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Past Spotlight Awards 

View the Spotlight Awards from our past virtual conferences in 2021 and 2022, our in-person conferences - Baltimore 2023 PowerUP!Seattle 2020 PowerUP!Philadelphia 2018Jacksonville 2017, Charlotte 2015 and more.

We give awards because it's fun to celebrate the impact of our philanthropy and the women in our network whom we know and who we respect and inspire us. We also give them because it's a meaningful way to elevate the voices, stories, and important work being done in the field by these women and their affiliates on behalf of us all, and in support of the growing collective giving movement.

2023 Spotlight Award Recipients


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. 

2022 Spotlight Award Recipients


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

Pivot celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and its growth of essential services provided to Oklahoma City disenfranchised youth is nothing short of awe-inspiring. In 1972, Youth Services for Oklahoma County (later rebranded to Pivot) was created to provide counseling services for youth involved in the criminal justice system. As needs grew, services and programs multiplied to now include a Counseling Center, Community Intervention Center in partnership with local law enforcement, DHS-licensed shelter for 12 - 17-year-olds, emergency shelter for 16 - 24-year-olds, and a medical clinic. In 2018, Impact Oklahoma awarded Pivot a $100,000 grant for their Tiny Home Initiative, intended for foster children aging out of the system to have a safe place to land, close to the aforementioned services. Watch more.


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

In keeping with the 2020 conference theme, PowerUP! The Spark that Ignites Change, the 2020 awards recognized affiliates who used equity and inclusion as a lens in grantmaking.

The Women’s Impact Fund, Charlotte NC, nominated the Levine Museum - to hire a project coordinator for the Latino New South endeavor.  

The Women’s Impact Fund made a $90,000 grant to the Levine Museum of the New South for their Latino New South endeavor. Launched in January 2012, Latino New South responded to the Museum’s desire to acknowledge and share more stories from the rapidly growing Latinx population in the American South.

Video

Impact 100 Cincinnati, Cincinnati OH, nominated May We Help 

In 2015, Impact 100 Cincinnati granted $101,000 to May We Help to outfit a dedicated workshop with specialized, high-quality tools and collaborative spaces so that life-changing devices could be built for people with special needs. May We Help is a unique organization which uses the skills of many volunteer engineers, industrial designers, inventors, artisan, and physical therapists to create customized assistive devices to enable individuals with special needs to achieve independence and pursue their passions.

Video

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.

Women’s Giving Alliance, Jacksonville FL,  nominated Girls Matter. –  Girls Matter, Giving Girls a voice was developed in response to the incarceration trends in Northeast Florida and the emerging data showing a high proportion of unmet needs for girls. The program provides advocacy and care for girls who are on probation, in detention, in residential placement, or transitioning back to the local community.  Video link 

The Philanthropy Connection, Boston, MA, nominated Catie’s Closet Catie’s Closet improves school attendance for many children in need by providing clothing and toiletries in a confidential and positive way right within theirs schools.  Video link 

Impact the Palm Beaches, Palm Beach County, FL, nominated LIVE FRESH.   The act of waking up and taking a shower, something we take for granted is foreign to thousands of homeless men, women and children.  Live Fresh, provides mobile shower units and a healthy dose of respect for the homeless. Video link 

2017 Jacksonville Conference - Spotlight Awardees

Impact100 Sonoma, Sonoma, CA

Teen Services Sonoma - $100,000 grant in 2011

Skills for Life is a program that provides local youth, ages 13-23, with basic employment skills including work readiness, resume development, mock interview, financial literacy and opportunities for internships and job placement. 

 Spotlight In The News!

Video 

    


Womenade Boston (Boston, MA)

Compass Working Capital Family Self Sufficiency Program - $23,500 grant in 2014

Breaking the Cycle of Poverty for Low Income Families in Subsidized Housing

Video 


Women's Impact Fund (Charlotte, NC)

Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center - $100,000 grant in 2004  

Startup grant to hire a full-time case manager and create a support service model for children who had experienced the most serious forms of abuse.

Video



2015 Spotlight Awards


Impact 100 Greater Indianapolis’ $100,000 grant to Rock Steady Boxing: enabled the opening of a gym and increasing staff to provide a unique physical therapy program for patient’s battling Parkinson’s disease.

As a result ‘Rock Steady Training Camp’ now certifies other gyms in RSB method which is now being used in over 50 facilities in 20 states, Australia, and Italy.

