WOMEN TRANSFORMING SONOMA COUNTY THROUGH COLLECTIVE PHILANTHROPY | MAY 2022 | ISSUE 56 |
|
2022 Impact Grant Nominations Open May 16 |
|
|
Watch your Inbox for the invitation to submit your nomination for our $100,000 Impact Grant. Nominations will be accepted from Monday, May 16th to Friday, June 3rd.
What makes a strong nomination? Selecting an organization that can WIN requires careful vetting. Please make sure your nominee meets our eligibility requirements and would like to be considered for our Impact Grant. Your nominee's strengths should include:
- Excellent track record
- Strong leadership
- Sound financials
- Well-developed strategic planning
- Long-term vision and local perspectives
- Capacity to implement a $100,000 grant
Please remember that our last three Impact Grantees may not be nominated: The LIME Foundation, 4 Cs Sonoma County, and Forget Me Not Farm. More details and guidelines will be included in your Nomination Invitation.
|
|
Annual Community Grant Awards Celebration |
|
|
We’re looking forward to seeing all of you on May 19th for our Member Meeting. Registration for the In-Person Meeting is now closed, but there is still time to register for the ZOOM meeting. The ZOOM registration link can be found on our website, We will cross the $1 Million threshold in total grants awarded with the 2022 Community Grants. What a remarkable achievement for us to celebrate at the Meeting!
Certain COVID-19 precautions are still in effect, though we continue to monitor regulations and policies. In the meantime, please note the following:
- Pre-registration for the event is a must. At this time, only the ZOOM Meeting is open for Registration. Please check the website to register.
- All attendees must be fully vaccinated, and must complete a vaccine self-certification form prior to the meeting. Forms were emailed to all members, and there is also a link to self-certify on the website.
- Masks must be worn indoors until further notice.
Hope to see you on May 19th to celebrate our $1 Million+ milestone in collective giving!
|
|
Thank you to the 137 Impact 100 Redwood Circle members (55%) who completed our “Getting to Know You” survey! The information we collected is invaluable to help us better understand you as members, serve your needs, and match backgrounds/interests with volunteer opportunities as desired. Click here for a summary of the results.
We acknowledge that technology glitches prevented some members from being able to submit their responses to the survey. If you are one of these members, please reach out to Eloise Tweeten, VP Nominating, who will be happy to gather this information from you individually. Click here to email Eloise or call her at 707.484.8818.
|
|
Petaluma - Cocktails & Conversation |
|
|
Save the early evening of July 13 for our first C&C in Petaluma in several years.
We currently have 16 members who reside in Petaluma but know there are more out there who’d be interested in joining. Start inviting your friends!
|
|
Exciting New Membership Programs |
|
|
Employer Sponsorship Program - We are reaching out to banks, accounting firms, law offices, insurance companies, etc. in Sonoma County to introduce them to Impact 100 Redwood Circle’s new Employer Sponsorship Program. This program offers excellent opportunities for NextGen women to learn about philanthropy, network with women of considerable experience, and meet other professionals their age. Please email Sarah Dove with your contacts at local organizations who should know about this program and for more information.
Speakers Bureau - Our bureau of founding members is available to present locally to spread awareness of who we are and the impact we continue to make in Sonoma County. To which organizations do you belong? Do you feature speakers at your meetings? We can offer a 20-minute presentation (plus Q&A) tailored to your membership interests. Please email recommendations to Kim McEachron.
|
|
Santa Rosa - Cocktails & Conversation |
|
|
Watch your email for upcoming details about our next C&C in the garden of one of our Santa Rosa members. Be thinking about guests to invite to introduce them to Impact 100 Redwood Circle.
|
|
Impact 100 Redwood Circle is thrilled to announce the 2022 Community Grants recipients. Ten highly deserving local nonprofits will be receiving $10,000 grants. As in previous years, Community Grants will be awarded to nonprofits in our four focus areas.
ARTS & CULTURE
6TH STREET PLAYHOUSE: Funding a new outdoor performance venue to serve additional patrons year round.
BECOMING INDEPENDENT: Funding to purchase instruments and equipment for music academy.
SANTA ROSA SYMPHONY ASSOCIATION: Support for the Simply Strings music program for students, grades 2-8, attending Roseland Public Schools.
EDUCATION
CORAZON HEALDSBURG: Funding for the FirstGen college counseling program empowering academically promising students from Healdsburg High School to attend a four-year college.
ELSIE ALLEN HIGH SCHOOL FOUNDATION: Funding to improve music education opportunities through the purchase of new marching band uniforms.
