The Women's Fund Celebrates over $2 million Invested in Local Women & Girls
On Wednesday, November 16, The Women’s Fund of Winston-Salem held its 17th annual luncheon celebration at the Benton Convention Center themed - Reemerge. Recommit. Reimagine. - a theme inspired by the resilience and dedication of our community during what has been an extremely difficult period for so many.

After two years of celebrating virtually, close to 400 friends and members of the Fund gathered in a new luncheon format to celebrate the impact of our collective time, talents, and treasures. Women's Fund board chair, Lori Fuller, opened the program with exciting Fund updates, captivating the room with her passion and charming wit. Next, we previewed our new video highlighting the Fund’s mission and impact since its founding in 2005.

Wanda Starke joined the stage and announced ten grants totaling $139,000 - surpassing $2 million in grant support to organizations working to improve the lives of women and girls in Forsyth County. Guests then made their way to smaller breakout rooms. Over a delicious boxed lunch, grantee representatives shared what inspires them to engage in this work and ways community members can support our grantees’ work beyond grantmaking.

We're overjoyed by all of the positive feedback we received on this year's luncheon experience and how many of you appreciated the opportunity to hear directly from our 2022 grant recipients in a more intimate format.

Visit our luncheon webpage to view The Women’s Fund’s new video produced in collaboration with Dancing Grass Studios, learn about our 2022 grant recipients, and view a list of this year’s luncheon sponsors and tribute gift honorees.
Moving Beyond Research & Grantmaking for Collective Impact
Over the past two years, the Fund has engaged our community in exploring ways to move beyond research and grantmaking for collective impact. In Spring 2021, The Women's Fund led a three-part conversation series on our latest Through a Gender Lens report, and many of you expressed a desire to move beyond discussing ideas and data and toward taking action.

These community conversations also revealed four critical areas of impact the Fund and the broader community believes should be prioritized in advancing the economic security of women and girls: Affordable Housing, Equitable Public Education, Improved Access to Childcare, and Fair & Livable Wages.
 
In 2022, we held the first two events in a planned four-part Ideas to Action event series, hearing from directly impacted leaders, sharing resources, and exploring opportunities to contribute to local movements driving meaningful change in the lives of local women and girls. The Fund's Research, Education & Advocacy (REA) committee is excited to host our third Ideas to Action: Improved Access to Childcare planned for February 2023. Additional details to come in January.
 
In the meantime, please visit our new webpage dedicated to our commitment to moving beyond research and grantmaking for collective impact. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay in the know about future events and opportunities to take action together.
Join Us in Supporting Local Women & Girls
When you join The Women’s Fund, you're joining a community that shares your passion for creating an equitable and inclusive future for local women and girls. Thanks to the collective support of our members and volunteers, the Fund is able to invest in organizations that are committed to investing in women and girls who have been under-resourced.

We are so grateful to our members for going above and beyond by donating complimentary memberships. Thanks to you, 40 additional women were able to join as Fund members this year. And of the 40, many contributed their voice to the 2022 grants process and even joined a volunteer committee. We're so excited to see our membership base grow in new ways.

As you consider renewing or joining as a member for 2023, we hope you will embrace the opportunity to further build and strengthen our membership by covering additional membership costs, if you're able. We also encourage you to spread the word that membership with The Women's Fund is available to all, regardless of one's ability to pay. 

Every woman's voice matters, and we're grateful to see local women who are closest to the issues we work on help lead this work.
A Special Thank You!
A special thank you to our Women’s Fund advisory board volunteers who are completing their board service at the end of 2022: Elizabeth Lees and Claudia Kennedy. Thank you for all that you have done to move the work of the Fund forward these last six years.

We are also excited to share that 5 new women leaders will be joining the Women’s Fund board in 2023: Jackie Haynes, Monica Johnson, Renee Shipko Rohrer, Careena Sherrill, and Joy Nelson Thomas. We’re thrilled to have you support the Fund’s mission in this way.
The Women's Fund looks forward to engaging with you in 2023 & wishes you a healthy & peaceful holiday season!

THE WOMEN'S FUND OF WINSTON-SALEM
751 West Fourth Street, Suite 200, Winston-Salem NC 27101
(336) 725-2382 | info@womensfundws.org | womensfundws.org