human services. The first session will be held on Thursday, May 2, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. at Yulupa Co-Housing. The subject will be the environment, with speaker Karen Gaffney, Conservation Planning Program Manager for the The Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.
 
Stay tuned for more information on this and other upcoming education sessions! 
 
Thea Hensel & Laurie Parish, Co-Chairs 
 
Contact our Newsletter Editor:
If you have questions or suggestions for The Impact 100 Redwood Circle Communique, please contact Editor, Jan Houts at impact100newsletter@gmail.com