Many Hands, DC
The RISE Trust Cash Transfer Program

This amazing collaborative effort provides unconditional emergency cash assistance to domestic violence survivors. The pilot program provides 45 families with $500 per month for up to two years. In addition, they receive financial education and coaching, as well as the opportunity to have savings matched 3-for-1.

The approach is very different - how can cash play a key role to liberate somebody or enable them to liberate themselves?

Many Hands is honored to have had the opportunity to bring these two organizations together to collaborate on this innovative program with equity at its core. We believe these grants and the partnership they fostered exemplify the true power of collective giving, which is measured not only in the dollars we grant, but in the relationships we create, inside and outside our circles.

Melbourne Women's Foundation, AUS
Women and Mentoring

MWF’s Signature Grant to WAM in 2015 was pivotal in enabling Women and Mentoring to scale its innovative mentorship system supporting women entering Melbourne’s criminal justice system. The continued partnership between the two organizations provided WAM to opportunity to obtain additional funding including a $3.2M grant over three years in 2022.

Today, WAM works with women across all metropolitan Melbourne areas, with 80% of their cohort not re-offending and 95% avoiding a custodial sentence. 

This partnership has significantly helped MWF become an established, credible philanthropic organization. For WAM, the partnership provided pivotal support to expand their innovative early intervention model, deliver evidence-based results and demonstrate the importance of gender-specific responses to crime.

Both organizations are now more empowered to address the needs of vulnerable women Melbourne-wide, improving their quality of life and inclusion within our community. 

Impact100 Garden State, NJ
Entrepreneurship As a Second Chance 

Impact 100 Garden State realizes that reintegration into society for individuals returning from incarceration is one of our country's most complex, nuanced, and multifaceted issues. Lack of resources for and prejudice towards these individuals prevents many from finding employment or being underemployed, which facilitates recidivism. We are also aware that entrepreneurship offers a viable option for formerly incarcerated individuals. Owning one’s own business allows individuals an opportunity to showcase their current talents and avoid stigma; moreover, since licensing requirements can bar reentrants from well-paying jobs in the private and public sectors, entrepreneurship overcomes these barriers.

Impact 100 Garden State is very proud to have provided the initial investment in the ESC and congratulate the participants and staff for its accomplishments. In our view, the ESC is a model for promoting equity and inclusion so formerly marginalized individuals can thrive and make positive change in their communities. 

Baltimore Women's Giving Circle, Baltimore, MD

Black Women Build Baltimore - Creating Equity in The Built Environment

BWBB’s mission is to train Black women in construction trades, to increase the number of Black women homeowners, and to bring investment back into disinvested Baltimore communities. Black women as a group own less property and have less ability to pass on wealth than almost any other group, but BWBB plans to change that by using in part, an intersectional framework, which recognizes that gender, race and poverty affect women of color differently from other groups. Watch more.

Impact Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK

Pivot's Tiny Home Initiative

Spirit of St. Louis Women's fund, St. Louis, MO

Dream Builders 4 Equity

Dream Builders 4 Equity tackles the vacant home epidemic plaguing the St. Louis region. They employ local minority youth and contractors to do large scale community-led development projects. This approach puts money and equity back in the pockets of people within the community while developing skills that increase opportunity for employment and encouraging minority-owned business development. DB4E ensures their development efforts protect against the displacement of current residents by providing renovations for seniors and grant support for property tax increases that disproportionately affect minority residents. Read more.

2021 Spotlight Award Recipients

Watch the recorded version of our 2021 virtual celebration, Honoring Changemakers Among Us!

Impact100 Metro Denver
Fresh Good Connect

In 2016, a group of forward-thinkers from three Denver organizations came together to present a new idea that would become Fresh Food Connect.

The concept presented initially was a pilot project to facilitate donation of home-grown food from backyard and community gardeners to local hunger relief organizations.  Using the funds from Impact100 Metro Denver, Fresh Food Connect began in one zip code in Denver.  Now, the organization is working coast to coast, in over 1500+ zip codes with 50 operating local partners. This tremendous growth resulted with the transition from a web-based program to mobile app technology in early 2020 licensed to various local hunger relief efforts; linking community “volunteers” that share their garden abundance. 

The focus for Fresh Food Connect is to provide access to more healthy foods, reduce food insecurity, and eliminate fresh food deserts by allowing excess foods from gardens to be shared through local food banks and other organizations focused on feeding the community.

Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis
Trinity Haven

Trinity Haven received Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis' 2018 Change Maker Grant. 

Trinity Haven’s mission is to provide safe, affirming housing for LGBTQ youth experiencing housing instability. In April of 2021, during the pandemic, Trinity Haven celebrated the grand opening of a home funded in part by Impact 100 Indianapolis’ grant. The grant was transformational for the giving circle and the community because it was their first grant focused on the needs of the LGBTQ community and Trinity Haven is Indiana’s first residential and host homes program addressing the needs of LGBTQ young people who are at risk for homelessness.  Trinity Haven addresses the needs of LGBTQ youth through two programs--the Transitional Living Program at the newly opened home and the Host Homes Program in the homes of volunteer hosts.  The Impact 100 Indianapolis grant funded part of the reconstruction of the home for the Transitional Living Program and the Host Homes Program in the homes of volunteer hosts.  The members of Impact 100 learned about the unique and daunting challenges facing this underserved community.  Additionally, these lessons helped to inform other diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives of Impact 100 Indianapolis. 

Impact 100 Richmond
Neighborhood Catalyst

Impact 100 Richmond's innovative Neighborhood Catalyst Grant was awarded in 2018.

This grant provides $25,000 for four years in one geographic region in order to make real change in a single neighborhood. Impact Richmond provides the dollars, but a Neighborhood Advisory Committee composed of women who live in the community, determine how the grants funds are allocated. By transferring decision making power to the neighborhood, Impact Richmond is assured of an inclusive and authentic partnership. Impact Richmond has made a commitment to trust based philanthropy by trusting the women to know what their neighborhood needs. The neighborhood selected is called Greater Fulton. This area of the city was ravaged in the 1970’s as a result of urban renewal programs. Many buildings were destroyed, and residents displaced. The committee is making funding decisions that target projects focused on honoring the past as well as investing in the future. For example, grants were awarded to a community park that tells the story of Historic Fulton and honors the lives and families who were forced from their homes. Empowering the community to come together on their own terms began the process of healing old wounds in the neighborhood. The Neighborhood Advisory Committee was also able to quickly respond to community needs during Covid by directing significant funds for Covid relief.  As the organization describes the Neighborhood Catalyst Grant, “at its core, it is based on the principles of trust, love and self-determination.”

 2020 Spotlight Award Recipients

2018 Spotlight Award Recipients

These awards celebrate our affiliates’ women-powered philanthropic efforts highlighting grants that demonstrate the impact of investing in our community nonprofits.