WCGN salutes academic institutions like Cleveland Clinic, University of Indianapolis, and Butler University which are formally studying and documenting the improved quality of life for RSB clients

Impact 100 Cincinnati’s $108,000 grant to Easter Seals Building Value enabled the purchase of heavy equipment, funded coordinator salary, and secured matching $80,000 grant from Ohio EPA.

As a result Easter Seals was able to de-construct 36 full and 26 partial properties, maintain 175 vacant lots, add 28 new job training positions – 10 of which were given to women, and divert 900 tons of waste from landfills.

WCGN celebrates the transformation which brought forth the true value of people and ‘stuff’ that our society so easily tends to discard and disregard.

Women’s Giving Circle of Cumberland County’s $22,580 grant to Connections of Cumberland County which provided goal-based mentoring and rapid re-housing for homeless women and children based on proprietary scorecard indicating a sharp increase in homelessness in the area. 

As a result the A CARE Team (case manager, counselor, and community volunteer coach) employs planning and accountability to assist with sourcing employment, daycare, and transportation to clients and 206 women and 204 children have been actively enrolled in Connection’s Connect 2 Re-Direct program.

WCGN celebrates the transformative impact of close collaboration with area providers to increase the efficiency of resources and eliminate duplicative private and public efforts. discard and disregard.


More Examples of Our Member Organization's
Impact in Grantmaking

Greenville Women Giving (Greenville, SC) The Generous Garden: $52,882 / 2012 

WWW.GENEROUSGARDEN.ORG

Greenville Women's Giving's grant helped establish an Aquaponics Greenhouse System to increase the organization's donations to local food banks,shelters, and non-profits by 100%. The greenhouse system extended the growing season and diversified production of fruits and vegetables. The Generous Garden was founded in 2010 with the intention of growing largely organic fruits and vegetables for the benefit of struggling individuals and families in Greenville County.  The first planting season in spring 2011 yielded 32,000 pounds of food that provided 21,000 meals!

 
Impact Austin (Austin, TX) 

College Forward: $104,000 / 2007
www.collegeforward.org

Impact Austin's grant expanded College Forward's comprehensive after-school program to serve 11th and 12th graders at Stony Point High School in Williamson County. Funds are helping 80 low-income and first-generation students prepare to become the first in their families to earn Bachelor's degrees, impacting their lives and communities for generations to come. College Forward provides college preparatory and retention services to motivated, economically-disadvantaged students to facilitate their transition to college and make the process exciting and rewarding.



Women's Giving Alliance
 (Jacksonville, FL)

I.M. Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless: $91,656 / 2012
www.sulbachercenter.org    

                                       The two-year grant from Women's Giving Alliance expands mental health services for women and girls at Sulzbacher by providing an intensive mental health case manager. The case manager assesses the needs of the resident women and girls using evidence-based practices and tools, provides on-site crisis management and establishes links to community resources and wrap-around services for the family. 

Homeless women have three times the average rate of post-traumatic stress disorder, and about half have experienced a major depression since becoming homeless. More than 92 percent have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse in their lifetime; approximately two-thirds have a history of domestic violence. Sulzbacher Center provides a continuum of care addressing all aspects of homelessness: safe shelter, case management, medical, dental and mental health care, meals, children’s programs, job placement assistance, and life skills programs.


Washington Women's Foundation (Seattle, WA)
FareStart $100,000 / 1998
www.farestart.org

Transforming lives through job training in the culinary arts

A $100,000 grant from the Washington Women’s Foundation in 1998 propelled FareStart’s job placement and training program for homeless men and women to unprecedented levels. The nonprofit’s entrepreneurial approach to job and life-skills training for the homeless has sparked so much interest that communities around the country continue to work to replicate its success. “The Foundation took a chance on a new, innovative nonprofit,” says Executive Director Megan Karch. “This grant gave us the push we needed to move forward.”

The money allowed FareStart to double both its budget and the number of people it served over the life of the three-year grant. It lent the organization much-needed recognition and credibility, which led to a succession of grants from other foundations and individuals. Karch sums up the impact of the Washington Women’s Foundation grant quite simply: “It put us on the map.”



San Diego Women's Foundation (San Diego, CA)

International Rescue Committee

 

   


Career Development Program: $62,240 / 2009


www.theirc.org



San Diego Women's Foundation's grant helped newly arrived refugees transition from their initial entry level job into higher wage, higher skilled careers through one-on-one case management assistance and a Vocational Education Loan Fund.

  





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