ENVIRONMENT
CIRCUIT RIDER COMMUNITY SERVICES: Funding to purchase a 525-gallon water trailer with pump for fire rehabilitation and prevention work.
SONOMA COUNTY REGIONAL PARKS FOUNDATION: Support for YES! River outdoor education program serving Russian River area teens.
HEALTH AND COMMUNITY BETTERMENT
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Funding for the Full Belly Program providing nutritional services to pregnant women who are low-income and food-insecure.
SECURE FAMILIES COLLABORATIVE: Funding to cover legal filing fees for Sonoma County immigrant families.
SONOMA FAMILY MEAL: Funding to support a pilot culinary job training program for Sonoma County’s underserved.
A big thank you to the members of the 2022 Community Grants Committee:
Dianne Brinson, Lorraine Collins, Kathy Crowley, Lynn Davis, Jeannine Drew, Jody Edwards, Kathleen Fischer, Linda Frank, Jennifer Girvin, Barbara Ihde, Debra Marzak, Carol Newman, Susan Noble, Staci Pastis, Gail Perry, Stephanie Poley, Colleen Pundyk, Nancy Tealdi, Suzanne Tucker, Dorothy Weicker, Marion Weinreb, Sharon Yacura, Christy Yaeger, and Carol Yashar.
|
|
Liaison Committee Report - The LIME Foundation |
|
|
 |
The Liaison Committee met via Zoom on April 21st with Letitia Hanke founder and executive director of the LIME Foundation, and Star Brumfield, director of development, for our second update on their use of our 2021 $100,000 Impact Grant to expand their NextGen Trades Academy.
(The NextGen Trades Academy provides free vocational training in the construction and agricultural trades and professional development coaching for Sonoma County youths ages 16-24.)
The LIME Foundation has made good progress this year in working toward the goals it delineated in the grant proposal submitted to us last year. The foundation aims to add two Trade Academy cohorts per year, increasing enrollment in the program by 60 students to serve a total of 240 students in 2022 and 2023. This would expand the program’s capacity by 33 percent over the two-year period.
The foundation’s report to the Liaison Committee included the following announcements.
28 young men and women participated in the January and March academies, both of which were conducted online. The January academy had 14 enrollees (four young women; ten young men) and the March academy also had 14 enrollees (13 young men and one young woman). Students who have completed all requirements for graduation are now in the process of interviewing for jobs and securing employment.
Seven Rancho Cotate High School students are currently enrolled in an all-female intensive training that started February and is still underway. Part of that group’s in-person training had to be postponed due to the pandemic. The young women in that cohort designed and built a farm stand to distribute organic produce grown by fellow Rancho Cotate students. The team of seven entered their completed farm stand in the 2022 Design Build Competition, sponsored by the Construction Industry Education Foundation.
Six additional trade academy sessions will be held between May and December. The May academy will be conducted in person. The August cohort will comprise all-female students and all-female trade instructors.
The NextGen Trade Academy helps disconnected youths find pathways to good jobs that pay wages ranging from $17 to $24 per hour. Academy graduates in turn help fill the growing demand for construction labor in Sonoma County as we rebuild in the wake of several years of destructive wildfires.
NextGen Trade Academy participants are 53 percent Latino, 29 percent white, 6 percent Black, and 6 percent multiracial. About 87 percent are from low-to-moderate socio-economic households. Out of 23 industrial and agricultural trades, the participants’ top four interests are: carpentry, electrical, solar, and real estate. After completing the academy, program graduates are tracked for 18 additional months to provide ongoing support in job placement and skill development.
|
|
|
|
The Design Build Competition |
|
|
Sponsored by the Construction Industry Education Foundation, The LIME Foundation's NextGen Trades Academy entered an all female cohort from Rancho Cotate High School. This team of seven entered their completed farm stand.
|
|
|
Beyond the Check - The LIME Foundation |
|
|
Our 2021 Impact Grant winner, The LIME Foundation, invites our members to attend and volunteer at its Believe in the Dream Gala to be held on Thursday, September 8, 2022, at the Luther Burbank Center, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa. For more information, visit www.limebelieve.com If you’d like to volunteer, please email The LIME Foundation’s director of development, Star Brumfield.
The LIME Foundation also invites our members to attend and volunteer at its NextGen Trade Academy’s graduation ceremony, which will be held outdoors on July 16th at SOMO Village. If you are interested in volunteering at the graduation ceremony, please click here to email or call 707-532-5463.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
