By Heather Juaregui, Past President

Our Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation delegation made the most of three days of networking, learning, and best practice sharing at the Philanos PowerUP! Conference the first weekend of November in Baltimore. Nicole Patterson, Susan Smith, Suzanne Groff Lierz, and Heather Jauregui were among the 325 conference participants from 60 giving circles and networks, including several of our friends from the Wood River Women’s Foundation. Four tracks offered 20 breakout sessions focused on Collective Power + Leadership; Communications + Technology; Governance + Finance; and Membership + Grantmaking. Sessions were presented by members of women’s giving circles and philanthropic leaders from across the country.  Peer-to-peer discussions illuminated IWCF as a mature giving circle on solid footing, and we’re addressing common challenges, such as supporting a large vibrant membership, enhancing relationships with our grant partners, and adopting trust-based philanthropy principles. Checkout the PowerUp! Conference Wrap. 

Every IWCF member is a member of Philanos–just use the same email account associated with your IWCF membership to access all the benefits for Philanos membership. You have access to the discussion groups, webinars, and resources Philanos offers to support women’s giving circles and their individual members to become educated philanthropists and thoughtful grantmakers in their communities.  Make the most of your IWCF membership by participating in one of the free Philanos webinars this year and meet other women as excited about collective giving as you are!